August 2004:

A little late, but congratulations to Bill Maher for his 
2004 Emmy nomination!

Outstanding Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program

The 76th Annual Academy Awards 
• ABC • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Billy Crystal, Host

Elaine Stritch: At Liberty 
• HBO • Home Box Office and BBC 
in association with Iambic Productions Ltd. and Pennebaker Hegedus Films
Elaine Stritch, Performer

Ellen DeGeneres: Here And Now 
• HBO • Tenth Planet Productions 
in association with HBO Original Programming
Ellen DeGeneres, Performer

Real Time With Bill Maher 
• HBO • Kid Love Productions and Brad Grey Television 
in association with HBO Original Programming
Bill Maher, Host

Tracey Ullman In The Trailer Tales 
• HBO • HBO Original Programming
Tracey Ullman, Performer


BTW, two years ago I met Bill after his "Ride Alone" show at the
92nd Street Y.  He agreed to pose with me with him holding a copy
of MAD Magazine.  MAD often publishes pictures of its readers
with celebrities holding a copy of MAD, and MAD awards the reader
with a free subscription.  Well, it's been nearly two years and 
MAD hasn't published my picture, so I'm publishing 
it below in the "Getting Personal about Bill Maher" section!


May 2004:

Congratulations to Bill Maher for being named #38 on
Comedy Central's Greatest 100 Stand-Ups of All Time list.

38. Bill Maher

BTW, congratulations to Al Franken for winning the Spoken Word Grammy.


December 2003:

Congratulations, Bill, on your Grammy Award nomination!

Category 75
Best Spoken Word Album
(Narrated/dramatized books include authors' names 
in parentheses for identification.)

Fear Itself (Walter Mosley)
Don Cheadle  [Time Warner Audiobooks] 

Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them: 
A Fair And Balanced Look At The Right (Al Franken)
Al Franken  [HighBridge Audio] 

Living History (Hillary Rodham Clinton)
Hillary Rodham Clinton  [Simon & Schuster Audio] 

The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection (Nikki Giovanni)
Nikki Giovanni  [Caedmon] 

When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden (Bill Maher)
Bill Maher  [New Millennium Audio]


August 2003:

A recent Maher quote worth keeping:

"Between this, the impeachment of Bill Clinton,  Florida 2000, 
and the recall in California, I am convinced that Republicans 
will do anything to win an election except get the most votes!"

Bill, it's amazing--once again, you've said exactly what I was thinking!  
Thanks--again!

*****

Singer/songwriter Julia Rose got "Dixie Chicked" when
a bookstore in Fredericksburg, VA cancelled her appearance
because she said GWB had "chicken legs" and "needed to exercise".
And she was only talking about Bush's appearance!

Julia Rose has the honor of penning the first song inspired by Bill Maher:

click here for sample of "Maher's Planet"
click here for full version of "Maher's Planet"
backstory and lyrics on mp3.com

Julia's song has shown up, among other places, on WBAI.


July 2003:

"Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home" returns briefly to Broadway
July 17-19, Hudson Theatre, NYC; HBO will tape  

BTW, Def Poetry Jam won the Special Theatrical Event Tony--
which I believe is what Bill expected:
 "I'm happy to be up against Def Poetry Jam, except they'll probably 
win. It's a cool, edgy show. I'd rather lose to them than Jackie Mason."
--from an article by Michael Musto, the Village Voice, May 19, 2003


Bill Maher and date, model Coco Johnsen, at Tony Awards, June 8, 2003
photo from JPix/Ebay

****************************************

May 12, 2003:

2003 Tony Award Nomination:

Best Special Theatrical Event
"Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home"

Congratulations, Bill!


April 2003:

Bill Maher on Broadway!
BILL MAHER ON BROADWAY!
BILL MAHER ON BROADWAY!


image from www.playbill.com

"Victory Begins at Home"
Virginia Theater, NYC
Previews: April 29
Opens: May 5
Closes: May 18
Telecharge: 212-239-6200

****************************************************************
"Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home": New York reviews

The New York Times  The New York Daily News

New York Newsday: Linda Winer  New York Newsday: Associated Press

The New York Post


Sara Krulwich/The New York Times (www.nytimes.com)

****************************************************************

February 2003:

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER
HBO, Fridays 11:30pm ET, beginning February 21, 2003
repeats on HBO2, Saturdays, 11pm ET

January 2003:

A belated Happy Birthday to Bill Maher, 
who turned 47 on January 20--coinciding with 
this year's Martin Luther King holiday!

Maher in horoscope listing in NY Daily News 1/20/03
--not that I'm advocating horoscopes!

BTW, I'm enjoying your book! 
Because Amazon.com hasn't properly linked my review 
to my profile, here's the text:

*****

*****This book is a .... challenge!, November 18, 2002 
Reviewer: mnl_1221 (see more about me) 
from Corona, New York, United States  
If you're a Christian, read this book. Oh, you won't like some of the 
things it says, and you certainly won't some of the language nor the 
imagery. But you might find yourself challenged over whether you are 
really living out Jesus' program, or if you've gotten caught up in 
the modern Western values of comfort, materialism, and bigotry. It 
sure is a challenge to whether or not I'm living out the full tenents 
of my Christian faith--particularly about taking care of the 
marginalized and helpless, and doing without a few things--to the 
best of my ability.

If you're not a Christian, but you care about morality, ethics, or 
the United States of America, read this book. I'm not saying believe 
everything he says; I don't. But consider where he is saying things 
we desperately need to hear--and what too many people are afraid to 
think about, let alone say.

Maher's book is sure fascinating, challenging, and provocative! 

Amazon.com customer reviews:
When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden

**********************************************************************

November 2002:
He may be coming to your town!

The book is out, and so is Bill Maher! Out on tour, that is!

Bill Maher's Itinerary: Stand-Up Tour, Book Signings, TV Appearances

He's coming to NYC the weekend of 11/9: 
to the 92nd Street Y on Saturday Nov 9 (got my ticket!)
and to the Barnes & Noble near Rockefeller Center 
Monday afternoon Nov 11 (sorry, I'm working then!).

92 Street Y: An Evening With Bill Maher (press release)

********************************************************************

September 2002:
I am please to announce the title of 
Bill Maher's new book, due later this fall:

When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden: 
What the Government Should be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism

available in hardcover book, audiocassette, and CD

**********************************************************************
a "dis" from "Boondocks":
Boondocks 9/12/02
**********************************************************************


Politically Incorrect
Born 1993 Comedy Central
Died 2002 ABC-TV


Ah, Bill Maher!  Many times on Politically Incorrect 
you've said what I've been thinking but 
what no one else on TV was saying.  
I know several dissenters have chewed you up 
for daring to criticize the government after 9/11.  

Y' know, Bill, you oughter thank your lucky stars 
you're living in the good ol' USA instead of Henry VIII's England, 
where YOU'D be getting the ax instead of your show, 
wink, wink.  Oh, well.  

I'll be following you on billmaher.tv or .com.  
Now come to New York City sometime 
and don't make yourself a stranger, y'hear?

--letter, June 24, 2002, which the New York Daily News didn't publish!

*********************************


Politically Incorrect as a concept intrigued me even when it was
on Comedy Central, and I didn't have cable back then! (Still don't!)
Even as a child I'd watched The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS-TV during the 1960s.  
I remember the skit in which several combatants in
uniform or ethnic costume proclaimed that God was on their side.  
Like PI, the Smothers Brothers fell victim to cancellation due to
being too controversial.

As a teen or young adult, I had PBS-TV's 
 Meeting of Minds, starring Steve Allen.  
Actors, including Allen's wife Jayne Meadows, dressed up as key
historical figures and argued the issues.  You could say PI was
Meeting of Minds in contemporary dress.

Then ABC-TV transferred PI to broadcast TV in 1997, and I could finally watch!

I was amazed how many times Bill Maher would say something that I'd 
been thinking but that no one else had said.  After I entered the 
Internet in 1998, I was amazed how many times I'd quoted or referred 
to Maher on my webpages!

For example:

Bill Maher of "Politically Incorrect" put it beautifully.
"People are blaming the media, guns, the parents..." he said
days after the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton,
Colorado on April 20.  "The kids (the shooters) themselves
are saying who it is--it's the JOCKS!"
--Listen Up, Littleton!, "A Tale from the Dark Side", 4/24/99

Oh--"Politically Incorrect" that night also touched on
education, Bill Maher and his guests arguing whether posting
the Ten Commandments in schoolrooms will prevent school
shootings.  "PI" has humor (some derisive), deep thoughts,
quips, wrestling with issues, and often, wrestling with God.
I stayed awake for that one, too.
--MNL's Thought Waves, "The Spirit of Education", 6/23/99

Of course, today's comedians may be seen more as trashing
religion than honoring it.  But what's going on between
them and God?  When Bill Cosby did his Noah skit?  When
Phil Hartman prayed the Lord's Prayer before each taping
of SNL?  When Bill Maher publicly wrestles with God every
night on PI?
--Sacred Cows, Sacred Clowns: Comedy and Spirituality, intro, 2001 
(I also copied Maher's PI speech of 6/29/01, about love vs. lust, on this page)

As well as being the host of the show, Bill is my friend. And, as his
friend, I was really proud of him. Proud of how perfect a note he had
struck between rallying around the flag, showing grief and expressing
dissent. How he had shown that they are not mutually contradictory.
And everything that has happened since has only made me prouder of
him -- and more disgusted at the politically correct cowards who are
trying to stifle him. 
--Arianna Huffington, 9/24/01, excerpt, on my page WTC...RIP
(plus a lot more about Maher on that page!)


I bemoan the passing of PI.  I miss seeing Maher five times a week.
I miss the fiery exchange of ideas and opinions.  I miss seeing a man,
open in some ways and closed in others, almost daily wrestling with God.

*********************************************************************
*********************************************************************

Maher Quotes Worth Keeping

You know He was great ?cause when Jesus died they started to count time again, 
which that is a tribute. I don?t care what you do on this earth, 
they?re not gonna go, ?Bill, when you die we?re goin? back to one?? 
Bill Maher, HBO's Stuff That Struck Me Funny (1995) 

"People have romantic notions about television. In the highest realms 
they think it's some sort of art medium, and it's not. Others think 
it's an entertainment medium, it's not that either. It's an 
advertising medium. It's a method to deliver advertising like a 
cigarette is a method to deliver nicotine. If the advertisers go 
away, that's what matters."
Bill Maher, quoted in the Toronto Sun, 7/22/02, during the Just for Laughs festival

They put out a politically correct Bible, because they did not want 
to have the Jews, an ethnic group, kill Jesus. So now, he dies of second hand smoke? 
Bill Maher, HBO's Stuff That Struck Me Funny (1995) 
(note: Jesus himself was Jewish, and the Gentile Romans had a hand 
in the crucifixion--mnl.)

My heroes are always people who exhibit self-lessness, such a rare 
quality in America these days. Victims find themselves in harm's way, 
heroes put themselves in harm's way. 
Bill Maher, from transcript of July 16, 2002 online chat at billmaher.com

*********************************************************************
*********************************************************************

Getting Personal about Bill Maher...see below...more links below, too...

Bill Maher on the Web

me with Bill Maher after his appearance at the 92nd Street Y, 
NYC, November 2002.  I submitted the photo to MAD Magazine, 
but they never printed it!

Okay, I dig the guy.

I can name a roster of male celebs I have liked, desired, admired,
or thought was cute, over the decades:
Robert Morse, Robert Redford, Kurt Russell, Lance Kerwin,
Vincent Van Patten, Danny Bonaduce, Ross Martin, Glynn Turman,
Dennis Miller, Chris Rock...

Phil Hartman is in a class by himself.

I'll also name some female stars I've admired:
Shirley Jones, Jodie Foster, Irene Cara, Pamelyn Ferdin,
Sydney Penny, Lonette McKee.

And for now I'm turned on by Bill Maher.

And, unlike in the Showboat song "Bill", it is his brain that makes me thrill!
It's certainly not his looks.  Although I'll admit, too, to liking short men.


A "dis" from The Simpsons:

On the episode "Pygmoelian", 
"After his photo on the Duff beer calendar is covered with a giant 
sticker because he is too ugly, Moe decides to get plastic surgery. 
He gets a new, handsome face and gets a role on the soap opera "It 
Never Ends." 

Homer comments that people on TV need to be beautiful.  Then he adds:
"That's why they won't let Bill Maher on TV before midnight."
click here and scroll for more details


A "dis" from Boondocks:

Huey and Riley reflect on the year after 9/11:
Boondocks 9/12/02


"Maher" in the Bible

Isaiah 8:1-4 (NIV)
The Lord said to me, "Take a large scroll and write on it with an 
ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. And I will call in Uriah the 
priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me." 
Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a 
son. And the Lord said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 
Before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother,' the 
wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off 
by the king of Assyria." 
(Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil) 


MNL & BM 4E...yeah, right!

Although I'm only a year younger than him, I think that's too old for him.
I'm a Christian, and although he believes in God, he distrusts organized religion.  (I don't blame him.)
I probably weigh twice as much as he...and I'm about four inches taller.

I have met him face to face, after the Friars' Club roast of Richard Belzer in NYC's Town Hall last year.
I gave him a copy of one of my poems.  He gave me his autograph.

If I could sit down with him for one session, there's a lot I'd like to ask him.  Such as:

"Besides not driving gas guzzlers (I don't drive at all), what can 
ordinary Americans do these days to help make things better, or at 
least tolerable?

"What is your spiritual take on things? 
(I don't mean just your religious affiliation. I noticed that you had 
a minister among your first guests on your first post-Sept. 11 show.)

"How does your spirituality affect your comedy--or vice-versa? 

"What is your relationship with God? What moves you to pray? In what 
ways do you think God "takes care" of this world? And of you?

"I know you don't think Jesus is a Republican, and I agree. But why 
don't YOU think so?

"And since you don't believe Jesus is a Republican, why was 
Christianity represented on PI by right-winged Republicans? Could you 
not find some moderates or left-wingers or apoliticals who follow Jesus?

"In what ways have your experiences growing up shaped your personal 
and political views? For instance, I can imagine that you were the 
short guy that all the big guys picked on--and that some of the girls 
wanted to mother you.

"When did you realize you were funny--or, when did you decide to be funny?"

And I have questions that are hard to put into words...questions that
can only surface when you're actually with a person.

Anyway, the Bill Maher website has linked to interviews with him.
When I read them, I can get some questions answered--and new questions
will form.

More Maher