College Times

Media Credit: Courtesy Live Nation

Bill Maher, host of HBO talk show “Real Time with Bill Maher” and veteran of the stand-up circuit, recently spoke with College Times about his craft in anticipation of his appearance in Phoenix.

College Times: On “Real Time,” there’s a set venue and a format to follow. But in stand-up, it’s just you and an audience saying, “make me laugh.” How difficult is stand-up comedy?

Bill Maher: Well, you’ve got it right, it’s ‘make me laugh,’ and that’s what I’m gonna do. The show is a hybrid of comedy; we do try to be funny, but also, you know, it’s a panel and there are serious moments and serious points made. Stand-up? Yes, there are serious points made but I would never make them unless I had a joke coming right behind it. When people go to a stand-up show, they really, really want to have their gut busted, and that’s what I’m intending to do. I also think they want to see new stuff, which I have for them. I wouldn’t come to their town and do the stuff that they saw on their last HBO special. I think that’s a dirty trick that some comics play, and I wouldn’t do it.

Do you have to “hone your craft” as a stand-up comedian? Or does it just come naturally?

Oh yeah. Oh, Christ yeah. It’s like building a ship in a bottle. For me, it’s such a passion of mine, such a love to do this, to work on a stand-up act. It’s a brick-by-brick situation of putting it together, and the right jokes in the right order, what follows what. Some of it is very technical. I want to do 90 minutes to two hours of the best thoughts and jokes I have, and just really pummel them with this, this, this, cover the waterfront, everything that’s going on in the world. A survey of politics, the election, sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll, whatever’s going on, and just leave them breathless. That’s what I wanna do.

Bill Maher, Dodge Theatre, 400 W. Washington Street, Phoenix, 602.379.2800, Saturday, August 9, 8 p.m., $35-$72

OTHER OPTIONS

Scandalesque Center Stage Show, The girls of the famed PHX area burlesque troupe invade the fancy halls of the Wrigley Mansion, 2501 E. Telewa Trail, Phoenix, scandalesque.com, 9 p.m., $20-$30

Extreme Heat Adventure Race, If racing through a mid-city, desert park in summer heat sounds like a good idea to you, then, well, here you go. Dreamy Draw Recreation Area, 2421 E. Northern Avenue, Phoenix, sierraadventuresports.com, 7 a.m., $140

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