Skip to content
Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Be More Cynical

Bill Maher

HBO · 2000 · 68 min

Stand-up targeting the 2000 election, religion, and American gullibility.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Bill Maher opens his 2000 hour with a straightforward defense of a bad attitude: Americans aren’t too cynical, they simply aren’t cynical enough. He argues that what looks like cynicism is actually a necessary defense against a naive public that believes wealthy talk show hosts actually shop at Kmart. The premise sets the table for a breakdown of the impending presidential race, aiming at an electorate that doesn’t know enough to see through political spin.

Filmed at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the set captures the comedian during his Politically Incorrect tenure, just months before the Bush-Gore election. He works through the outgoing Clinton administration, attack ads, gun control, and the war on drugs. He takes direct aim at George W. Bush, dismissing the candidate early with a flat, “I don’t like this little prick”.

He also test-drives arguments about organized religion that would eventually become a recurring theme in his later work, drawing a hard line between the philosophy of Jesus and the behavior of modern Christians.

The set list

3 bits

  1. Government corruption and campaign finance

    Argues that citizens are represented by 'soulless cash whores' and highlights congressional hypocrisy in suing Big Tobacco while accepting their campaign contributions.

  2. The war on drugs

    Remarks that while he has never taken heroin and would not recommend it, 'it hasn't hurt my record collection.'

  3. The two-party political system

    Observes that the country does not actually have two distinct parties, but rather 'identical cousins played by Patty Duke.'

How it plays

Tone
Provocative, angry, biting, cynical, and politically incorrect.
On stage
A smart, charismatic, and witty crank with an expression of constant cynicism, delivering biting and provocative commentary.
Pace
Energetic and slightly aggressive.
About
big government and political corruption, the 2000 presidential election, the war on drugs, religion, gender dynamics and sex

What the critics said

Received positive marks for Maher's sharp intelligence, wit, and outspokenness, though later home video reviews noted that its heavily topical political humor regarding the 2000 election and Monica Lewinsky felt dated.

In the room: Left the audience recoiling in laughter.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: themoviedb.org, tvguide.com, rottentomatoes.com, amazon.com, flickfilosopher.com, dvdtalk.com, letterboxd.com, latimes.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Taped in 2000 during the presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, before the post-9/11 controversies that led to Maher's departure from ABC.

Details

Released
Runtime
68 min
Where
HBO
Director
Keith Truesdell
Topics
Before
The Golden Goose Special (1997)
After
Victory Begins at Home (2003)

More from Bill Maher

If you liked this