• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, January 9, 2025

Is the Bill Maher style of topical sarcasm over?

It is a matter of personal taste, but the question arises because of the confluence of two stand-up comedy performances -- one running on Netflix and the other about to premiere Friday on HBO and Max.

We happened to catch the Netflix show last weekend titled “Your Friend, Nate Bargatze.” This performance special premiered late last year.

The HBO special is a new one from Bill Maher titled “Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This?” -- his 13th performance special for HBO. I previewed it earlier this week. 

The Netflix show is Bargatze’s third for the streamer. Bargatze, 45, is a Tennessee-born comedian who has worked and gained a following for years. But lately, he seems to be moving into the next level of his fame.

This is no doubt one reason why CBS gave him his own one-hour Christmas comedy special last month, “Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas.” It featured comedy sketches, short bits, guest comedians and musical guests.

In a press release before the show aired, CBS said the show would “highlight family, fun and feel-good moments for audiences of all ages.”

That is another reason CBS picked him up. He works clean, which means his act is family-friendly, both on TV and off of it.

Some people see the descriptive phrase “works clean” and immediately jump to the conclusion that a comedian will be dull.

Many people like their comedians “edgy,” “dark,” “daring,” “fearless” and “unfiltered.” They have plenty of top comedians to choose from.

Bill Maher fits into the category. For going on 30 years, Maher, 68, has been outspoken on the subject of polities and related social trends.

He is a comedian, but also a critic and commentator. He apparently has a huge following because it is doubtful HBO would have kept his show -- “Real Time” -- going for 22 years if he did not.

In his new performance special, Maher’s audience in a theater in Chicago are all eager members of the Bill Maher fan club.

They lap up everything he says, and wait eagerly and expectantly when he introduces a new subject to skewer.

In the show, these include Donald Trump, of course, but also “woke” subjects such as transgender issues, elite universities and the way Americans raise their children.

“We raise [our children] wrong and then we send them to these asshole factories called elite universities,” Maher says.

“Really, let me tell you, if ignorance was a disease, Harvard Yard would be the Wuhan wet market!”

“And then,” he continues, “the kids get out and they’re like, there’s no good jobs! Yeah, ’cause you majored in queer poetry of the Asian diaspora! Of course, there’s no jobs!”

It is smart-alecky humor and it has made Bill Maher rich and famous. But while watching this performance, I began to feel that this scene had a musty air to it. 

It felt like an act that once teemed with relevance, insight and pungency, but now feels drained of all three. Have we heard it all before? I can’t speak for others, but I have.

By contrast, Bargatze makes no pretense of involving his audience in issues and politics. He relates to his audiences on a more personal level.

There is no vinegar in his delivery. He is not profane. Nor is he dull or merely pleasant. He is a storyteller who has a manner of speaking that draws you in and keeps you there.

In his latest Netflix special, he tells stories of childhood and married life -- not because they’re treacly or wholesome, but because they are funny, especially in the way he tells them.

For me, the highlight of “Your Friend” is a story he tells about a carnival act he saw growing up in the 1980s that no longer exists -- a donkey that “jumps” from a high platform into a large pool.

His act is far removed from the worlds of politics and media -- social or otherwise -- but is no less relevant or, more to the point, entertaining.