Bill Maher: Live from D.C.

[StevePulaski]

Bill Maher: Live from D.C. (2014)
Directed by: Troy Miller

Rating: ★★★½

Destined to be the underrated comedy event of the 2014 year is Bill Maher: Live from D.C., an uproariously funny live-taping of Maher performing a comedy special at the luxurious Warner Theater on 13th Street just minutes after recording an episode of Real Time With Bill Maher at the HBO theater. In under ten minutes, Maher races out of the HBO studios, heads to his dressing room, changes into casual garb, races outside into his Motorcade, equipped with six police motorcycles escorting him to the Warner Theater, before sprinting the last three blocks and onto the stage of the venue. All of this was announced in a fun and unexpected manner by sportscaster Keith Olbermann and documentarian Michael Moore, who sat in a balcony at the Warner Theater.

Despite noting his mental exhaustion with his hectic day of planning and live taping during the live episode of Real Time, Maher is a zealous comedic force on stage, as if he just woke up, refreshed and giddy to perform live. We don't see a tired, weary Maher, but the Maher we've known for years - the person who waltzes on stage and give us his unbridled, brutally honest opinion on politics, not caring whether or not we accept it as truth or agree with it. He's simply happy to get it out there in a blunt and often vulgar manner, but despite such choices in vocabulary and delivery, always comes off as either insightful or at least eloquent.

With Live from D.C., after his incredible entry, he goes on to give his politically-charged, bleeding-heart secularist/liberal rants on American politics, the idiocy of the Tea Party, the more qualified but admittedly flawed Liberals/Democrats, recent controversies plaguing the country, and comment on recent things in his personal life, such as his hysterical response to the "feud" between him and Donald Trump that arose from a senseless and illegitimate bet. Maher remarks about how Republicans ignore that other presidents, even Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, took numerous executive orders when they were running the country, but treat Obama as if he was "Dracula crossed with Hitler with lung cancer." In addition, Maher comments on working with Congress and in American politics with the thesis of it coming down to "being patient with stupid white people," as well as stating that, when it comes down to it, the common American feels that the United States should continue to "bomb Arabs, pay farmers not to grow corn, and name buildings after Ronald Reagan."

Maher is even greeted with a plethora of positive and negative hecklers, to which he finally tires of and states, "stop yelling out; I'm sure what I have is better." He continues to amuse them every now and then, even challenging a woman to support her shouted-statement right then and there, keenly reminding us of that special episode of Real Time when 9/11 "truthers" found ways to interrupt the live taping of the program. Yet Maher is never phased by such immaturity and lack of respect and attention; he is far too busy ranting, raving, and cracking joke-after-joke about the country he loves to reside in and criticize so deeply.

Live from D.C. comes directly after Maher concluded his year-long "Flip a District" campaign, an online campaign to get people to oust somebody from the American Congress they find harmful and detrimental to the American political system. That candidate turned out to be John Kline (HR, R-MN), who Maher will be targeting to rid Minnesota of this coming November with the midterm elections. Even as the effectiveness of this campaign comes into question, one cannot fault Maher for his dedication in not only voicing his opinion, but donating to the political campaign of Barack Obama and actually making a commendable effort to try and get a start on fixing what is happening to American politics. It's a noble fight to a questionable reward, but at least it provides for some spectacular comedic value in the meantime.

Directed by: Troy Miller.