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I don’t have HBO, but my love for Bill Maher has grown exponentially in the past 2+ years with the advent of podcasts.  His HBO show, New Rules, gets released for free in audio version about a few days after it airs (iTunes link).  He’s right alongside Keith Olbermann & Rachel Maddow (both from MSNBC), George Hrab’s Geologic Podcast (not about geology), and Kevin Smith & Scott Mosier’s SModcast in my “must listen once they get downloaded” queue.

OK, enough podcast talk… I also love what Bill Maher did last year with his comedy / documentary Religulous.  It was more comedy than an actual documentary for me, and it was quite entertaining from a non-believers point of view.  While I don’t think it’ll change (m)any minds, I still enjoyed it quite well.

When Bill gets time off from his show, sometimes he hits the road.  When I found out about his Eugene date, I already had tickets to go see Cincinnati band Over the Rhine up at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge.  I was torn.  I mean, I’ve seen Over the Rhine fifty times (no lie), but I really love them.  Well, my wife had a Eugene art community show conflict the same night as OTR; so I sold our tickets and opted for Maher instead (sorry, Karin & Linford, we’ll catch you next year).

There was no opener, and Bill Maher hit the stage right around 8:15 and did a solid hour and a half of his crude but poignant comedy.  He touched on many topics and comedic bits from New Rules… the economy, politics, religion, and food culture in America.

Some of my favorite bits were on religion, specifically the Mormontology bit, the Muslim Dior fashion show, and the Pope’s Facebook relationship status (“it’s complicated”).

Some of my favorite lines:

“Crocs – for people who find flip flops a little too dressy.”

“Those liberals, always wanting to get across the river in one piece.” (sarcastic re: the politics of spend, i.e.- wanting to build crazy things like infrastructure)

“The Republicans have looked to the future for their political leadership and found… radio.”

“Ronald McDonald has killed a lot more people than Osama Bin Laden.”

I don’t agree with all of Bill’s stances, specifically some of his thoughts on medicine.  I don’t think he’s being all too scientific in his vocal stance against vaccines, for example.  However, he really didn’t bring those topics up last night.

Overall, I think Bill Maher’s stand-up is a lot like George Carlin – many of the same topics – crude, cutting, and powerful humor.

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Bill Maher’s Official Site
• HBO’s New Rules
  
• Bill Maher on MySpace
• Bill Maher on Facebook
  
•  The Hult Center

~Dan – np: A Perfect Circle – Mer De Noms