Full Article Text
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: riskiest of his career - is a d this movie by saylng' 'I don't
9b-og r.erieton directed by L [*1,'j;:t1ff3; j.,ilsil*l
i ,9j;3:ff;:1ffi$;:Hfl"' .r, iir'"ol"nt, "rhat'strue' ..
sort of make fun of it, too." Oi hodgepodgeof interviews, IBill l'|aher returns t0 speak mote truth to powel By MT.HAEL er',rz
' ffi"#j9;ffi:ft|"ffi!
ers d la Ted Koppel. He writes books, does standup gigs and even
has a sure-to-be controversial documentary coming soon.
"I even love playing the red states," says
Mahe4 whose newest HBO standup spe-
cial, "The Decider," airs live from Bos-
ton on Saturday. "San Francisco doesn't
need me. But when I play St. Louis or Salt
Lake City, those people are really happy
that somebody with my views has come to
their town."
Aperennial bachelor (and proud some-
time guest at the Playboy Mansion), Ma-
het 51, born in NewYork and raised in
NewJersey, knows what it's like to be un-
welcome: In 2001, he lost his ABC show
"Politically Incorrect" after echoing point-
ed rqmarks made by one of his conserva-
tive guests about the 9/l I hijackers.'
"There was a time when I was afraid
to go out of the house," says Maher, who
was singled out during White House press
conferences when single-minded patrio-tism uninterested in hearing dissent was
perhaps at its peak. "I thought people
would just slug me. It's quite a feeling to
be America's No. I hated object."
But now Maher enjoys the acclaim of
his one-hour talk-and-panel show Friday
nights at 11 p.m. that draws in top politi-
cians and thinkers. And the country he
says, is much more in sync with him.
"We're stuckwith fPresident Bush] for
the next year and a half," says Maher, who
initially supported the invasion of lraq.
"What I'm sensing out there is frustration.
There was acceptance ofhim and thdn
there was hope ...There was a time when
being against Bush was sort of un-Ameri-
can. Those davs have ended."
rally Maher is going out on another limb.
His next project - and perhaps theSo, with everything going his way, natu- : thought, 'This is going to be funny."', comedy bits and archival film. At the ;
: Cannes Film Festival this past May, the ,
: film sold in l8 countries immediately and :
, sparkedabiddingwarintheU.S.-even,
though every one ofthose buyers has up
, to now remained anonymous. .
, "No subject is [as incendiary] as reli-
: gion," says Maher. "It's the ultimate final
taboo. ... We spent a month in Jerusalem, ,
i the Vatican City, Amsterdam ... Then we :
came back and went to Florida - holv
talk to a million people and you've
done a million things and you don't
know what you have. But when I
saw the [film] I was thrilled because I
Maher and Charles initially thought
it would be a perfect end-of-the-yearWith major nanes
spending "Real
Time With Bill
Maher," its host is
hardly politically
lands like Orlando ... we went to ev-
erytruck stop ministrywe saw
along the Southern route, and
worked our way up to Boston $sand then west to Salt Lake City. \i..,:
: riskiest of his career - is a d this movie by saylng' 'I don't
9b-og r.erieton directed by L [*1,'j;:t1ff3; j.,ilsil*l
i ,9j;3:ff;:1ffi$;:Hfl"' .r, iir'"ol"nt, "rhat'strue' ..
sort of make fun of it, too." Oi hodgepodgeof interviews, IBill l'|aher returns t0 speak mote truth to powel By MT.HAEL er',rz
' ffi"#j9;ffi:ft|"ffi!
ers d la Ted Koppel. He writes books, does standup gigs and even
has a sure-to-be controversial documentary coming soon.
"I even love playing the red states," says
Mahe4 whose newest HBO standup spe-
cial, "The Decider," airs live from Bos-
ton on Saturday. "San Francisco doesn't
need me. But when I play St. Louis or Salt
Lake City, those people are really happy
that somebody with my views has come to
their town."
Aperennial bachelor (and proud some-
time guest at the Playboy Mansion), Ma-
het 51, born in NewYork and raised in
NewJersey, knows what it's like to be un-
welcome: In 2001, he lost his ABC show
"Politically Incorrect" after echoing point-
ed rqmarks made by one of his conserva-
tive guests about the 9/l I hijackers.'
"There was a time when I was afraid
to go out of the house," says Maher, who
was singled out during White House press
conferences when single-minded patrio-tism uninterested in hearing dissent was
perhaps at its peak. "I thought people
would just slug me. It's quite a feeling to
be America's No. I hated object."
But now Maher enjoys the acclaim of
his one-hour talk-and-panel show Friday
nights at 11 p.m. that draws in top politi-
cians and thinkers. And the country he
says, is much more in sync with him.
"We're stuckwith fPresident Bush] for
the next year and a half," says Maher, who
initially supported the invasion of lraq.
"What I'm sensing out there is frustration.
There was acceptance ofhim and thdn
there was hope ...There was a time when
being against Bush was sort of un-Ameri-
can. Those davs have ended."
rally Maher is going out on another limb.
His next project - and perhaps theSo, with everything going his way, natu- : thought, 'This is going to be funny."', comedy bits and archival film. At the ;
: Cannes Film Festival this past May, the ,
: film sold in l8 countries immediately and :
, sparkedabiddingwarintheU.S.-even,
though every one ofthose buyers has up
, to now remained anonymous. .
, "No subject is [as incendiary] as reli-
: gion," says Maher. "It's the ultimate final
taboo. ... We spent a month in Jerusalem, ,
i the Vatican City, Amsterdam ... Then we :
came back and went to Florida - holv
talk to a million people and you've
done a million things and you don't
know what you have. But when I
saw the [film] I was thrilled because I
Maher and Charles initially thought
it would be a perfect end-of-the-yearWith major nanes
spending "Real
Time With Bill
Maher," its host is
hardly politically
lands like Orlando ... we went to ev-
erytruck stop ministrywe saw
along the Southern route, and
worked our way up to Boston $sand then west to Salt Lake City. \i..,: