Like all art forms-the intention is to make you feel something and sometimes that thing is uncomfortable.Is the guest selection process different for “Club Random” than it is for “Real Time”? It’s not like the show doesn’t have on entertainment figures or athletes, people outside of politics. At the end of the day, comedy is an art form. The question is, why? Is this directed by the design of his politically incorrect comedic propensities? Is it an indictment of the changing tone as he sees it? Within that evolution, comedians have long criticized the perceived comedic literacy of audiences. His HBO talk show, Real Time with Bill Maher, has undergone the same transition in recent years. But in the era of Donald Trump, it has become more in line with the right wing. That was an identity that once aligned with Democrats and progressives. He has always been a fire-brand comic known for his political incorrectness. While his approach is somewhat alienating in progressive political discourse right now, it’s not new. His understanding of America’s worryingly deep division, culturally and politically, is his last vestige of relevancy. Maher still manages to raise important questions about the changing face of American politics in his comedy, keenly identifying who is vocal, who isn’t and why. But what he intended to be sharp cultural criticism fell flat as the audience witnessed an old man who simply didn’t want to change his habits.
In the night’s most tone deaf moment, he put gender identity in his crosshairs, ranting about the new emphasis on pronouns for the trans community. Maher is deluded about his own place within this conversation. But does that reflect the reality of the current? There has always existed a connection between progress and setbacks, over-corrections and missteps as societal attitudes progress and evolve. He said that every generation was always considered more progressive than the last, but that this moment was different. Somehow, Maher kept making frustratingly competing arguments. However, every joke that landed undermined what came across as a clear lack of self-awareness about where his own identity lined up. This moment in his act resonated most with the audience of any of the night’s conflicting bits. Resounding applause was reserved for his remarks about shifting societal expectations he slammed the idea that one should not be held responsible for actions that were once considered socially acceptable and no longer are. Moderates feel, as Maher put it, like the unforgiving nature of “cancel culture” undermines important issues that Democrats try to push such as criminal justice reform, healthcare and climate change efforts. “…in culture and politics today, the most prominent uses of ‘woke’ are as a pejorative-Republicans attacking Democrats, more centrist Democrats attacking more liberal ones…” FiveThirtyEight summed up why criticizing the term is such a token of the right. The recent phenomenon has prompted assorted think-pieces in publications ranging from the New York Times to The Washington Post. Maher has hit a nerve when discussing this notion of “woke culture,” which all sides view very differently. Maher’s joke resonated with few as you could hear the forced, uncomfortable laughter grip the theatre.
Say what you want about “Woke” culture-which is essentially a right wing talking point aimed to demonize the role of accountability-but the politically correct hold no illusions about sentient lizards or cabals of blood suckers roaming Washington D.C.’s halls of power. While the remark was in jest, his rebuke provides a false equivalency-QAnon has historically asserted that Democrats and other powerful voices are lizard people. Once a comedic champion of progressivism, Maher has pivoted to a right-leaning persona just self-aware enough to avoid being lumped in with the conspiracy theorists (he jokes that both Qanon and “Woke” culture are cults).
His jokes serve with the same robust caliber as they always have, yet a noticeable shift of content reveals a failure in the veteran to keep up with the times. (He was visibly reading off a music stand).
With a disturbingly overpriced drink in hand, I listened to Maher’s hour-plus long set.
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