Bill Maher told guest Patton Oswalt on the latest episode of the Club Random podcast that he is no longer interested in performing on stand-up comedy shows, given the country’s deep political divisions. The outspoken Maher regularly provokes backlash from both sides of the political spectrum on the HBO talk show “Real Time.”
“I don’t want to go out in this country, in this political atmosphere, where I could get shot by the left or the right,” Maher said (via The Daily Beast). “It’s a good time not to go outside.”
Maher also admitted that he is “tired of traveling” and “tired of being twice as funny as the people who are selling twice as many tickets as I am.” He noted that fans have less incentive to buy tickets to stand-up shows “because I’m on TV every week.”
“It’s not that we didn’t sell a lot of tickets, it’s not that we didn’t have great theater, but we didn’t sell arenas,” Maher added. “There were some people who did come in, but frankly, they weren’t all that great. But when the audience is 35 to 45, they don’t want to see someone who’s 70 years old…I just did my 13th HBO special, and I think it’s a good job…Everyone felt, basically, we got better as time went on. I feel like the last one was the best. That’s a good way to end it.”
Maher, who has upset the left in recent months by attacking “lunatics” within the Democratic Party who are too “woke,” has sparked a backlash from the right after speaking out against ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel last month. Maher made headlines in March when he said he agreed with “some of the things” Donald Trump is doing in the second US presidential administration, drawing scorn from fellow comedians including Marc Maron.
After Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in September, Marr told viewers it was pointless to debate whether Democrats or Republicans were at fault because “both sides” were guilty of pervasive toxic behavior.
“It’s been a very ugly week in America with all kinds of violence, political violence, everyday violence, a lot of people talking about civil war. And today in Congress, because of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, (Colorado Rep.) Lauren Boebert stood up and said, ‘We need a prayer.’ So they started a moment of silence. And she started screaming, ‘No!’ Silent prayer brings quiet results. ‘As if praying out loud would bring about great results,’ Maher added. “Then Democrats started screaming at her that there was a school shooting in her state. Let me tell you, the civil war isn’t very civil war-like right now.”
Watch Maher and Oswalt’s full conversation on the “Club Random” podcast in the video below.
