Club Misery: How the godless elite let the truth slip about atheism



What do Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Bill Maher, and Ricky Gervais have in common?

If you’re the sort of person who reads HuffPost, sips oat milk lattes, and thinks everything wrong with the world boils down to white men with opinions, you probably already have your answer: privileged patriarchal monsters.

Atheism, in its purest form, is an ideology of erasure, a faith in subtraction.

But if you’re a little more honest — and a little more curious — you’ll notice something different.

These aren’t just successful men. They’re atheists — and they’re also, quite clearly, miserable.

Bill Maher

Maher is a comedian by trade, but rarely funny any more — at least not in the way that feels joyful or generous.

On "Club Random," his podcast that masquerades as freewheeling conversation, Maher talks over his guests so relentlessly that it’s become the most consistent punch line in his YouTube comments.

  • “Stop cutting them off, Bill.”
  • “Let them speak, for once.”
  • “Do you invite guests just to hear yourself talk?”

He lectures, sneers, and plays the same greatest hits week after week. He’s not sharing ideas — he’s performing superiority. You can practically feel the clenched teeth through your screen.

Richard Dawkins

Then there’s Richard Dawkins, the patron saint of Darwinian superiority, the man who turned religious skepticism into a career of scowling, condescension, and book tours.

Dawkins hasn’t smiled in public since the Cambrian explosion. He scolds believers like a substitute teacher who can’t believe anyone is still talking about God after he’s assigned the fossil chart. Every public appearance is an exercise in barely contained frustration — at creationists, at the Bible, at people who pray for the sick instead of shrugging their shoulders.

RELATED: Richard Dawkins' atheism collides with reality — then it crumbles

Dawkins doesn’t merely disbelieve. He resents belief, and nothing is more exhausting than a man perpetually outraged that billions of people don’t think exactly like him.

Ricky Gervais

Some will point to Ricky Gervais as the exception.

An atheist, a comedian, a master of satire, and they’d be right — at least partly. Gervais is funny. Incredibly so. But happy? That’s another story.

Gervais has never struck me as someone content. Even in interviews, there’s a fog of irritation that never quite lifts. He’s always complaining, always nagging, always rolling his eyes at something. And while he packages the whole thing in charm and wit, the engine underneath doesn’t sound like joy. It sounds like frustration dressed up for a Netflix special.

His entire career — brilliant as it may be — has been a decades-long monologue of gripes. Yes, he makes people laugh. But the deeper source of it all feels like a man quietly suffocating on his own disbelief. If in doubt, feel free to watch his recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, a practicing Catholic, where he spent minutes rambling about everything wrong with himself and the world — his body, his brain, society, death.

Funny? Sure, but also bleak. The laughter lands, but the undertow is pure despair.

And then there’s "After Life," his hit Netflix show. Lauded for its honesty, praised for its emotion. But look closely, and what you see isn’t fiction; it’s confession. A man mourning his wife’s passing, clinging to sarcasm like a flotation device in a sea of grief. It’s gulag humor without the bars — just a soulless bloke with a dog and a sharp tongue, cracking jokes to keep the walls from closing in.

Gervais is playing himself. "After Life" isn’t just a comedy — it’s an atheist’s eulogy.

Sam Harris

Gervais' close friend Sam Harris is no better.

Before he was consumed by Trump derangement syndrome, he was a sharp mind who took a blowtorch to radical Islam. Harris positioned himself as the cold, rational surgeon cutting through sacred narratives full of hate and delusion.

But even then, the man radiated pessimism. There was always an oddness to him — like he was describing humanity from orbit, distant and curiously detached.

These days, it’s worse. His permanent frown, his stilted delivery, his fixation on Trump supporters as if they’re some primitive tribe to be studied under glass — it all screams anxiety, not authority. He doesn’t project clarity. He projects burden. Every podcast, every essay, every panel feels like another brick in a bunker of airtight, joyless "reasoning" — sealed off from awe, from beauty, from anything resembling peace.

No comfort. No transcendence. No light. Just a man methodically dismantling meaning while sounding more drained with each attempt. Harris whispers meditations and mouths moral truths, all while insisting there’s no divine author behind any of it.

Christopher Hitchens

Even the great Christopher Hitchens — brilliant in so many ways — died with a cigarette in one hand, a scotch in the other, and a rage against the God he claimed didn’t exist.

Hitchens was a man of genuine intellect and rhetorical firepower. He could dazzle a room into silence. He could devastate an opponent with a single line. Joy, however, was never part of the package. The Brit burned hot, but never warm. His wit wasn’t rooted in love. It was weaponized. He didn’t laugh with you; he laughed at the absurdity of the world and often at the people trying to find meaning in it.

RELATED: Neil deGrasse Tyson tries to mock Christianity — but exposes his own ignorance instead

His takedowns of Mother Teresa, of Henry Kissinger, of religion itself — they were theater, yes. But they were also therapy. They came from a place of deep unrest. His war wasn’t just with belief systems but with the very structure of consolation. The human need for mercy, for absolution, for something sacred. He couldn’t tolerate it, maybe because he wanted it too much.

Atheism didn’t bring him peace. It gave him license to rage: to reject sentiment, spit on tradition, and scorn the spiritual longings of billions.

He could speak for hours. But when it came to rest — to true stillness — he had none.

The problem with atheism

The problem with modern atheism isn’t just lack of belief. It’s that it builds identity around lack itself, around the removal of things. Strip away God, strip away the soul, strip away metaphysics, strip away teleology, and what’s left isn’t freedom — it’s vacancy.

Atheism, in its purest form, is an ideology of erasure, a faith in subtraction. And subtraction, no matter how eloquently defended, is not a place from which joy can grow.

It is, however, a place from which misery flourishes. Consciousness gets recast as a glitch, morality as adaptive behavior. Love? A chemical bribe from nature. Everything that once lifted the human soul now gets filed under "illusion."

And illusions, we’re told, are best destroyed.

RELATED: How atheism created a terrorist — but his bomb shattered secularism's illusions

But here’s the truth atheists ignore: You cannot build a life — let alone a civilization — on negation. You cannot inspire the heart with “there is no God,” no matter how clever the phrasing. You can’t raise a child on “nothing matters” and expect the child to thrive. You can’t look into the eyes of someone dying and offer neurons as comfort.

This public face of atheism — the podcast hosts, the viral thinkers, the smug Substack intellectuals — don’t sell joy. They sell despair dressed up as clarity. They tell you that meaning is a delusion, that your suffering has no higher context, that the love you feel is just your DNA playing dress-up. They perform autopsies on transcendence, then wonder why their audiences walk away spiritually numb.

Humans don’t just crave truth. They crave belonging, direction, awe, and something to serve that isn’t themselves.

Atheism offers none of that. It hands you a mirror and tells you it’s a map — and then it dares you to walk in circles and calls it freedom.

Bill Maher warns Dems to do something about 'The View' after Whoopi Goldberg compares Iran to US; GOP rep blasts her response



Bill Maher advised Democrats to "do something" about "The View" after co-host Whoopi Goldberg made a controversial remark that compared Iran to the United States of America. Meanwhile, a GOP representative blasted Goldberg for attempting to compare life in the United States with life in Iran.

Last week, Goldberg stirred the pot by claiming that living under the brutal Iranian theocratic regime isn't much different from black people living in the United States.

'"The View" isn’t a talk show, it’s a weekly tantrum from the far-left padded room.'

The eyebrow-raising comment was made during a discussion about the conflict in Iran, when co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin pointed out that the oppressive Iranian regime has regularly violated human rights.

“Let’s just remember, too, the Iranians literally throw gay people off of buildings. They don’t adhere to basic human rights,” Griffin declared during the episode that aired last Wednesday.

The remark irritated Goldberg, who responded by saying, "Let’s not do that, because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car. I’m sorry, they used to just keep hanging black people."

Griffin responded while Whoopi continued to talk over her.

"I'm sorry, but where the Iranian regime is today in 2025 is nothing compared to the United States," Griffin replied. "It is not even the same."

Goldberg argued, "It is the same." Then Whoopi told Griffin, "That's not what you mean to say."

Griffin countered, "The year 2025 in the United States is nothing like if I stepped foot wearing this outfit in Tehran right now."

Griffin noted that women cannot wear leg-revealing skirts or have their hair showing in Iran.

It is mandatory for women to wear a hijab to cover their hair in public spaces, and failing to do so is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, according to the United Nations.

RELATED: Watch: Schwarzenegger shuts down Joy Behar's attempt to ignite anti-ICE sentiment on 'The View,' says immigrants must behave

  Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

"I think it’s very different to live in the United States in 2025 than it is to live in Iran in 2025," Griffin stated.

Goldberg interjected, "Not if you’re black."

"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin agreed, saying, "Not for everybody."

Griffin advised, "Uh, guys, don’t go to Tehran. Do not. No one at this table can go to Tehran.”

Whoopi admitted that the United States is "the greatest country in the world," but contended that black Americans face issues every day.

Goldberg said, "But every day, we are worried. Do we have to be worried about our kids? Are their kids going to get shot because they’re running through somebody’s neighborhood?”

Co-host Sara Haines added of females in Iran, "And they are not doing well there. They are not doing well in Iran. They are not educated. They can’t own property.”

Haines noted, “They can’t go out of their houses.”

Griffin conceded that there are "very real problems" in the United States, but there are "much darker" places in the world.

"Nobody wants to diminish the very real problems we have in this country," Griffin stated. "That is no one’s intent, but I think it’s important we remember there are places much darker than this country, and people who deserve rights …"

Goldberg butted in and said, "Listen, not everybody feels that way. Not everybody feels that way. Listen, I’m sorry, you know, when you think about the fact that we got the vote in 1965 …"

Griffin interrupted, "They don’t have free and fair elections in Iran. It’s not even the same universe."

Goldberg dropped out of the tense debate by saying, "There's no way I can make you understand."

RELATED: People are saying Bill Maher's monologue rebuking pedophilia in Hollywood, gender identity politics might be his best takedown ever

  Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images

Maher ridiculed "The View" for attempting to equate life in the authoritarian Islamic Republic of Iran with being a black American in the United States.

During the latest episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher," the liberal talk show host applauded Democrats for taking a step "back to sanity" after the New York Times shifted toward a more "sensible liberal, not crazy woke” position on transgender issues.

However, Maher noted that the Democrats have an issue with the progressive talking points spouted on "The View" and that "something" needs to be done about it.

Maher said it was a "great first step toward giving Democrats back some sanity." He added, "A second good step would be: We gotta do something about 'The View.' I really believe that."

'Honestly? Don’t cancel "The View." Add more cameras. More microphones. Maybe even a laugh track. Once you realize it’s basically an "SNL" skit of a left-wing meltdown, it becomes the greatest MAGA campaign ad on TV.'

Maher asked guest Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) for his opinion on Goldberg's remarks that black Americans have just as many issues as people in Iran.

Hunt reacted with a hearty laugh before stating, "My district in the great state of Texas is actually a white-majority district that President Trump would have won by 25 points."

"As I said, I’m a direct descendant of a slave, my great-great-grandfather, who was born on Rosedown Plantation," Hunt continued. "I am literally being judged not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character."

Hunt added, "That’s the progress, because, like, a lot of white people had to vote for me — a lot. So I don’t ever want to hear Whoopi Goldberg’s conversation about how it’s worse to be black in America right now. That's a bit far."

Hunt explained that his father grew up under Jim Crow but is now the father of a Republican U.S. congressman in a white-majority district.

"That is America," Hunt proclaimed. "So let's celebrate that."

Fellow guest Paul Begala, a Democratic political consultant and commentator, argued that we have the holiday of Juneteenth to celebrate the freedom of black Americans, but asserted that President Donald Trump “doesn’t want to honor” the occasion.

Hunt fired back, “I don’t want it. I don’t want Black History Month. I don’t want all these days to make everybody feel special. I’m an ’80s baby. Everybody’s too sensitive anyway. We’re all Americans anyway.”

RELATED: Watch: Bill Maher's awkward exchange with Don Lemon prompts Caitlyn Jenner to blast ex-CNN anchor as privileged, wealthy, entitled

  Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Hunt continued to bash "The View" host even after his Friday appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher."

Hunt wrote on the X social media platform on Monday, "Hey Whoopi, if America is so bad, why are you still cashing multi-million dollar checks from a country that made you rich, famous, and free? You claim it’s worse to be Black in America than a woman in Iran? Really?"

"Try hosting The View in Tehran and see how that goes. Spoiler alert: there won’t be a studio audience — there’ll be a firing squad," the Texas congressman stated.

"The truth is, you’ve become a professional victim in a nation that gave you everything. The View isn’t a talk show, it’s a weekly tantrum from the far-left padded room," Hunt declared. "Let her talk. Let her rant. Every time she opens her mouth, she reminds America why we’re winning."

Hunt stated that he doesn't want "The View" canceled. In fact, Hunt wants to bring more exposure to the left-wing talk show.

"Honestly? Don’t cancel The View. Add more cameras. More microphones. Maybe even a laugh track," Hunt said. "Once you realize it’s basically an SNL skit of a leftwing meltdown, it becomes the greatest MAGA campaign ad on TV."

RELATED: Rep. Wesley Hunt refuses to apologize when a black man screams at him for supporting Trump: 'How can a black man do this?'

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DNC moves to oust rising star David Hogg just months after he was elected



The Democratic National Convention voted to void David Hogg's election in a late-night vote on Monday, just months after he was elected to serve as vice chair in February.

Hogg has been the subject of scrutiny both on the national stage and within the DNC. In recent weeks, reports of infighting and criticisms of Hogg have circulated, indicating an increasingly tense and disorganized Democratic Party.

'I ran to be DNC vice chair to help make the Democratic Party better, not to defend an indefensible status quo that has caused voters in almost every demographic group to move away from us.'

Despite reports suggesting Hogg's leadership was unwelcome, the DNC said the vote to void Hogg's election was based on a procedural challenge, arguing that he was improperly elected in the first place.

Hogg disputes this claim, saying that he was challenging the status quo within the DNC and attempting to reform the party, which outraged old-guard Democrats.

"Today, the DNC took its first steps to remove me from my position as vice chair at large," Hogg said in a statement. "While this vote was based on how the DNC conducted its officers' elections, which I had nothing to do with, it is also impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party, which loomed large over this vote."

"I ran to be DNC vice chair to help make the Democratic Party better, not to defend an indefensible status quo that has caused voters in almost every demographic group to move away from us," Hogg added.

After the Democrats' devastating loss in the 2024 presidential election, Hogg emerged as a reformer aiming to identify the DNC's shortcomings that contributed to President Donald Trump's landslide victory. Hogg's damage control consisted of harsh pivots and even flat-out rejections of political and cultural norms, like cancel culture and wokeness, which Democrats have strongly supported in the past.

In a recent appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher," Hogg said Democrats hemorrhaged young men because their party was too judgmental and caused them to feel as though they were constantly walking on eggshells.

"We've created a culture where we say, well, if you say the wrong thing, you're excommunicated," Hogg said. "And that's just not how human beings work. Nobody is perfect."

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Bill Maher Shouldn’t Be Applauded For Taking 10 Years To Realize Trump Isn’t ‘Literally Hitler’

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-14-at-4.51.32 PM-e1744664149492-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-14-at-4.51.32%5Cu202fPM-e1744664149492-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]It only took ten years, endless smug commentary, and a private dinner for comedian Bill Maher to finally discover the obvious: President Donald Trump is not the cartoon villain the left-wing media — and Maher himself — have breathlessly painted him as. Maher revealed his big epiphany during his April 11 monologue, raving about a […]

Don Lemon SLAMS black MAGA supporters: 'Can't be rational'



As Don Lemon fades into obscurity, he can’t help but make a few ridiculous comments on his way out. Most recently, it was in the form of shocking claims on Bill Maher’s podcast about black Trump supporters.

“Not all black Republicans, but when I see a black MAGA person who is carrying Donald Trump’s water and they know that he’s lying, it is the shortest line to the front,” Lemon told Maher on his podcast.

“If you become a black MAGA person, it’s like, ‘Whoa, let’s book this person, let’s put him on television,’” Lemon continued.


“So you don’t think you can be a sincere black MAGA person?” Maher asked.

“I don’t think that you can be a rational MAGA, be black and be a rational MAGA person. I think you can be black and be a Republican,” Lemon responded.

“I think they would find that very insulting,” Maher replied.

“Well, I mean, the truth is often insulting,” Lemon said.

Jason Whitlock and Shemeka Michelle of “Fearless” wouldn’t expect any less from Lemon, noting that it's because he believes there was no time that America was "great" in the past.

"He's arguing like, 'Hey, how can you black people be MAGA, make America great again, because you're now saying that there was some time in the past when America was great.' And Don Lemon completely rejects that and thinks that we should all think that."

"Because if we go back, there was a time when same-sex marriage was illegal, and he's a gay person," he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

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Inside Kid Rock's plan to put Bill Maher and Trump in the same room



In his recent exclusive sit-down interview with country-rap rocker and MAGA superfan Kid Rock, Glenn Beck heard some news that shocked him.

Kid Rock is taking liberal political commentator and television host Bill Maher to the White House to have dinner with President Trump.

— (@)  
 

“I’m actually gonna try to unite this country, and I’m starting at the end of the month. I’m taking Bill Maher to the White House for dinner,” Rock told Glenn.

“This guy has done nothing but talk smack about the president since day one,” he added, acknowledging that part of Maher’s Trump antagonism is because “he’s a comedian.”

In reality, though, “he’s actually more reasonable than a lot of people on the right would think,” Rock said.

“What would it say to this country” to have two “very public figures … break bread, have some laughs, take a picture? ... Does that start to send a message to people?” he asked.

There’s always a chance that the public will see it as Maher “[looking] soft for going” or Trump coming across as “weak,” but even so, Rock thinks it’s a good place to start if we want to begin bridging the gap between the left and the right that’s grown so vast in recent years.

If the nation watches Maher and President Trump have dinner (and maybe even have a little fun while doing it), Rock thinks it might inspire someone to “call that family member that you got into it over politics with,” or make amends with “that person at the school that you don’t like to talk to any more.”

He hopes that such an unexpected event will help everybody “calm down a little bit.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above. To see Glenn’s full interview with Kid Rock, head over to BlazeTV.

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Kid Rock gets brutally honest with Glenn Beck about 'cowboy culture,' politics, and how to be an American 'bad***'



Music legend Kid Rock sat down with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck this week in a wide-ranging interview that touches on everything from MAGA politics to rodeo clowns, Blaze News can report.

As might be expected, Rock, whose given name is Bob Ritchie, spent much of the time talking about the current political climate in America now that President Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office.

Rock told Beck that he has supported Trump, a well-known "business guy," from the moment he rode down the escalator to announce his candidacy for president in 2015.

"The America of business has sucked for decades and decades. It's like, let somebody who knows how to run a business get in there," Rock recalled thinking at the time. "So I endorsed him."

'I'm actually going to try to unite this country, and ... at the end of the month, I'm taking Bill Maher to the White House for dinner.'

Rock said he once considered himself socially liberal and fiscally conservative, but the transgenderism issue forced him out of that libertarian mindset. "I was like, these people are just nuts!" Rock said.

"I really don't care what anybody does," he reiterated. "I'm like, 'live and let live,' to a certain extent — but then it just got too nuts."

Though Rock views transgenderism as a mental illness, he said he will gladly engage in a political discussion with just about anyone, so long as they remain "reasonable." In fact, he's so determined to help Americans on the left and right find "common ground" that he even plans to introduce Trump to Bill Maher, a left-leaning pundit and fierce Trump critic.

"I'm actually going to try to unite this country, and ... at the end of the month, I'm taking Bill Maher to the White House for dinner," Rock told Beck.

"We just gotta start somewhere," Rock added, indicating that the meeting would be more about bringing people together than resolving political differences.

"We could just break bread, have some laughs, take a picture, and be like, 'Hey, you know, we don't agree on everything, but we got along,'" he explained.

As strange as the idea of Trump, Rock, and Maher gathered around the White House dinner table may seem, Rock hinted that Trump may have already agreed to it. According to Rock, Trump said, "Yeah, do it. Let's do it."

Neither the White House nor a representative for Maher responded to Blaze News' request for comment.

'There's something about the West that is American unlike any other place.'

Though Rock said he normally likes to keep his musical performances apolitical, he said he is so committed to Trump and the Trump agenda that he will host a series of concerts this summer that will basically be "MAGA rallies." He also expressed hope that Vice President JD Vance will succeed Trump in 2028.

However, Rock and Beck did not limit their discussion to politics. In fact, they spent much of their time discussing traditional American culture, especially the mysticism of the American West.

"There's something about the West that is American unlike any other place," asserted Beck, who grew up in Washington state.

Rock agreed, claiming that the rugged cowboy is a uniquely American figure. "It's kind of embedded in our culture, and America owns that, you know, cowboy culture," Rock replied.

"It's the greatest movies. It's the greatest tales, whether it's campfire sing-alongs or cowboys and Indians, whatever it is, it's just arguably tough — just the coolest American thing ever."

Raised in a rural area north of Detroit, Rock has apparently embraced the cowboy image. He has even joined forces with the Professional Bull Riders league to present Kid Rock's Rock N Rodeo, a "revolutionary new rodeo event during the PBR World Finals."

Rock and Beck both agreed that the rodeo lifestyle is "badass."

"It's one of the toughest sports," Rock said. "They're just tough people."

Beck admitted that he came to appreciate the toughness of rodeo personalities after he made the mistake of blithely likening himself to a rodeo clown:

"I remember I was on CNN, and I used to call myself a rodeo clown: 'I'm just a rodeo clown' — until ... the president of the Rodeo Clown Association wrote to me and said, 'Do you know what rodeo clowns do?' And I'm like, 'OK, you're right. You're right.' I mean, it is really badass."

In their nearly hour-long chat, Rock and Beck touched on other subjects, including Cybertrucks, Diddy, problems with Ticketmaster, and the ways that Gen X may save us all from the "pussification of America." Watch the full episode of "The Glenn Beck Program" podcast featuring Kid Rock by clicking here.

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Bill Maher's smug stand-up stinks



Want to hear something funny?

Bill Maher recently sat down with Bryan Johnson, the self-proclaimed king of three-hour erections, and confessed to being a perfectionist.

It’s as if he’s recycling the same jokes he’s been telling since the Clinton administration, only now with the self-righteousness dialed up to 11.

The L.A.-loving comic insisted he never, ever stops striving for excellence. Except, apparently, in his stand-up comedy.

Maher’s latest special, “Is Anyone Else Seeing This?” — ironically advertised an HBO "original" — is a tired rehash of overdone clichés: Kids are awful, Trump is worse, and Republican candidates are married to their guns.

Hardly groundbreaking. In truth, these "jokes" wouldn’t even land at a late-night dive bar open mic.

Maher has spent years coasting on the fumes of relevance, serving up material that’s more dull than daring. Every tired take reeks of self-satisfaction, as if a smug smirk is enough to keep critics at bay.

Well, it’s not.

Comedy thrives on risk and originality, but Maher’s specials have become a slow drip of the same reheated takes. His fans, many of whom have stood by him for decades, deserve better than this tedious slog.

Maher loves to talk about holding people accountable. Perhaps it’s time he took his own advice.

Comedy or karaoke?

Billed as "comedy," “Is Anyone Else Seeing This?” is less a performance and more a monologue from the guy at the end of the bar who doesn’t realize everyone’s stopped listening. It’s lazy, uninspired, and rather revealing.

Maher himself admits he doesn’t perform in comedy clubs — a confession as absurd as a chef proudly declaring he's never set foot in a kitchen.

Unsurprisingly, the lack of practice is painfully obvious. I say this as someone who endured the misfortune of watching the special. I also say this as a regular viewer of "Real Time," someone who wants to enjoy Maher’s stand-up. But the sheer laziness on display shouldn’t be tolerated, let alone rewarded.

For someone who brags about being a crusader against echo chambers, Maher seems oddly blind to his own hypocrisy.

Which brings me back to his avoidance of comedy clubs, the place where comedians earn their stripes. In the clubs, the audience owes you nothing. If you’re not funny, you’ll know it right away. But Maher has avoided that challenge, sticking to the safety of his home crowd. They don’t laugh because he’s funny; they clap because they already agree with him.

It’s comedy on autopilot — the stand-up equivalent of singing karaoke at your own birthday party.

A legacy in decline

The gap between Maher and the broader comedy world was exposed when Roseanne Barr appeared on his podcast, "Club Random," last year and mentioned roastmaster par excellence Tony Hinchcliffe.

Maher, either in a bizarre display of ignorance or outright deceit, claimed he didn’t know who Hinchcliffe was.

That’s not just a blind spot; it’s a black hole. Imagine Brad Pitt squinting at you and asking, “Who’s this Matt Damon fella?” or Mick Jagger struggling to place Robert Plant. Hinchcliffe is one of the biggest names in comedy, a figure you don’t have to like to recognize.

While some readers might not know him (he’s the guy who made the Puerto Rico joke at a Trump rally last year), Maher operates in the exact same world. What’s more, Hinchcliffe hosts "Kill Tony," the most popular live comedy podcast in the world — a show where our own Dave Landau absolutely crushed it just a few weeks ago.

This detachment might explain why Maher’s comedy feels less like stand-up and more like a patronizing PowerPoint presentation. Without the grind of the clubs, without the bruises earned from bombing on stage, Maher’s material has expired. It’s a sad decline for someone who, once upon a time in a very different America, could actually land a joke.

Not all bad

Now, to be clear, Maher excels in other areas. The aforementioned "Real Time" continues to showcase his knack for interviews and his ability to provoke without completely alienating.

Maher’s monologues often land with sharp wit and insight, but that’s likely a testament to his team of writers. The moments of brilliance on his show highlight an obvious truth: Maher is at his best when he’s collaborating, when there’s a structure to temper his self-indulgence.

In stand-up, however, there’s no safety net. Without that collaborative edge, Maher’s comedy devolves into predictable punch lines. It’s as if he’s recycling the same jokes he’s been telling since the Clinton administration, only now with the self-righteousness dialed up to 11.

Watching his specials feels less like comedy and more like being lectured by someone who’s convinced he's the smartest person in the room.

And that’s not funny.

Preaching to the choir

Stand-up comedy demands vulnerability. The best comedians today — Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle among them — lay themselves bare, turning their flaws and fears into material that resonates on a deeply human level. More importantly, they’re cerebral without letting their intellect overshadow the one thing that matters most — you know, making people laugh.

George Carlin, one of Maher’s obvious influences, was a master of intellectual comedy. But where Carlin’s wit was razor-sharp, Maher’s often feels blunted by his own self-regard. His comedy doesn’t challenge or surprise; it preaches. And while preaching has its place, it’s not what people come to a comedy special for.

Maher loves to position himself as a contrarian, a truth-teller who doesn’t pander to the crowd. But in his stand-up, he’s doing exactly that. He’s pandering to his base, offering them the comfort of familiarity rather than the challenge of originality. It’s a disservice to his fans and, frankly, to himself.

It’s high time the host of "Real Time" called it quits on his stand-up career.