Bill Maher: The Decider

The live comedy routine recorded on this disk took place in the last years of the administration of George W. Bush.

Over the last year I have gotten into Real Time thanks to HBO making it freely available as a podcast and it has introduced me to Bill Maher. In my limited experience he is flawed as a political commentator because he does tend to jump to extremes at times, losing his audience.

Bill Maher's recent stand up special "The Decider" was well done as Bill still as outspoken as ever continues to tell about things like they are. If anyone watches his HBO series "Real Time with Bill Maher" then you already know he's a liberal democrat and hates President George W.

Putting aside the obvious side that might come for the die-hard fans of Bill Maher- or rather those that watch Real Time each week it comes on- that some of the material present in The Decider was first spoken on the show, what's most impressive about this special is the flow of one subject to the next. As with Maher's other specials, particularly Victory Begins at Home, Maher has a well-rounded point to get at, but surrounds it cleverly with all of the subjects that need to be there for his delivery to work.

Bill Maher: The Decider (2007) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Bill Maher takes his political satire to Boston's Berklee Performance Center for this hour-long special, which originally aired on HBO. If you're a fan of Maher then you're going to know his type of humor and most of it is aimed at politics.