Sorry, can’t find any better sources for this.
The animator then asked Maher what the “downside” of “getting a vaccine” was, which caused the comedian to go on an anti-vax tirade.
“The fact that you the fact that you don’t even have a clue what’s the cost of getting a vaccine that you don’t know the answer to that. You completely want to shut your eyes to the fact that there are repercussions to all medical interventions, including a vaccine, all vaccines,” he ranted. “They come, they say side effects, just like every medication does. You can see it in the literature. They can’t write it on their back on the vaccine. So you have to dig them. And of course, there is a vaccine court because so many people have been injured.”
I’ve never found him particularly funny, but more importantly, and I say this as someone who did standup for a few years, he berates his audience when they don’t laugh at his jokes. I used to watch his show, and he told his audience, “fuck you,” when they didn’t laugh numerous times. That is something you absolutely do not do in comedy. Even insult comics don’t insult the audience for not laughing at their jokes.
If he was a jobbing stand up I’d totally agree but he’s got his audience who presumably are ok with him berating them every time an undercooked joke bombs.
He was still touring last I checked, although admittedly that was 4 or 5 years ago.
Oh sure. I remember him saying that his crowd is turning up to see him specifically though, they know who he is and that he throws a tantrum if the laugh isn’t big enough. He’s not sharing a bill or playing to anyone who doesn’t want to see him.
There are ways to insult an audience - Jeselnik does this well. Maher used to operate more in this fashion in the early-mid 00s. He really fell off during/after Obama though
Stewart Lee did it too, but I think it only works when the audience is ‘in’ on the joke – that is, they are expected to realise that the insult to the audience is itself a joke, rather than the comic actually meaning it.
And Maher definitely means it. It’s really obvious.
There are ways to insult an audience - Jeselnik does this well. Maher used to operate more in this fashion in the early-mid 00s. He really fell off during/after Obama though