Bill Maher‘s Is Anyone Else Seeing This? is a sharp, unapologetically provocative stand-up routine that blends incisive cultural commentary with irreverent humor. Delivered in his signature no-holds-barred style, Maher tackles political extremism, woke culture, and societal contradictions with equal disdain, highlighting the absurdities of both left- and right-wing ideologies. From reflections on progress—peppered with biting jokes about marijuana legalization and societal over-corrections—to scathing critiques of cancel culture, identity politics, and the failings of modern parenting, Maher oscillates between cynicism and reluctant optimism. He rails against the erosion of free speech, the performative aspects of liberalism, and the dangers of tribalism, urging audiences to rediscover the art of conversation without vilification. While relentless in skewering hypocrisies on all sides, Maher’s wit remains self-aware, oscillating between levity and gravitas in his pursuit of uncomfortable truths.
The stand-up special premiered on January 10, 2025 on Max.
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Start the clock.
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Wow, that’s so nice of you. Thank you so much. I love you back. Thank you, Chicago. Always one of my favorite cities. I’m so glad I’m doing this here finally. Wow. Thank you so much. That makes me feel so great. I’ve always loved this town. Hope you’re in a good mood. We’re gonna have fun tonight. Good. ‘Cause hope you’re not brooding about the election. ‘Cause if you are, you’re in the wrong building here, okay? I’m not doing that shit again. You know what? It could–could it be bad? Yes. Trump could blow up the world on the first day. Absolutely. He could also sit there and eat cheeseburgers for four years and call in to “Fox and Friends” every morning. I don’t know. He’s too unpredictable. So he got the White House again, but he’s not gonna get my mind.
[cheers and applause]
Okay? And tonight, we are going to celebrate progress. America still makes a lot of progress, you know? It’s like– and liberals are bad at celebrating progress. You’d think they’d want to. Progressive–it’s in the name. It’s the product you’re selling. [laughter] But, you know, it interferes with virtue signaling. And you’re always safe to say–
[one person laughs]
Thank you, one guy.
[laughter]
[laughs] You’re always safe to say, there’s work to be done. Well, yes, always. We’re humans on Earth. There’s always work to be done. But we’ve also made a lot of progress in a lot of areas. I mean, take something like pot. I know I will. The fact that I can travel this country now without sweating bullets like I did for years and years, worrying that the fucking dog at the airport was gonna knock me out because he found a roach in my shaving kit or something. I swear to God, for years, this is how I traveled. I took this much pot, and I put it in Kleenex in a ball and hid it under my nuts. I swear to God, I did that. I smoked my own ball sweat for, like, 30 years on the road, and now I don’t have to. Progress. I remember the first time I went to a legal dispensary, after so many years of being furtive about this shit, I was, like, literally emotional. Really. I remember saying to the guy, thank you. Thank you for opening this place and making me feel like a free citizen whose participation in our hallowed democracy is now more complete. And he said, sir, this is a Baskin-Robbins. So that’s where the story breaks down, but– but look, Kamala Harris was bad on pot, put thousands of people in jail, and then changed. Am I mad at her? No. That’s progress. That’s how it happens. Obama was against gay marriage his whole first term. Am I mad at him? No. That’s how progress happens. You know? But the– the social justice warriors have this idea in their head that, you know, people who lived 500 years ago really should have known better. Yeah, like you would have, you know. George Washington had slaves. Yeah, so did everybody back then, including people of color in other parts of the world.
[scattered applause]
We’re not applauding slavery, are we? This is not an applause thing. It’s just a factual history thing. But– but it’s just something everybody did. The Greeks did it, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Arabs, the British, all the way up to P. Diddy. What? We’re in Chicago. We can talk freely.
So there’s always work to be done. I mean, pick up a newspaper. You know, it’s just a journal of work to be done. It’s not mostly good news. I was reading something the other day. This is very random, but okay. Like, North Carolina last year– this is last year– Changed the law of when you could eligibly marry. It was 14. And now it’s 16, which I still– I’m not kidding. They raised it from 14 to 16, which is still too young. 16–a lot of these kids haven’t even started transitioning yet. What? Can’t we give them time to be kids and do the things kids have always done, like get read to by drag queens? Just normal. No–and we love drag. Drag queens, yes, okay. Good. Now we know we’re the good people. We’re good people. We like drag queens. We’re good people. Okay, but can we now get real? Because I have– this whole thing, I feel like, is much more for the adults than it is for the kids, not that I think that the kids are really hurt by it. But do we really need to be loud and proud with five-year-olds? You know, I think there’s plenty of time for them to learn about drag queens and dildos and why Daddy has two phones. I mean, is it really so hard in this country just to not be exotic? Really? Where are my unexciting people? Where are they? How about a hand for the run-of-the-mill? What about for the unremarkable of us in the world, you know?
And I want everybody at my shows. I think we have to learn to sit together. I want everything from the spectrum. I want from super woke to QAnon in this crowd. What? No QAnon people? I love the QAnon people. The QAnon people, they think that Democrats eat babies and that they’re pedophiles. And I don’t think you can do both. I don’t know. I mean, if you’re a pedophile who eats babies, who are you gonna fuck in five years? Come on. Get it out of there. No, the QAnon people think that Hillary Clinton ran a pedophile ring out of a– you know this– out of a pizza parlor in Washington D.C. They believe in Jewish space lasers, whatever that is. They think a lot of the world’s elite are lizard people. Lizard people. Yeah, like George Bush was one, and Queen Elizabeth. You know, you see them out. They look normal. But, you know, you– sometimes you catch them. No wonder they put chips in the vaccine to track these people. I mean, come on. I’m kidding. They didn’t do that. But, uh–oh, speaking of that, I must say, what a pleasure it is, after two years, of having to hear laughs through masks–
[muffled laughter]
Bad for comedy– to now see these beautiful faces. And if you’re– and if you’re–you know what? If you still have a mask, I completely respect that. I think you’re a fucking idiot, but I completely respect it. Well, I mean, unless you have some serious condition. And then why are you out? You know? It’s like, if you’re a hemophiliac, don’t go to Benihana, okay? ‘Cause I’m not doing it again, the whole pandemic thing, unless it’s bubonic plague. And then I’ll fight you for the vaccine. But, I mean, not again. I mean, the whole thing was so surreal, the way we went mental for two years. And then just suddenly, boom, just right back to–mm. It was like–it was like, boy, I had a weird dream. I mean, we were eating dinner in the parking lot. I– Sorry. And I went to Cirque Du Soleil in Vegas, like, less than a year ago. And you’ve been to Cirque Du Soleil, right? There’s little people flying all–
[scattered applause]
Well, we don’t need to give them a hand here. It’s not–it’s not really about them, this bit.
[laughs]
But there was– you know, there was little people flying all over the stage. They’re 100 feet in the air, no net. Two of them had masks on, I swear to God. Because you wouldn’t wanna do anything dangerous, ladies and gentlemen. That’s–
[laughs]
And that’s my thing about, you know, who has the mask. It’s Gen Z. It’s like, who do I see walking outside alone with the mask on? What a bunch of pussies that generation is. You know what? Kids, you’re young. Roll the dice. You’re 22. It’s actually hard to die. I tried. But, you know, you do you. Just know that, you know, the medical community, I respect them, but they get a lot wrong. I seem to remember about six months when I was washing the mail. Do you remember that? Like every package was a stool sample from Chernobyl or something. What the? I mean, they just get a lot wrong. Not just with this. There’s hundreds of prescription drugs that we all took, or a lot of us. And then over the years, they pulled them off the market because they said they were safe and effective and then found out they weren’t safe or effective– or trans fats, which are fats that hate Dave Chappelle.
Ooh.
What? No. Trans fats are the ones they were telling us to eat 15 years ago, and now they’re illegal. And by the way, let’s back up to that “ooh” ’cause– let me make this clear, okay? I’m very supportive of the trans community. I’m also super supportive of free speech. And I love anybody who won’t let the mob tell them what to say about anything. People say to me– [chuckles] People say to me, you know, Bill, you make fun of the left more than you used to. Yeah, fuck right I do. And part of it is because that’s free speech. I take it a little personally. You know, free speech used to be a liberal thing. But then they got it in their head that getting their feelings hurt was more important than the First Amendment. They do this all the time. They do something nutty, and then they blame me for noticing. And say, oh, you’re a Republican now. I’m not a Republican, and I never have been. So let’s get that shit off the table. I’m not a Republican for all the reasons I never have been before. They’re too religious. They’re fiscal hypocrites who absolutely hate it when America spends money it doesn’t have, except when they’re in office, and then it’s always perfectly okay. Um. They’re in denial about racism, which is still a thing. They think climate change is a hoax and the weather girl’s tits are real. And they’re always blaming the underprivileged when they should be blaming the overprivileged. And then they– They added to that shitty mix tape. They don’t believe in democracy anymore, and have a new policy– elections only count when we win. So they have a comfortable lead in being the bigger threat. But I don’t hold my tongue for anybody.
You know, for the two years when I was trying to get Biden to step down, I kept referring to him as Ruth Bader Biden. Kind of true, wasn’t it? And, you know, people would–when people were about, people would say to me, oh, Bill, stop making fun of Biden’s age. You’re gonna help Trump. Right, like no one would have noticed otherwise. I– yeah, I the cat out of the bag about Biden’s age. No, I’m a noticer. That’s what I do. It’s what I’m supposed to do. So if I notice all the oversensitivity on the left and the victim culture and the cancel culture and the overemphasis on identity politics and the pointless white self-loathing that goes on, ugh. Don’t tell me the left hasn’t changed. I’m old enough to remember when it was the conservatives who hated the Jews. [laughs exaggeratedly] So you can threaten me with every label you want. I don’t bend the knee. If you do something goofy, I’m gonna call you out no matter where you are on the spectrum. I speak to a different group of people who are not ideologically captured by either side.
Fuck yeah!
Democrats, independents, and non-drooling Republicans– that’s my constituency. People that are just tired of the extremes, as I am, tired of the extremes and the extremists who control the debate, but who don’t represent close to a majority. I’m tired of the hating and the haters. I don’t hate half America, and I don’t wanna hate half America.
That’s right!
And I’ll tell you something about America. It’s complicated, more complicated than people give credit. Like, there are country music stars now with face tattoos. The governor of Kansas is a woman, and California has never had a woman governor. Okay, it’s a little complicated. We have a new vice president, JD Vance, who wrote a book about being a hillbilly called “Hillbilly Elegy.” And in it, he says, when he was eight years old, he lived with his grandma, who was born in 1933 in Kentucky and had 19 shotguns. Okay.
[laughs]
And he says to her, I think I’m gay, which I completely related to because when I was eight years old, well, they hadn’t invented homosexuality, but– but I knew what it was like to only like boys ’cause girls have cooties when you’re eight. So he goes to his grandmother, and he says, Grandma, am I gay? And she says–this is word for word in the book– she says, JD, do you wanna suck dicks?
[laughs]
And he says, no, I don’t. And she says, well, then you’re not gay. But even if you did wanna suck dicks, God would still love you. Okay, well, you know what? If JD Vance’s cocksucker-loving grandma can be that open-minded, maybe there’s hope that we’re better than we think. But I am not looking forward to Trump 2 because I already did all the jokes. And there’s just–with him, there’s too much material. You know, usually, with a president, there’s, like, one thing that we all latch onto. You know, Bush was stupid, and Clinton was horny, and– but this guy is everything. You know, he’s stupid, and he’s horny, and he’s crazy, and he’s fat, and he’s hot for his daughter, and he has a mushroom dick, according to– [laughs] A mushroom dick? Really? Well, that’s what Stormy Daniels said. And she hints that there is a sex tape and that we could actually get to see Trump’s penis.
[audience groans]
And you can tell it’s Trump’s penis because it has a big sign on the top– “Trump penis.” And also, it’s in Sean Hannity’s mouth. That’s the other way you put it. Gentle, good humor. That’s what we do here– gentle, good humor. Well, you gotta give Trump this. I mean, the skill at performance art. Remember that day he had his ear pierced?
[laughs]
And by the way, if you think there’s only conspiracy theorists on the right, I can’t tell you how many people came up to me around that time. Bill, don’t you think that assassination attempt was staged? Staged? Walk me through how you could stage a bullet hitting just the tip of your ear from 500 feet away. Yeah, shoot at my head. I trust you. But just graze me. Just–it’s a new shirt. I don’t wanna get a lot–you know. And who to perform this incredible feat of marksmanship? McLovin’ from the movie “Superbad.” So– And you have to admit that a shot was fired because there was a guy behind Trump, right, who got hit and died. By the way, that is so on-brand for Donald Trump, that he gets shot at and another guy dies. He’s–isn’t it? I mean, he’s Jesus in reverse. Other people die for his sins. But–
[laughs]
But as soon as it happened, the Republicans, I mean, immediately, they had the narrative. God–God did it! I mean, the blood had not dried on his foundation… When they were–[laughs] Divine intervention. He is risen. And I kept asking, what about the other guy who got shot? What does God say about him? Yeah, shit happens. I can’t be everywhere. I mean, that’s always been my thing about religion, really. You know, just too easy. Too easy, you know. It’s because people want to believe so badly that you don’t really have to make a big effort. I mean, what do you have to be to just start a religion, to be a prophet? Just some guy– and I do mean guy, ’cause it is kind of a sausage party, the prophet business. But just some guy who was out in the middle of nowhere, you know, in the mountains or up on a hill or in a desert, and come running into town– hey, everybody. You’ll never guess who talked to me when there was nobody around, darn the luck– God! Yeah, can you believe it? God. And he said he’s starting a new religion, and he wants me, a complete loser with nothing going on in my life, to be his infallible wingman here on Earth. Isn’t that awesome? So I took a few notes, okay? Number one, just do whatever I say. That’s, like, super key. And, uh, oh, yeah, I’m gonna have to be fucking a lot of the women in the compound. That’s just directly from him. I would not have it that way. But, you know, religion, it’s not exactly selling consistency. It’s not even really selling morality. What is it selling? Peace of mind. That’s what it’s selling. I know this because I know many religious people, and they all say the same thing, which is, when I put my head on the pillow at night, I know if I die in my sleep, I will go to a better place, to which I always say, then why don’t you hang yourself tomorrow? I– no, I’m trying to help. You said a better place. I–I have some rope in my car. We could do this tonight. But–
[laughs]
When people ask the question, what happens when I die, they don’t wanna hear, “Uh-uh-uh. Uh, something, nothing.” No, they wanna hear, mm– [chuckles] They wanna hear, we have a post-life package that I think you’re gonna find very exciting, because– ’cause that is what they are selling. I mean, that’s–and that’s actually what they’re competing with each other for. They have to come up with a great heaven– version of heaven. Like, I was raised Catholic. I was told, one man dies for all of your sins, which is really picking up the check for the whole table. I– that is a gentleman. Um, Mormons? Mormons believe that if you have a good marriage here on Earth, in the afterlife, you and your wife get to rule over your own planet. That is a nice perk, is it not? I– let me see that brochure. I’m gonna look at this very carefully. I love the Muslims. They go right to, you get pussy. What do you think about that? Pussy, pussy, pussy everywhere. Hmm, well, that brochure– although I suppose if I ruled over my own planet, I get all the pussy I want. Oh, wait. The old ball and chain will be with me. Give me the Muslim one again. But I mean, you know, religion and politics, very similar in that way, that it’s a lot about promises that they can never keep. But people just wanna believe. I mean, anytime Trump–you see him in front of one of his rallies, he’s always got a giant banner behind him that says “Promises kept.” To who? The asbestos industry? Who did this guy ever keep a promise to?
You know, I mean, the health care–remember that thing? He was–amazing, something terrific. And he didn’t even come up with concepts of a plan, not even concepts of a plan. He is the typical overpromising con man. He’s the guy who says to the woman, I am gonna give you the best orgasm you ever had, and then comes putting on the condom. You know that guy? That’s–this is– I mean, even his wall, that big stupid thing he was gonna build, is he couldn’t even build the wall to stop Mexicans from coming here and taking your jobs, the stupidest political premise I’ve ever heard, and I’ve been hearing it my whole life. Like you people would pick crops. Right. Oh, no, I get it. I get it. I get it. Because you know what? Sometimes, I take the drive up from LA to San Francisco, and… [sighs] You pass mile after mile of lettuce fields. And I’m just burning up in the car. God damn, these bastards have it all locked up! I wanted to get in on that in there. I wanted my kids to get into the lettuce field, and they can’t do it. I mean, the panic that goes through Fox News whenever there’s a caravan– ah! A caravan of brown walkers heading north to take your jobs. “Take your jobs.” Have you ever seen who’s in the caravan? Let me tell you, if an 11-year-old Honduran boy can take your job, you made vocational choices a long time ago that I think have a lot more to do with this. And I have so much more respect for that Honduran kid than I do for American kids who can’t make it to the mailbox without an EpiPen and a GPS tracking device. I mean, middle-class Americans should be so grateful to immigrants because, like, middle-class people have things that, when I was a kid, nobody had except the rich–maids, nannies, housekeepers, landscapers, gardeners. These things didn’t exist when I was a child. Are you kidding? The idea that my father would have help? Yeah, he had help–me. Me. A fabulous family of Mexicans I was. I could do it all.
[laughs]
But–
Love you, Bill!
I love you too. That’s an odd time to declare your love, but I appreciate it. Well, here’s a question for Democrats. Why does Trump keep doing better each time with immigrants? That’s pretty amazing. And I think I know why. It’s because liberals don’t really look like they like America, and immigrants don’t like the relentless negativity about a country they worked so hard to get to. You know, they’re– they’re not obsessed with what happened 400 years ago, and they don’t see this country only through shit-stained glasses. Ask them why they came here, and they will tell you, Ron DeSantis put them on a plane, but– also the other stuff.
[laughs]
No, I feel like we’re raising a bunch of ahistorical, America-hating hysterics in this country. And you know, whenever I talk to my friends who have kids in their 20s or their teens, they’re always bitching to me about how their kids are driving them crazy with their out-of-control wokeness and everything is, “That’s old thinking, Mom. You don’t get it, Mom.” You don’t get it. Get what? Defund the police? Tear down statues of Lincoln? Give communism another try? Get rid of the Border Patrol? Get rid of capitalism? You can be healthy at any weight? It’s cool to have penises in women’s shelters and women’s prisons? No, I don’t get it. Not ’cause I’m old, because your ideas are stupid. That’s what I don’t get. Just ’cause they’re new, it doesn’t make them better! New isn’t automatically better! I could come in tomorrow and go, hey, from now on, let’s eat in the bathroom and shit in the kitchen. It’s new. And this is one of the problems I think we have in this country. Nobody ever gets canceled for being too woke. That’s how you get things like, men can get pregnant. And everybody’s like, uh, yeah, absolutely. I’ve always said that. Of course. I saw a dude today glowing. [sighs] And I think a lot of people are just tired of having to pretend that things that are crazy aren’t, tired of being bullied by the most unfun people in the country, tired of walking around on eggshells because of the hyper fragile and the oversensitive.
These people– [chuckles] These people who have such a sense of entitlement about never having to feel a moment of discomfort from encountering a thought they don’t already have or a joke they don’t like. Fuck off, you fucks. Fuck you. Eloquent, huh? [chuckles] Oh, and the–is there anything more cringeworthy than the apologies that we have to listen to from people so often that, you know, sound like they’re right out of a Soviet reeducation camp, where you– you thank your accusers. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to learn what a repulsive shitbag I am. And I will try to do better. Oh, fuck off. It was a Halloween costume. Nobody died, okay? I mean, so much of this is just posing, you know? Liberalism isn’t about lifting. This is posing. Do you ever see when they do one of those land acknowledgments? Have you ever seen that? Okay, when they’re about to, like, put in a mini mall or whatever the fuck they’re gonna do anyway, they have a little ceremony so they can tell you how bad they feel about it first. We are standing on land that rightfully belongs to the proud Chumash people. Okay, either give it back or shut the fuck up, all right? Come on. Like you’d really rather have a teepee there than your Starbucks. And I know when people hear the word “woke,” it triggers them. And I understand that, because it started out as a great thing– alert to injustice. We’re all for that. But words migrate. I can’t control that. And now, like so many things, it’s been taken over by stupid white people.
Whoo!
And there–and there’s not one right there, not a stupid white person. There’s one of the good ones.
[laughs]
And it’s just about catching people. You know, a couple of years ago, they went after Dr. Seuss. Yes, that Dr. Seuss, author of “Green Eggs and Ham” and other controversial works. Why? Because when he was drawing in the 1930s, he drew Chinese people with pigtails, possibly because, in the 1930s, Chinese people wore pigtails. So I would say, if you’re gonna be a cartoonist– a little advice–if you’re gonna draw anybody ethnic, I would be very careful. Like if you’re drawing a–a Jewish person, I would make that nose very small, very small, like “Michael Jackson after the third operation” small– just a Jew dot right in the middle of the face. But you know, why are pigtails racist to begin with? They’re not, is the point. These people just like to bitch. They just like to find something to bitch about. Bitches and snitches– that’s what this country is. You know, I said a little while ago about little people, remember? Okay, so little people, that’s what you’re supposed to say now. Midget–bad, bad word. To me, this makes so much more sense if it had happened in reverse. If we had been saying little people, then they would have went, oh, for God’s sake, Bill, use a proper term like midget. Jesus Christ. You don’t call them little people. They’re not toys. What’s wrong with you? Midget. And then somebody would have come along. No, no, they’re the wee. We call them the wee now. No, they’re people experiencing weeness, is the–
[laughs]
I mean, I feel people– I think people think that wokeism is somehow an extension of liberalism, but more often, it’s the opposite. Let me give you 10 million examples. Homeless–you’re not supposed to say that word anymore. It’s people experiencing homelessness. I don’t think that goes far enough. I think we should call them wonderful, well-meaning people who, through no fault of their own, are taking a dump on my driveway. That, I believe, is the term we should be looking for. But you know, I have a little insight into this. I used to participate in this show for my beloved, wonderful HBO called “Comic Relief.” Remember “Comic Relief” with Whoopi and Billy and Robin? Okay. All right, well, we’re good liberals. We thought we were do– the compassionate view was, get the homeless off the street. That’s not the woke view. Their view of the homeless is, they’re an endangered species that needs to be protected in their natural habitat– living their best life under a bridge. Liberalism is about fixing things. Woke is about, you know– a lot of it is just renaming. Colleges, every year, many, many colleges, put out lists of words and phrases we are not supposed to say anymore, really dangerous stuff like “master bedroom.” You know, “white paper,” “blacklist.” “Insane” is on the list. I’d say that’s insane, but it’s on the list. And it pisses me off because, you know, it’s bad enough they took away the R-word, which is so desperately needed because this country is so R. You’re not supposed to say “reservation.” I guess that’s offensive to Indians. What are you supposed to say when you go out to dinner? Um–[laughs] Hi, we have, um–we’re supposed to eat here.
[laughs]
And you know, somewhere along here is where somebody says, oh, Bill, it’s so easy to pick on the fringe. It is, but it’s not the fringe anymore. It really isn’t. The “Washington Post” isn’t the fringe. Listen to this. Okay, so you know MrBeast, the YouTuber? He puts on these amazing stunts, very often for charity. And he did one last year called “Cured 1,000 people of disability.” Paid for a tent. All these doctors come in. They restored eyesight to 1,000 people. Good thing, right? Wrong! The “Washington Post” guy said, what needs curing is society’s view of the disabled. And BuzzFeed agreed. They said, MrBeast seems to regard disability as something that needs to be solved. Okay, people. Do you see what I’m talking about with the crazy? Please! Is anyone else seeing this? Yes? Thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Let me tell you something, folks. If I have a disability, do something. Fix me. I won’t be insulted, okay? Do what you have to do. Steal stem cells from a frog. AI–I don’t know– harvest organs. Whatever the fuck you have to do. But don’t sit around and talk about how awesome I am and how I’m just as good as you despite whatever fucked up thing I have. Fix me. Like it’s cooler to be differently abled. Huh. Yeah. Who wants to be like Mr. Mainstream over there with all his limbs? Ugh.
But I could do this all day, proving that it’s not just fringe. But let’s just do one more. “Scientific American”– can’t get much more mainstream than that. “Scientific American” now believes that the only reason the Los Angeles Lakers would reliably crush any WNBA team is because of societal bias, and The Atlantic agrees. “The Atlantic” put out a cover story last year called “Separating Sports by Sex Doesn’t Make Sense.” Um, yes, it fucking does. It makes perfect sense. [chuckles] I mean, they actually wrote the sentence, “Maintaining the binary in sports reinforces the idea”– the idea, this is, the idea– “that men are bigger, stronger, and faster than women, a notion that’s been disputed by scientists for years.” It has? Where? The New England Journal of What the Fuck? It hasn’t been challenged anywhere. And it’s not just an idea that men are bigger, stronger, and faster than women. And this is the root of the problem, that you can’t– we spoil the kids so much, they think you can change reality just by screaming at it. We raised kids wrong, like they’re just shorter adults– always blowing smoke up their little asses and calling them tiny geniuses, telling them their thoughts are just as valid as the adults. They’re not. They’re children. They’re stupid, like dogs. And–[chuckles] And, you know–
[laughs]
And you could say, oh, Bill, you don’t have kids. How would you know? Because I’m in people’s houses that do sometimes, and I see this all the time. Kids as young as ten will invite themselves into the adult conversations, and no one stops it. I mean, if I ever did this– I remember my parents in the living room with their friends. If I ever just walked in– I’ve had some thoughts about the Vietnam War that I think everyone– Get the fuck out of here. So we raise them wrong.
[laughs]
Then we send them to these asshole factories called elite universities. Really? Let me tell you, if ignorance was a disease, Harvard Yard would be the Wuhan wet market. And then the kids get out, and they’re like, there’s no good jobs. Yeah, because you majored in queer poetry of the Asian diaspora. Of course, there’s no jobs. You went to a four-year daycare center for the cry bullies of the privileged to complain about privilege. That is, when you weren’t protesting for terrorist organizations. Really? Really? Marching for Hamas? It’s like rooting for the planes on 9/11.
[soft laughter]
I said that’s like rooting for the planes on 9– [wild cheering and applause] I know you–I knew you’d agree with it if you just gave it a minute. I know it’s kind of shocking at first. But hey, kids, I have a great idea for you. Since you love Hamas and Hezbollah so much, why don’t you, next year, take your gap year in Iran? Uh–no, no, you’re gonna dig it. You will dig it. Make sure to bring your Queers for Palestine t-shirt. They’re very popular over there. And if you see the Ayatollah, tell him your pronouns. He loves that. And you wonder why the left catches more jokes from me? They changed, not me. Okay? Things changed. Just in five years, things changed a lot. Five years ago, penises meant something. Now, it’s like, congratulations. You had a boy. Well, let’s not be hasty. What, the penis? Oh, come on, that’s not really relevant anymore, is it? It’s a small factor, but I– I–I thought it was, like, a sixth toe at this point, just a useless vestigial appendage. I mean, I understand now, when they circumcise, they very often lop the whole thing off and just save us time later when it becomes toxic. And they are kind of cavalier, are they not, about gender reassignment, and make it sound like so simple and easy. Cut one off, snap one on. I mean– no, it’s not. It’s a major medical intervention that’s going to affect your health for the rest of your life. We just gloss over this. You know that when they give you a penis you’re not born with– I’m not mocking this or making fun of it. But they literally–they cut the flesh out of your thigh, and forevermore, you have a dick-shaped scar.
[laughs]
Again, I’m not mocking it. Maybe it’s a selling point in some places, but– I mean, with so many people doing this, isn’t there some better way, some sort of exchange? Have a penis? Give a penis. Need a penis? Take a penis. I mean, there have to be solutions, people. But again, you know, liberals understand and appreciate and love the fact that there are variations in human sexuality. And it’s great we live in a time when trans people can be respected and protected as they should be. But some of this is also just trendy. Some of this is a TikTok challenge that got out of hand. And we are the only country who does it the way we do now. All the other liberal countries in the world, they pulled back because they went with common sense and said, you know what? Kids are–you know, go through phases. Childhood is all phases. What, the Hello Kitty phase, the dinosaur phase. One minute, you can’t get them out of the room. The next minute, they wanna be an astronaut. If kids knew what they wanted to be at five, the world would be full of cowboys and princesses. I wanted to be a pirate. Thank God they didn’t take me seriously and scheduled me for eye removal and peg leg surgery.
All right, one more thing about this, and then I’ll go back to making fun of Republicans, but– But it’s interesting. When I was traveling this year, ’cause it’s an election year, in many states– red states, blue states– I saw all the ads the congressional people have up there, and it’s interesting. The Democrat ads, not one of them ever uses the word “liberal,” because it’s got so mixed up with woke bullshit that they’re embarrassed by it. But the Republicans cannot say the word “conservative” enough. It’s a “Conservative Brad Gunsberg is a conservative “for conservative Pennsylvania. “Brad Gunsberg will kill criminals “and bomb Mexico and tear the dress off your son. “Brad Gunsberg, conservative, “will legalize horse fighting and turn electric cars “into electric chairs. Brad Gunsberg is a conservative.” And those aren’t even the scary Republican ads. No, I’ve been to states where they don’t even mention policy. It’s just a guy with a gun shooting at some shit he don’t like in a truck. Gun, truck, truck, gun. Me like these things you like. Vote me! Really, it’s on that level, it’s– oh, it’s amazing what Republicans like these days. I would never have guessed. Russia? They like Russia? Fox News loves Russia. Wow, that’s a big one. And you know, we know a lot now about the typical Fox News viewer. Their average age is between 65 and decomposing. They are overwhelmingly white. They feel very cheated. And they think of themselves as very patriotic. Well, let me stop you right there. If you think what happened on January 6th, attacking the U.S. Capitol to overturn a free and fair election is an act of patriotism, you’re in a bigger bubble than the one I just described on the left, okay? I’m no constitutional scholar. But I don’t think it says, in case of loss, install your guy anyway. So yes, I’ll say it again. The left is infuriating with their aggressively anti-common sense agenda, but that can be handled through normal legislative means and elections. But what the right is doing– not conceding elections– no, when that’s gone, it’s gone forever. It’s like virginity. And then you’re a whore. Is that what you wanna be, America? A whore? [chuckles] Don’t answer that.
And you know, people say to me, well, but, Bill, the system held. No, it didn’t really. The only reason we had a smooth transition is that the one party in this country that still concedes elections lost. That’s the only reason it was smooth. So the system didn’t really hold, and the system still sucks. I mean, the electoral college? It’s the only thing worse than regular college. I mean, if Thomas Jefferson was alive, he would have two questions. One, Hamilton gets a musical before me? And two, we’re still using that thing from 1787? I mean, I live in California with 40 million people, and we get two senators, and the Dakota territory gets four. Why are there two Dakotas? Why is there one? There are more people in California named Dakota. Not that California is not an insane state, because it is. Oh, it is. I once tried to cut down a tree. I had 100 like it in my backyard. Can’t do that in California. I had to clear it with the city, the state, the Environmental Review Board, the Fish and Game people, the Parks Department, the UN Security Council, and the 11 Berkeley students who are now living in the tree… And won’t come down until I admit it has a soul. And look, I wanna be a good environmentalist. I have tried. I think the best thing I ever did for the cause was, I never spawned. No, not– this is not knocking kids. Kids are wonderful and important. They assembled my phone, but, um– Well, come on, let’s be honest. Everybody hates kids these days. I mean, how can you not? They’re feral! They are. They’re obnoxious, undisciplined, completely out of control. I’m convinced this is why anal is so popular these days. No, really. Because, you know, condoms break, pills can fail, but no sperm ever made it out of the shit chute alive, you know? It’s a real selling point if you don’t want kids. And–[laughs] But, you know, the abortion thing? Look, I personally am pro-choice, but, you know, I’d like to stand up a little for the pro-life people because they always get accused of, you hate women. You’re just– they don’t hate women. You just made that up. They don’t hate women. They think it’s murder. And it kind of is. I’m just okay with that. Sorry, unborn. There’s 8 billion of us here already.
[laughs]
We won’t miss you. What can I say? How could we? We never met you. And you never met us. How could you miss us? This is not a tragedy. Oh, Bill. All life is precious. Really? You know? I mean, I–[scoffs] Harvey Weinstein, Jeff Dahmer, Hitler. I could name people, you know? Remember Jeffrey Epstein? And he hung himself in his jail cell, and there was this big debate. Did he really hang himself in his jail cell, or was he killed in there to keep his mouth shut? But nobody went, what a shame about Jeff. I–I heard about it. I was sick all day. I– And by the way, it was neither one of those things. He was a child molester. Whenever a child molester goes to prison, the other prisoners always kill the child molesters. I love this about prisoners. I do. I gotta say, I find this so adorable, so charming that they have standards! You, sir, are not welcome in this establishment. I’ve discussed it with the other hatchet murderers, rapists, thieves, cannibals, and serial killers, and members of the co-op board and– You do not represent our core values. So you will have– But I mean, the abortion thing, a lot of that, come on, comes from religion. And I’m not anti-religion.
Ha!
[audience oohing]
Oh, wait, you’re right. I am. I am very anti. You’re right. You got me. You got me. I was thinking of somebody else. That is me. Very anti-religion. [laughs] Okay. [laughs] All right. [laughs] You got me. I’m anti-religion, but I’m fair about it, because I concede that religion does some good. I mean, it keeps some people in line. It absolutely does. It makes other people fly planes into a building. So we’ll call that one a push, okay? But no. But it, uh–charity work, very important. Circumcision, I’m a huge fan. Couldn’t live in a world without circumcision ’cause I watch porn. And how can you look at that thing, let alone put it in your mouth, for Christ’s sake? And if you have one, I’m just kidding. [laughs] I’m just kidding. Not really. Cut that shit off. It’s the 21st century. You’re grossing everybody out, Christ.
But I’ll tell you something interesting about that. If you get to a certain age and you haven’t completely fallen apart, people will say to you, as they sometimes say to me, you look good. Did you ever have plastic surgery? And I always tell them the truth, which is no, no judgment, just not for me. And then I remember, wait, you know what? When I was one day old, um… I–I did have some work done on my dick. That’s right. I–I was very conflicted about it. Will it make me… [laughs] Not seem authentic? But I’m glad I did it. But regular plastic surgery? I don’t understand that. Has no one noticed that they haven’t perfected this, that they really don’t know how to do it? Now you look old and weird. How is that better than just old? Someone has to explain this to me. And it puts a tremendous burden on the people who have to encounter you after you’ve had it done. I’ve had this happen many times, where you see somebody, and you go through, like, three permutations in one second. First, it’s… Who are you? And then it’s… Oh, my God, it’s you. Right into, you look great! Boy, I tell you, you look great. I don’t know what you did to yourself. Oh, I know what you did to yourself. But I tell you, I’m gonna be, on my next birthday, 69, which, when you’re– oh, oh. I never understand what that applause is. Hey, you’re alive. You’re not dead. Whoopee. Okay, but it’s funny. When that is the number you tell people, they all do the same thing. Elbow in the ribs–ah, 69! As if anybody ever did this. It’s the–it’s the Myspace of sex positions. It is the Betamax of fucking, right? I mean, nobody can do– everybody thinks they can multitask. They can’t. I tried it. I couldn’t do it. Are you kidding?
You know that thing they say– well, women say–that you’re supposed to like, do the alphabet with your tongue when you’re going down on them? Who can remember the alphabet when you’re getting your dick sucked? I was like– A–[laughs] F, fa la la, you know, Shohei Ohtani. I started mixing it up with the baseball players I was thinking about to stop from coming. I mean, it was just– [laughs] But can I ask a question just of the women about that thing with when the guy is doing the alphabet? Um, can you tell what letter we’re on? Because I–I would really love to know that. I–[laughs] And a follow-up question, does it have to be the English alphabet? Because I think you’re missing a big trick with Chinese. It’s 2,000 letters and a lot of curlicues and the roof of the pagoda. And, you know, I can see a guy with a carton from the takeout place trying to get it just right.
[sighs]
But let me just say– let me go back for one second to kids, because I’ve said a lot of bad things about the kids, and I just– I just wanna say one thing from the bottom of my heart. I really think that there’s never been a harder time to be a parent, and my hat is off to anybody who’d be a parent, because you can’t boss kids around anymore. My parents would be arrested today, arrested, for raising us just the way everybody did. You know, walking alone– oh, Christ. Call 911. What? I used to come home every day from school. I would fly up to my room, get into my play clothes, fly out the door. My mother never once said, where are you going? Where am I going? Kid stuff. I’m gonna do kid stuff. What the fuck is it to you where I’m going? I’m gonna do whatever I do between 3:00 and 6:00, and you do whatever the fuck you do between 3:00 and 6:00. And I’ll see you at dinner. “Where am I going?” Nosy bitch. Jesus. “Where am I going?” I mean, I feel like, yeah, I don’t have kids, but everything I see with them, it’s just so ass-backwards. You know what I hear a lot? My kid is my hero. What? She’s six. Who’s your kid? Anne Frank, for Christ’s sakes? And like, I mean, I see kids in TV and movies and, you know, like, the parents always apologizing to the kids. You know, everything– sorry, buddy. I let you down, buddy, you know, ’cause Dad cheated or something. Okay, well, you know, Daddy gets erections. Maybe when you get erections, you’ll be a little more forgiving. They’re hard to refuse. My whole life, people have been saying, you know, don’t let your dick rule your life. Don’t think with your dick. Well, why not? It’s gonna win anyway.
[laughs]
Honestly, my dick is like the dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park.” They’re gonna get out, okay? [laughs] They’re gonna get out and– This may be why I never got married. I don’t know, but– which is not that rare anymore, I feel. And yet people are endlessly fascinated by this. Like, why didn’t you ever get married? I’ll tell you. It’s not that complicated. It’s just personal taste. Like, okay, here’s the number one reason. Whenever I ask married people, like, about the marriage, the answer is always some variation of, well, it’s tough. You know, it’s, uh… it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work. It’s–it’s never, yippee! Oh, ho, ho, ho! Okay, I don’t wanna work. Does that make me shallow? I don’t care. That’s who I am. I don’t wanna work, just like I don’t wanna go on a hike. Unless you like hiking. See? Some people do. It’s just personal taste. I went on one hike once. Oh, God, I hated it. It was, like, 20 years ago. I had a girlfriend, had a dog, and I had a dog. She said, let’s take the dogs on a hike. Oh, fuck. It was fucking hot and dusty. I hated the other hikers. My dog got about 20 feet and just went, fuck this, and laid down on the–he’s like, I’m not doing this, hiking in a fur coat in the summer. Jesus. Okay, so–and here’s another thing that scares me about marriage. Sometimes, I’m in a restaurant. I see across the way, there’s a table and a couple sitting across from each other, and they’re not speaking. And I know they’re married. And, uh, they’re not mad at each other. They just ran out of conversation in 2006. It’s the–
[laughs]
And every once in a while, one of them will burble up some, “Well, I see the school is getting a new coat of paint.” I just wanna walk over and place a revolver down on the table and say, if either one of you wants to use this on yourself or each other, everyone here will understand completely. There’ll be no judgment. So–[laughs] And yes, I have never actually been married, but I’ve been in long-term monogamous relationships. I get the drill. I know what it is. I bet you, I– I bet you, I share this feeling that we’ve all had in long-term relationships. Tell me if this isn’t true, that, you know, sometimes you’re– you’re home with your loved one, your spouse, whatever, and they’re about to leave for the airport on a trip. [laughs] I’m not saying you wish the plane would go down, but… it would solve a lot of problems. [laughs] It really would.
[groans and laughter]
No, I know it’s terrible. It’s terrible. And whenever I’ve had that feeling and thought that, I felt terrible… for the other 200 people on the plane who have to die so that I can be happy again. But something had to give. And okay, just one more thing. Also, when marriages go bad, sometimes, they go so bad– I don’t know if you saw this. It didn’t get a lot of coverage. But a couple of years ago, Johnny Depp got divorced. Oh, you did see that? Okay. Well, I mean, the things they did to each other. I mean, I may not be a Johnny Depp, but no girl ever shit in my bed, okay? And I did once have a fight about the bed. It wasn’t about that, not about shit. But–and I will preface this by saying, I think women are perfect ethereal creatures, and I will fight anybody who says different.
Whoo!
Thank you. But once in a blue moon, you get one who’s a little pushy, just once in a blue moon. And this girl–and we weren’t even together that long. And she says to me, “I want you to get a new bed.” I said, what? “I want you to get a new bed.” Why? “You’ve had other girls in that bed.” I said, you’ve had other men in your vagina. But are we gonna get a new one of those, for crying–
But I gotta say, I think that a woman getting mad at you for having had other women in your bed, it’s just more evidence that humans aren’t really that different. I know the kids think that they can reinvent humanity and that we’re all fluid now, and gay and trans and non-binary and on the spectrum, but we’re not. How do I know we’re not? Because The Bachelor is still on. That’s how I know. So–and look. Again, if you’re not that, if you’re something different, again, we applaud this. Progress, we love it. Facebook has 56– 56–gender categories. I’m happy for all of you. Great. Enjoy. I’m sure there are people who, you know, identify as a cat and shit in a litter box, but– And I’m happy–and I’m happy for you that you live now in the age of the internet. Because before the internet, those kind of lives, if you were different, must have been very lonely. But now, whatever you’re into, you know, just type it in– and to get off, I need a lesbian to pee on me while I play with toy trains. In two minutes, there’ll be 300 weirdos. Me too. I– what kind of trains do you use? I only use Lionel. I– And I will also say– and please, I apologize to being crude, but it’s just true– I’m sorry, girls like dick. They just do.
[women cheering]
See? How do I know this? Because they’re willing to put up with men to get some. That’s how I know this. And I know men are bad because they keep making movies where beautiful women will date and fuck and fall in love with entities that are barely human or not human at all. Did you see The Shape of Water won the big Oscar a few years ago? Oh, she fucks a fish. I mean– but a nice fish. That’s the message of all these movies. That’s how bad it is out there. Just be nice to her, and you can get laid as a fish. You know, Beauty and the Beast, it’s right in the title. He’s a beast, but he’s nice to her. King Kong is a gentleman. He could kill her. He’s got her in his hand. He could squeeze you to death. No, he takes you to a nice restaurant on the top of the Empire State Building. It’s very romantic. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is not a great-looking guy. He gets laid because he writes her poetry. He doesn’t send a dick pic! I mean, guys these days, they’re so lazy, you know? I mean, they think they’re gonna get laid with just, ooh, what’s up? Eggplant. I mean, guys, women have not changed that much. They’re communicative creatures. They need to be wooed. You gotta think of that pussy like a nightclub, and you’re not on the list. You gotta talk your way into that shit. You gotta compliment their hair, notice what they’re wearing, and ask about their day. I know, it’s a fucking nightmare, but you gotta do it. You gotta do it. Just don’t overdo it.
We have that problem too. See, this country can never correct, always has to overcorrect. So now we’ve also pussified too many men. I saw the last– most recent, anyway– James Bond movie. Anybody see this? Oh, my God, they pussified James Bond. He literally takes his girlfriend and her kid on his mission to save the world. He practically stops off at Target to buy tampons on the way to the underground volcano lair. Oh, for Christ’s sake, can’t we have one badass, toxic, masculine guy who fights crime in a tuxedo? They’ve been making this movie for 60 years. It’s a formula. James Bond always fucks three hot chicks in every movie. He fucks the scientist’s daughter, he fucks the bad guy’s girlfriend, and he fucks the super hot British agent he’s working with who’s always, like, prim and proper and “Mr. Bond, I know your reputation. Don’t think you’re going to”– cut to… [groaning] Every time. [humming “James Bond” theme] [as Sean Connery] Thank you, Ms. Hot Pussy.
[laughs]
All right. I think we did good. Uh–[laughs] I know you did great. No. I think we did good because we sat together, people who don’t necessarily agree on everything, and that’s what we have to do. We have to sit together again, talk to each other, don’t cut each other off. Talk, just not about politics. This is what we never used to do. I remember my parents with their friends. They had an inkling, sometimes, that their friends didn’t share their politics. But they didn’t go there. It was literally considered impolite. We had no idea how much we hated each other, and it worked out so much better.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. I love this city. I love playing here. You’ve always been great to me. Thank you, Chicago. Thank you to everybody who worked with me on this show here. They did a hell of a job. And I’ll see you next week on “Real Time.” Thank you very much.
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[bright tone]
