Maher needed to put away his notebook and be present at Chicago Theatre – Chicago Tribune

What a missed opportunity.

A little over 100 days into the presidency of Donald J. Trump and political satirists are riding high on the fact that so many of their viewers are feeling very low. Comedian Bill Maher currently in the midst of his 15th season on HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher" has certainly been the beneficiary of increased viewership due to Trumpophobia. In fact, this season he's enjoying some of his highest ratings ever.

This is a moment for Maher to take his brand of politically incorrect liberalism the guy literally hosted a show titled "Politically Incorrect," for crying out loud and bring it to the stage. People want to laugh even if especially if they're terrified. They're also ready to be challenged.

But despite a full house and an eager audience, the cynical liberal fire he brings to his show was mostly absent Saturday night at the Chicago Theatre, where Maher treated his hourlong, opener-less show like a complete afterthought, running through a number of softly familiar punchlines in a frequently distracted set.

Much of the distraction stemmed from a notebook Maher brought with him and propped on a metal stand beside him to refer to throughout the show. Presumably the notebook was meant to keep him on track it's not uncommon for a comedian to reference some kind of set list but Maher's overreliance on it pulled his energy, hampered his delivery and kept him from ever truly connecting with the material or the audience.

He's a busy guy recording a new episode of "Real Time" every Friday and performing on a number of weekends but a few more rehearsals were in order here.

Despite landing a number of solid jabs directed at the current president, his family, his cabinet and the entire Republican party (and even a few at overly PC liberals), Maher was decidedly distant for most of his set.

"Does anyone ever tell Trump these executive orders he signs aren't laws?" he asked rhetorically. "Because I think he thinks they are."

As most people buying tickets to a Bill Maher show would expect, the vast majority of his barbs took this form and were aimed at Trump and his voters, with Maher at one point saying that a liberal tea party is brewing, "but of course with more teeth and less misspellings on the signs."

Jokes like this make an audience feel both reassured and superior, and both on his TV show and in this show, Maher wields them with smugly deadpan aplomb.

But even on an off night, Maher isn't complacent enough to pander to standard left-wing ideologies. Toward the middle of his set he launched into a biting criticism of Islam a topic he's been very vocal and very adamant about that sucked the air out of the room, in a way he clearly intended.

"Don't start with me," he said as laughter turned to uncomfortable silence. "It's a religion of peace," he said facetiously. "There's a piece of you over there. There's a piece of you over there."

And here is the type of moment that Maher revels in: a confrontation. His show is set up to provide a platform for people with differing opinions to duke it out, with Maher making it clear whose side he's on. Here it was him against the audience.

"Liberals are supposed to be against oppression," he said, in a condemnation of burqas. "If we agree Donald Trump is not normal it's also not normal to throw a tarp over a human like a motorboat."

Throughout this section the laughter was sparse, but, oddly, there were a number of cheers and applause for some of his statements (for example, "I'm not anti-Muslim. I'm anti-bad idea."). And when he transitioned from mocking Islam to mocking the Catholic church, the laughter returned in an immediate, almost relieved way. "Now we're back to making fun of white people, thank God," Maher quipped.

Maher has never been one to shy away from a controversial opinion or a joke that could be classified as offensive, and that's to his benefit, but here his often muted delivery undermined the points he was making.

"I'm a little tired of 'Check your white male privilege,' " he said toward the end. "I checked. Yes, I'm still privileged."

Maher has earned the privilege of a national platform and the name recognition that goes with it he now needs to earn the kind of audience investment that will carry his set through the tough spots. He could start with a few more rehearsals.

Zach Freeman is a freelance writer.

ctc-arts@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ZachRunsChicago

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Maher needed to put away his notebook and be present at Chicago Theatre - Chicago Tribune