The heckler quickly learned Bill Maher came to the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium prepared.
No joke. Well, it was a joke but it was also true and awed the cheering sold-out house and hushed the heckler instantaneously with a single blow. You had to be there. And you should have been.
There’s a sobering hilarity in Maher’s no-holds-barred comedy where truth-telling and in-your-face egalitarianism is the schtick. Actually, it’s really not a schtick at all. Maher is dead serious. He’s on a mission to tackle the gamut of tough issues with full-frontal frankness, whether you like it or not.
The gestalt of Maher’s vision draws on sexual and racial identity, money, war, political and economic philosophy and practice, religious imperatives, health care, welfare, marijuana, gun control, quality of life, marriage, aging and class consciousness. He even delivers a bevy of well choreographed sex jokes aimed squarely at big Pharma and social conditioning. Maher invites us to embrace the broader message of humanism and self-directed intelligence while laughing our asses off.
Those bristled by Maher’s politics or social stances may find themselves strangely disarmed by his affability and professionalism as he rips social and political conventions to shreds. As a keenly researched powerhouse of nonchalance, composure and riveting insight, his observations run deep and wide, almost punch lines in and of themselves, but really they are context and set-ups for a cavalcade of even more finely crafted jokes designed to floor the audience. And they do, landing squarely on the funny bone in rapid succession until we were pummeled silly.
An audience on a quest for fun was well satisfied by a man on a quest for truth.
