REVIEW: ‘What This Comedian Said Will Shock You’ by Bill Maher

Smugged By Reality

Read my full review on the Washington Free Beacon website.

In What This Comedian Said Will Shock You, comedian Bill Maher distills decades of political and cultural insight into a single volume with the goal of tackling the most important issues of our time while remedying any loss of "philosophical coherence" for longtime viewers of his HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher.

Across 24 chapters—spanning topics including free speech, cancel culture, race, drugs, Trump, religion, Trump, capitalism, immigration, identity politics, trigger warnings, and Trump—Maher doesn’t pull a single punch.

Did I mention that he mentions Trump?

Introducing the book, Maher notes that he’s faced increased criticism in recent years for directing more of his ridicule toward the Left. His response? "Well, yes, they’re a lot funnier than they used to be, and I’m a comedian."

Meanwhile, Maher pre-debunks the notion that he’s therefore become a conservative, saying that his rejection of the Left’s "menu of delirium" and refusal to "jump on the Crazy Train" is hardly evidence that he’s a card-carrying Republican these days.

Here’s the thing: If you’re already a fan of Real Time with Bill Maher, you’re going to love this book. Why? Because it’s a compilation of editorials from his show, with Maher crediting at least 10 other contributors to the original scripts. So, is this book a bit lazy? Sure—it’s the literary equivalent of those sitcoms in the 1990s that padded out entire episodes with flashbacks. And is this book like charging $30 for printing out the subtitles from a YouTube playlist? Well, yes.

Nonetheless, this book is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking, with just the right amount of maddening liberalism for conservatives and moderate common sense for leftists.

In other words, Real Time with Bill Maher.

Ironically, Maher declares that both sides are smug, and yet you cannot fully enjoy the breadth and depth of the book’s chapters without attempting to mimic Maher’s trademark smugness to add weight to the jabby-est jabs.

The purpose of this compilation, according to Maher, was to answer whether he has changed as much as everything around him over the past 20 years, describing this as his "special focus in researching himself."

And while it’s hard to answer that question given that the editorials are shuffled and undated, it’s clear that Maher’s voice has remained steadfast in defense of liberal values … along with some occasional advice on child-rearing from the proudly childless Maher.

Throughout the book, there are countless moments where Maher hits the nail squarely on the head. He notes that almost every job in our society—"dental hygienist, rodeo clown, dog walker, mall Santa, chicken-sexer"—requires a definable skill set … except for members of Congress. He shreds the modern reinvention of journalism as simply reporting on the social media controversy surrounding a nonstory. Or, to put it more bluntly, "the news media has lost trust because they became eyeball-chasing clickbait whores who bump the story about climate change for the one about grizzly bears in a Jacuzzi." And he skewers the liberal refusal to speak the truth out of fear of being labeled, gasp, racist!

Like so many comedian-commentators in this space, Maher does struggle to break free of an over-reliance on a few good ol’ fashioned logical fallacies. False choices, strawmen, and the fan-favorite reductio ad absurdum all make an appearance, and he even explains post hoc, ergo propter hoc ("after this, therefore because of this") just after linking statewide opiate epidemics with voting for Trump.

But despite straddling the popular boundary between comedy and commentary, Maher hits the mark time after time. He digs into the impact of social media on our society, with particular focus on the damage it’s doing to the younger generations. He rejects judging people of the past by the standards of today. And he declares that "China is the new Islam" while mocking our collective refusal to criticize the actions and failures of the communist dictatorship.

And then there are flashes of the few layers of liberal squishiness that have yet to be dried up by climate change, for which Republicans are obviously to blame.

He describes the scowling enviro-Robin Hood temper-tantrum-addict, Greta Thunberg, as "the conscience of her generation" and "the model citizen" while also mocking Generation Z as spoiled brats who think it’s all about them. Thunberg clearly missed that memo.

He commends Biden for "[getting] things done" on Afghanistan. Er, what?

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Read the rest of my latest review for The Washington Free Beacon here, and don’t forget to share and subscribe to my Substack for access to exclusive columns and updates!