It's just after 10 p.m. Friday, which is prime time for fans of comedian Bill Maher and his politically charged HBO show "Real Time with Bill Maher."
The show is on summer hiatus for a few more weeks, which has caused some of Maher's fervent fans to experience withdrawal symptoms.
An energetic and surprisingly diverse crowd (it's not often that senior citizens sit alongside college students at an entertainment venue) found refuge Thursday night at the Riverside Theater, where Maher spent more than 90 minutes riffing on his go-to themes like politics, the environment, religion, corporate greed and drug companies.
With George W. Bush's second term winding down, potshots at the president seemed to carry a "once more, with feeling" vibe.
Then again, much of Maher's material was taken from the sharply crafted monologues and the brilliant "New Rules" segment that make his TV show popular.
Much of Maher's material early in the set focused on Hilary Clinton's bid for the presidency, which has been a fading footnote for much of the summer. When Maher took a few jabs at former Republican candidate Mitt Romney, it may have been the first time in months that many in the crowd heard that name.
Though familiar to die-hard fans, Maher's punch lines about John McCain's age and Bush's IQ elicited rollicking laughter for most of the set. Though there were a few sparks, Maher didn't catch fire until a late-show rant on religion, which is the subject of his upcoming documentary "Religulous," which hasn't even been released yet but still brought protesters to the front entrance of the theater.
Maher, looking trim and healthy at age 52, leafed through a binder on a music stand to keep the show moving (many comics "cheat sheets" taped to the stage floor) and showed his standup chops by dressing down people who interrupted the set with unintelligible and unintelligent babblings.
At times during the show, Maher failed to pause a beat to allow the wave of laughter to reach the back of the room before diving into his next line. That could be a sign that he's used to playing smaller rooms or not in tip-top performing condition. The show probably ran a little longer than needed, too, but those ticks did not detract significantly from the overall impact of the performance.
The larger issue was that some of Maher's material seemed recycled and almost out of date, which is a hazard in this age of constant information overload.
Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Keith Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly and others come up with new material every night. But, they don't need to fill 90 minutes to justify a $49 ticket price.
Maher and his writers bring the goods each week on "Real Time" and you get the feeling that when they all get back into the conference room after vacation, the fireworks will be worth watching.
With an important election looming, they certainly won't be lacking material.
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
