Bill Maher Makes Major Career Announcement About Next Stand-Up Special
Bill Maher announced a major career pivot on his 'Club Random' podcast during a conversation with fellow comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
Bill Maher revealed on his Club Random podcast that he’s planning to quit stand-up after his next special. Maher was speaking to fellow comedian Jerry Seinfeld when he dropped the bombshell, telling his guest that he was “nervous” to break the news.
“After this year, I’m going to stop doing [stand-up],” Maher announced.
Though Seinfeld was stunned, Maher said he had no interest in making the news melodramatic. “I don’t want to make a big announcement or something,” Maher said, before noting that his upcoming HBO special—due out later this year—will be his 13th comedy special.
“That’s a lot,” Seinfeld agreed.
“I put a lot of time and effort into it,” Maher explained of his upcoming special. “As you know, stand-up is like playing the cello. You can’t just walk up there. You have to stay in practice. And I do, I’ve always loved it. I’m always working on it. But I have a [television] show.”
Maher has hosted the weekly talk show Real Time with Bill Maher since 2003.
“I don’t know how you kept [performing stand-up] during the show, or frankly, why,” Seinfeld asked his host.
“Because they fed each other, it was so great, and also because I love it,” Maher explained. “I can be the loosest—the show’s great, but there’s constrictors there, [Club Random] is looser, but what’s looser than just, you people paying to see me. Even if you don’t like it, you kind of have to laugh.”
Maher didn’t want to make any solid commitment on his retirement, though. He told Seinfeld that he could easily reneg on the decision.
“After 40 years, that’s why I don’t want to make an announcement like, ‘This is my final [performance]” Maher began. “I might change my mind. It might be like cutting off a limb, and I have to go back to it.”
If Maher does retire, he has at least some idea of how he’d like to spend his time away from the stage. Namely, he wants to go right back to performing—but in a different form.
“If I don’t have to practice the cello eight hours a day, I might want to do some [Club Random episodes] live,” Maher suggested. “That’s kind of an interesting option that people do nowadays. It’s kind of an event.”
New episodes of Club Random drop every Monday. Real Time with Bill Maher airs Friday nights at 10 p.m. on HBO, and is streaming on Max.