Bill Maher’s Latest Stand-Up Special Slammed as Predictable and Lacking Depth

Comedian Bill Maher’s latest stand-up special, Is Anyone Else Seeing This?, has drawn criticism for being predictable and uninspired, according to Jacques Berlinerblau, a professor of Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University. Berlinerblau, who has previously critiqued Donald Trump’s impact on antisemitism, took aim at Maher’s performance in a review published over the weekend.

After listing the topics Maher addresses in his special — including “Trump, wokeness and liberals, trans people and drag queens, freedom of speech and ‘cancel culture,’ religion, those with larger body sizes, and kids these days” — Berlinerblau described the special as a “rather listless set.”

“That’s partly because Maher’s positions on these issues are so well known that his punchlines failed to surprise,” he wrote. “He also seems unwilling to put in the craftwork needed to make his stand-up material edgy or thought-provoking.”

While critical of the special, Berlinerblau did praise Maher’s talent for comedic dialogue. “His stand-up monologues to the camera are fine, but where he excels is in conversation (in front of an audience). His genius is to frame questions about fraught political issues in a pithy, provocative way and then joust, often dexterously, with his typically controversial interviewees.

Few other comedians possess this rare skill,” he noted. However, the professor argued that Maher’s strengths as a conversationalist don’t translate to stand-up. “Is Anyone Else Seeing This? is a stand-up special, and Maher isn’t about to use his monologue to question himself the way another stand-up might,” he observed.

Berlinerblau criticized the performance for being formulaic and repetitive. “The jokes have a formulaic quality. The punchlines land on the same beat over and again,” he wrote. He also suggested that Maher’s approach lacked nuance and depth, particularly on the topic of free speech.

“If Maher wants to convince his audience that free speech is under assault, he’d win over more listeners — and probably arrive at considerably more nuance — by continuing to dialogue with people who disagree with him,” Berlinerblau argued.

“When he’s up there on his own in Is Anyone Else Seeing This?, however, he merely celebrates his own positions, confusing smug certainty for a punchline and rendering his monologue monotonous.” The review underscores a divide between Maher’s conversational prowess and his ability to engage audiences through traditional stand-up, leaving some critics unimpressed with his latest effort.