Bill Maher... But I'm Not Wrong (TV 2010)

Stand up comedy special by Bill Maher.

Director:

John Moffitt

Writer:

Bill Maher

Stars:

Maureen MacDonald, Bill Maher, Cait Mathis

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Maureen MacDonald
Bill Maher	...	Himself
Cait Mathis	...	Burqa Girl (as Caitlin Mathis)

Storyline

Stand up comedy special by Bill Maher.

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Plot Keywords:

stand up comedy | adult humor | stage | actress | stand up comedian | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

HBO [us]

Country:

USA

Release Date:

13 February 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bill Maher Productions, Moffitt-Lee Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This special aired live.

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Connections

Featured in The 2011 Comedy Awards (2011)

User Reviews

The difference between Maher and Carlin: Carlin got even better with time.

I used to like Maher's stand-up, but this show is clear proof that he lost his edge. It's difficult to diagnose exactly what has changed --- on the face of it, it's still pretty much the same basic kind of material, poking much-deserved fun at the bigotry and absurdity of American public life.

The wife says that he has gotten lazy, and there seems to be evidence of that: his jokes frequently lack punch and timing, and the flow of his monologue often seems contrived and unrehearsed.

It is not only that, however. For me, the most tedious bits were those that clearly formed part of a dialog between Maher and whoever he perceives as addressing him --- the political right, a hostile part of his audience, Palin, the tea-baggers. Maher clearly sees himself as being engaged in a debate, he is involved in a discourse, he feels that he needs to make a point on behalf of whatever cause he has adopted as his own, and he visibly wants to convince his audience, instead of entertaining them. For a comedian to get away with that, he would need to be better informed, wiser, more detached, and a better orator than Maher is. Jon Stewart can pull it off on his better days, and of course Carlin could.

Yet Maher is no Carlin. While that acerbic curmudgeon got better and tougher with age, Maher gets more preachy and involved. Perhaps he is a victim of is own success --- the publicity he achieved with the rants he published in various ways (stand-up, TV show, book, movie) caused him to take himself and his rants too seriously, and to see himself as a bona fide party in a debate when he should really be the clown that points out and accentuates the funny and crazy bits from the sideline. To be funny, he needs to rise above the fray, instead of involving himself in it. He is a pretty decent comedian (as evidenced in the better segments of this show), but he is a failure when it comes to lecturing on serious matters.

As it turns out, the title of the show is an omen to what is fundamentally the problem with it: it is about Maher being right (or at least "not wrong") about whatever it is he cares to be right about, rather than simply being funny, which obviously is no longer enough for Maher. Watch "I'm Swiss" instead.