Bill Maher on Letterman, 7/22/86

[heatbucspies55]

I;m not saying who did it when, but all I know is that Reagan bit has basically been done like 3 times.

Belzner and Hicks did it too.

I realize people can have similar thoughts, I'm just pointing it out.

[rohitrez]

bill is so awesome

[doudoub2005]

wtf he went from doing stand ups to active in politics

[thefloacist]

@doudoub2005 He's still a comedian.

[IggyIrons]

@zephranna01 Great troll.

[CaptEm1]

@zephranna01 Sounds like someone's in love.

[jime3o]

night rider LOLZ

[oobah2]

@zephranna01 Lol, you can't seriously believe that?? If you do, then I truly feel sorry for you. Billo has been outsmarted by many people on national television and he's almost never even aware of it. He's not stupid, but he often turns into a grade A asshole when he's losing an argument. It's unfortunate that you still believe there's even a hint of intellectual capacity in that guy.

[oobah2]

@zephranna01 Check out the interview he has with Stephen Colbert on his show. He tries to keep up with Colbert's cleverness and just get his clock cleaned for about eight minutes straight. Both Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert are infinitely smarter than O' Reilly, and I don't just say that because I disagree with him politically. He gets caught in his own lies and misinformation all the time. Plus, if he's so clever, why is he always resorting to bellowing over his guests and cutting their mics?

[oobah2]

@zephranna01 I agree, Bill O' Reilly is the worst!

[LordGuinness]

It's Michael Flatley!!!

[raptorculiacan]

Way to bomb on national TV.

[kdemon17]

Old school bill ftw

[bigbengamer]

OMG what's with the hamburger meat?

[TheFonz1992]

Holy shit, it's old-school Bill.

[JESUSr00lz]

That outfit! D:

[Erikamo206]

Ok, I feel the need to address all the chest hair haters. Folks, this was 1986. This is before men used to shave their chest hair. I know this is a shock, but in 1986 it was sexy. That is why he is showing it. The shirt, the pants and the chest hair -- yep, all sexy in 1986. BTW, humor, intelligence and fearlessness are still sexy.

[BenjaminTLaing]

It's the puffy shirt!

[FoxhoundMoses]

I didn't know Bill was a Raëlian

[stoffalicious]

Pimp with the chest hair, even in the 80s.

[ThreeNinesFine]

For a second, I thought he was going to bring out a white tiger.

[amernice]

always great

his jokes aren't always hard hitting and laugh out laud kind of jokes but always thought provoking and clever.

a sign of a great comedian

"never give a shit if the audiance reacted to a joke or not, all you have to do is to act as if every joke killed"

Amernice

[williamross15]

does anyone know who came up with the Regan joke first...Bill Maher or Bill Hicks? Hicks does a very similar joke and I'm wondering who stole from who.

[jerkylfish]

@williamross15 That kind of joke I could see them both coming up with independently and not knowing the other one is using it... I don't think Bill Maher would steal a joke.

[artistsandbox]

@jerkylfish well think again

[iChesus]

@williamross15

you know, because when two jokes are similar, it's ALWAYS because someone stole one from someone else. it couldn't possibly be a very basic concept that happened to be thought of by two very articulate and intelligently witty and comedic people to make a joke about!

[heatbucspies55]

@williamross15

You shouldn't just assume stealing is involved with a similar bit, it;s very possible to have similar thoughts, especially something so in your face as the Reagan thing.

But also, Richard Belzer did that joke as well.

[duplux]

He's wearing a vagina on his chest

[GZahos]

It's like a tour of his hair over the years. :)

[ALLMYHEROSWEARMASKS]

Bill's my favorite, but he totally looks like a gay mobster...

[Sexycosy]

@ALLMYHEROSWEARMASKS ...in other words, he looks like a pimp, huh? LOL

[Theladiesman04]

He looks like a 1960 porn star.

[eddo1983]

He looks like Swayze!! Haha

[tonybeir]

wow. compared to comedians of the same time he is miles ahead as far as poignant material

[dehtrim1]

He has better jokes about religion and politics than random every day jokes

[cano21]

@dehtrim1 Yes, his hate-jokes are great. No one can express hate quite as funny as Bill Maher.

[lordmaldad]

He looks exactly the same, only with dark hair.

[blacksmith8844]

The Reagan bit was straight from bill hicks:

watch?v=0BZ0jkCzAqs

[eddo1983]

@blacksmith8844 I'd say its close but hicks want big in 86 and it isnt quite the same. I am a huge Hicks fan and like the one about lennon murdered, kennedy murdered, lincoln murdered, reagan wounded

[SwampAshHSS]

@blacksmith8844

perhaps,,,but you still gotta love Maher

[slbkitty32]

meh, he's gotten better.

[Jani2207]

Letterman is still the same except for his looks :D

[mcquestion]

He looks like a swingah!

[rollthebones18]

Holy Chest Hair, Batman!

[stashJ8]

so much for reagan being indestructable

[GoHiltyGo]

He bombed. lol

[anetchi]

What a cutie he was, he's still got it : ) Bill Maher kicks ass!!

[alSation81]

he was very good-looking back then!

[jimdidr]

The bit about Ragen is very simaler to 10 seconds of Bill Hick's routine...

[ticklezpicklez]

He has the nerve to talk about 'Shakespearean'...look at the way homeboy's DRESSED! LULZ @ the 80's.... !!!

[padraic2001eire]

Hmmm, either Bill Maher stole that bit about Reagan being like Jason off Bill Hicks, or Hicks stole it off Maher. If you want to see Hicks performing said routine, youtube Bill Hicks on Ronald Reagan (although the fact that that clip was recorded in 1988 doesn't mean Hicks wasn't performing it long before then).

[neoldd1]

Who knows? Bill Maher stated in an interview that he stole jokes in the beginning of his career...at least he was honest about it.

[padraic2001eire]

Really? Do you know where I could find that interview?

[neoldd1]

Hey, you got back to me very fast mate! Watch this interview; as I said before it might not apply to the issue we were discussing but he mentions stealing jokes off TV around the 4th minute of the video. I think this is how all comedians begin; watching others and being inspired. It is not the case of Dennis Leary and Bill Hicks.

Search this:

Close Up Bill Maher

[ApocalypsePlough]

Nice shirt.

I needed sunglasses to watch.

[UppruniTegundanna]

Yeah, and that shirt sucks too!

[thepratingknave]

Actually, he's about thirty. Born 1-20-56. It's weird seeing him this young. But good. I wish someone had a copy of at least one of his appearances on Carson. Maybe someday.

[friction6]

There one on youtube, the same one shown on Riligulous, look it up

[PRASFB]

He would have been 33 here.

[sigmiami]

bill is a cock sucker

[ernie645]

how old is bill right there?

[cheferabelo]

I gues he is 53.

[ancek85]

same comparison hicks did, reagan as jason... who did it first?

[hunyghan]

Nice shirt Fabio.

[gokylegokylego]

haha. I love Bill, but yea, this shirt is pretty gay... reminds me of the dude who was attacked by a tiger in vegas...

[mannycomforter]

80's was the funest decade!

[somewhatlongdong]

check out Bill's groovy hairy chest!!

[TheIkaraCult]

mmm he isnt very good is he? He's being upstaged by his own beltline. Still, he turned out alright

[Sshelly34213]

eh he had to censor it, comedy always sucks when its censored.

[LAFX7]

He was 30 here, He's now 53

His face has aged really well, can't say the same for his hair

[76firedragon]

His hair is thinning but I think it would look better if they didn't slick it down on the show. Just let it be wild and fluffy like it was in the 80s!

[Grahf]

Wow, 80's fashion.

[rncoco]

so young!

[wittyvegan]

Bill is like a good wine: He gets better with the years.

[hornybodhisattva]

SOOO WELLL SAID!

[Sexycosy]

@wittyvegan Most definitely a good wine... and a great vintage, too

[acphenom]

@wittyvegan Ironically, that cliché is the opposite - it gets more and more ball-achingly tedious every time I hear it again

[ucntcit]

"show's ova"

[iamgerald2000]

he looks so young, and jokes were a little clean.

[bahramf]

classic.

Thanks for the post.