What This Comedian Said Will Shock You
Bill Maher
Simon & Schuster
In a cooler cultural climate it might be considered less shocking, maybe even kinda normal. However, these are truly toxic times, and with his latest book, What This Comedian Said Will Shock You, celebrated stand-up Jedi Bill Maher “shocks” readers by doing the most outrageous, unthinkable, and socially unacceptable thing imaginable: he speaks rationally, logically, and objectively. For the love of God, somebody find us a “safe space” — fast!
Inspired by the sermon-style editorials delivered at the end of every episode of Maher’s popular, long-running HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher, each of the 24 chapters touches on a different hot-button topic, from cancel culture and religion to guns, drugs, and money, as well as a few of Maher’s favorite go-to concerns — free speech, democrats, and republicans, all sliced up with razor-sharp wit and served with heaping helpings of signature snark.
Despite remaining faithful to his acknowledged, tried-and-true brand, Maher will still succeed in infuriating some readers while enthralling others. I, as a fella who proudly owns a purple soul, recognize that anyone who possesses both the life experiences and wisdom to play the Huckleberry Hound card is somebody I absolutely want to hang with from cover to cover. PLEASE, marry me, Bill!
The most compelling component of the near-400-page dissertation is Maher’s knack for spewing common sense. “Facebook — all social media — is the place where thinking went to die,” Maher writes. “We have to get past this endless, unforgiving, zero-tolerance mindset.” C’mon, preach it, Pastor Bill!
Maher’s objectivity is refreshing, making it easier to receive the message he’s transmitting — allowing the “R”s and the “D”s to both come in and sit a spell, without getting too terribly butt hurt — that is, as long as they have undergone a proper stick-removal procedure.
Seriously though, the book is laugh-out-loud funny. Coffee shot from my nose more than few times throughout my week-long morning reading mission. “Hitachi Magic Wand?” Oh, Bill, you are positively incorrigible! Conversely, the too-oft name-calling — “idiots,” “dopes,” “morons,” “assholes,” and the “pretend guy in the sky” — trip can occasionally compromise Maher’s otherwise crisp comedic value.
It’s often not what Maher says, but how he says it that makes What This Comedian Said Will Shock You such an entertaining and highly recommended read — just enough elitism mixed with sufficient smugness and plenty of sack-smacking gusto — you know, like that Jesse Watters book. Wow, now THAT is shocking!
