1 00:00:14,222 --> 00:00:16,182 -Today's guest has been making us laugh 2 00:00:16,224 --> 00:00:18,810 with his standup routines for more than 30 years. 3 00:00:18,852 --> 00:00:20,061 That's right, I said it. 4 00:00:20,103 --> 00:00:21,730 He also makes us question authority, 5 00:00:21,771 --> 00:00:22,897 the big, tough issues, 6 00:00:22,939 --> 00:00:24,482 and get pissed off once in a while. 7 00:00:24,524 --> 00:00:27,485 His podcast, "Club Random," is a huge hit and his show, 8 00:00:27,527 --> 00:00:31,823 "Real Time," has been on air for a remarkable 21 seasons! 9 00:00:31,865 --> 00:00:33,992 That's right, 21 seasons. 10 00:00:34,034 --> 00:00:36,703 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Bill Maher. 11 00:00:36,745 --> 00:00:37,954 -Hey! 12 00:00:37,996 --> 00:00:39,289 -Bill. How are you, man? -Kevin. 13 00:00:39,330 --> 00:00:41,082 -Good to see you, sir. -Great to see you. 14 00:00:41,124 --> 00:00:42,959 -Great to be seen, man. I appreciate you for coming on. 15 00:00:43,001 --> 00:00:44,878 -Thank you for having me. I'm so flattered 16 00:00:44,919 --> 00:00:46,463 that you have my picture up there in your home. 17 00:00:46,504 --> 00:00:48,298 -Well, that's what sells the set, right? 18 00:00:48,340 --> 00:00:50,967 I have to make the set make sense, so if it's my -- 19 00:00:51,009 --> 00:00:52,010 -It's beautiful. You're a wine -- 20 00:00:52,052 --> 00:00:53,178 obviously a wine lover. 21 00:00:53,219 --> 00:00:54,929 -I actually do. You a wine guy? 22 00:00:54,971 --> 00:00:56,348 -No, I hate wine, always did. 23 00:00:56,389 --> 00:00:58,850 Stains your teeth, makes your breath stink. 24 00:00:58,892 --> 00:01:00,143 It's not a good high. 25 00:01:00,185 --> 00:01:01,644 -Okay, well, that's -- -If I get high, 26 00:01:01,686 --> 00:01:04,189 I want to get high seriously and wine is not that. 27 00:01:04,230 --> 00:01:06,524 -Well, okay, Bill, I feel like we just started off 28 00:01:06,566 --> 00:01:08,526 by taking an immediate... -I'm just giving you the -- 29 00:01:08,568 --> 00:01:10,779 -...an immediate left turn. -You asked me a question. 30 00:01:10,820 --> 00:01:12,405 I'm gonna give you the honest answer. 31 00:01:12,447 --> 00:01:13,865 I've never been a wine fan. 32 00:01:13,907 --> 00:01:15,367 -Yeah, well, you went right for the hard drug. 33 00:01:15,408 --> 00:01:16,659 I felt like we could have warmed up a little bit, Bill. 34 00:01:16,701 --> 00:01:17,911 -No, not with -- 35 00:01:17,952 --> 00:01:19,204 -Wine is just something that's easy. 36 00:01:19,245 --> 00:01:20,663 Can I bring in my som? Get in here, Dee. 37 00:01:20,705 --> 00:01:22,248 -No. -Let me get my som 38 00:01:22,290 --> 00:01:24,876 because these conversations happen over a glass of wine. 39 00:01:24,918 --> 00:01:26,211 But if you don't want it, I get it. 40 00:01:26,252 --> 00:01:28,338 I'm gonna have a little taste. 41 00:01:28,380 --> 00:01:31,424 -Look, I'm all for everyone doing what makes them feel good. 42 00:01:31,466 --> 00:01:33,259 -Well, obviously not. You just tried to fucking 43 00:01:33,301 --> 00:01:35,053 get me stoned on television, Bill. 44 00:01:35,095 --> 00:01:37,097 -No. You asked me what I thought of wine. 45 00:01:37,138 --> 00:01:38,682 I told you what I thought of it. 46 00:01:38,723 --> 00:01:41,142 What I've never understood is why people sometimes say 47 00:01:41,184 --> 00:01:43,978 when you're out with them like, "Have a drink with me." 48 00:01:44,020 --> 00:01:45,397 "Nah, I don't want one." "Oh, come on." 49 00:01:45,438 --> 00:01:47,023 Like, "What do you care if I have a drink?" 50 00:01:47,065 --> 00:01:48,316 -Yeah, that is true. 51 00:01:48,358 --> 00:01:49,859 -"You want a drink, you have a drink." 52 00:01:49,901 --> 00:01:51,277 -I can do it by myself. -Right. 53 00:01:51,319 --> 00:01:53,154 -I'm not that guy. I'm not the enforcer, 54 00:01:53,196 --> 00:01:54,447 which is why I'm still gonna drink one by myself. 55 00:01:54,489 --> 00:01:56,116 -I want you to. -Okay. Give me a glass 56 00:01:56,157 --> 00:01:58,910 that stain my teeth and make my breath stink, please. 57 00:01:58,952 --> 00:02:00,412 What are we drinking? -Mr. Hart. 58 00:02:00,453 --> 00:02:01,830 -Yeah. 59 00:02:01,871 --> 00:02:04,332 -Mr. Maher, California sunshine Sonoma Coast exquisite. 60 00:02:04,374 --> 00:02:07,585 I mean, Pliny the Elder wrote about this, 2018 Pinot Noir. 61 00:02:07,627 --> 00:02:11,548 -Do you have water, though? -Of course I do, Mr. Maher. 62 00:02:11,589 --> 00:02:12,799 -We do have water for you. 63 00:02:12,841 --> 00:02:14,175 -Oh, that's water? -Yes. 64 00:02:14,217 --> 00:02:15,427 -Wow. Even your water looks like wine. 65 00:02:15,468 --> 00:02:16,636 -Well, I put it in a wine bottle. 66 00:02:16,678 --> 00:02:18,138 -What are you, Jesus? 67 00:02:18,179 --> 00:02:20,056 -Yes. 68 00:02:20,098 --> 00:02:22,058 This is why -- -Thank you very much. 69 00:02:22,100 --> 00:02:23,309 -You're very welcome. -This is why I wanted you. 70 00:02:23,351 --> 00:02:24,853 This is why I wanted you on the show. 71 00:02:24,894 --> 00:02:28,189 -Oh, good. I want you, too, badly. 72 00:02:28,231 --> 00:02:30,942 -Thank you, Dee. -You're very welcome. Enjoy. 73 00:02:30,984 --> 00:02:32,318 -Alright, Bill. 74 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:34,070 -Now do you swirl that around in your mouth 75 00:02:34,112 --> 00:02:36,614 and do you do others of the -- -I do the whole thing. 76 00:02:36,656 --> 00:02:39,034 -Other affected things? -Yes, I do the whole thing. 77 00:02:39,075 --> 00:02:40,326 -Let's see a little bit. 78 00:02:40,368 --> 00:02:41,870 -I'm a swirl guy. I'm this guy. 79 00:02:41,911 --> 00:02:43,329 -Oh, look at that. -I smell it. 80 00:02:43,371 --> 00:02:45,540 I do all this stuff. -And it makes a difference? 81 00:02:45,582 --> 00:02:47,208 -Well, it depends on the type of wine and the type of year. 82 00:02:47,250 --> 00:02:48,501 -Really? -Yes, it's all about the legs. 83 00:02:48,543 --> 00:02:50,253 When you do this, you want to put it down 84 00:02:50,295 --> 00:02:51,629 and you want to see what type of legs it has on it. 85 00:02:51,671 --> 00:02:53,214 It tells you the texture, the body of the wine. 86 00:02:53,256 --> 00:02:55,008 If it's good wine, that texture is present. 87 00:02:55,050 --> 00:02:56,343 -Oh, please. 88 00:02:56,384 --> 00:02:58,136 -And you can see it on the glass, right? 89 00:02:58,178 --> 00:02:59,846 -Oh, for fuck's sake. Ooh. Are we allowed to say that? 90 00:02:59,888 --> 00:03:02,640 -No, I'm gonna have Bill Maher on here and not let you cuss. 91 00:03:02,682 --> 00:03:05,352 -Why would I do that? -I don't know, I'm just saying. 92 00:03:05,393 --> 00:03:08,396 It's probably Boone's Farm. -Well -- 93 00:03:08,438 --> 00:03:11,900 Second reference of Boone's Farm on "Hart to Heart" 94 00:03:11,941 --> 00:03:13,818 and both by White men. 95 00:03:13,860 --> 00:03:16,154 I am extremely pumped up about that 96 00:03:16,196 --> 00:03:17,989 because I was raised on Boone's Farm, man. 97 00:03:18,031 --> 00:03:19,449 -Raised on it? -Yes, that's how I came up. 98 00:03:19,491 --> 00:03:21,242 -Well, we should call child services. 99 00:03:21,284 --> 00:03:23,411 It's a little late, but if you were raised on it, 100 00:03:23,453 --> 00:03:24,954 that's not a good thing. 101 00:03:24,996 --> 00:03:26,206 -Bill? -Yes. 102 00:03:26,247 --> 00:03:27,999 -This show is about giving flowers. 103 00:03:28,041 --> 00:03:30,251 This show is about appreciation, 104 00:03:30,293 --> 00:03:33,963 celebration of those that I admire 105 00:03:34,005 --> 00:03:35,674 and those I just simply want to know more about. 106 00:03:35,715 --> 00:03:39,260 You are a person that has had an extreme amount of success 107 00:03:39,302 --> 00:03:41,137 in doing a thing that I love. 108 00:03:41,179 --> 00:03:42,722 You started off, of course, in standup comedy. 109 00:03:42,764 --> 00:03:45,517 Standup comedy has taken you to a place where you've been 110 00:03:45,558 --> 00:03:47,811 able to go through tremendous amount of doors. 111 00:03:47,852 --> 00:03:51,773 And those doors have led you to the place of being an author, 112 00:03:51,815 --> 00:03:55,902 a host, I mean, a journalist in so many different aspects, 113 00:03:55,944 --> 00:03:57,320 and now a businessman, as well. 114 00:03:57,362 --> 00:03:58,697 We're gonna tap into all of that. 115 00:03:58,738 --> 00:04:01,157 -Wow. -Like comedy. 116 00:04:01,199 --> 00:04:03,868 Fuck, man, like, you started out as standup. 117 00:04:03,910 --> 00:04:05,412 -I still do standup. 118 00:04:05,453 --> 00:04:07,872 -You -- But I didn't know that you opened for Diana Ross. 119 00:04:07,914 --> 00:04:09,207 This was like -- -Wow. 120 00:04:09,249 --> 00:04:10,333 -Yeah, I didn't know that. 121 00:04:10,375 --> 00:04:11,918 -Diana Ross? What year were you born? 122 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,129 -I mean, I was born in '79. That's what I was gonna ask. 123 00:04:14,170 --> 00:04:16,256 -It was 3 years later. You were 3. 124 00:04:16,297 --> 00:04:17,549 -Get the fuck out of here. -Yeah. 125 00:04:17,590 --> 00:04:19,175 -Wow. -So we are really going back. 126 00:04:19,217 --> 00:04:20,427 -We're really going back. 127 00:04:20,468 --> 00:04:22,303 And that point in your career, I mean -- 128 00:04:22,345 --> 00:04:25,557 -I was like, you know, just a tadpole. 129 00:04:25,598 --> 00:04:29,394 I mean, I had done, like, one "Tonight Show" 130 00:04:29,436 --> 00:04:32,397 and I guess she saw it and liked it. 131 00:04:32,439 --> 00:04:34,065 You know, she needed an opening act. 132 00:04:34,107 --> 00:04:35,734 You know, you have to understand. 133 00:04:35,775 --> 00:04:37,235 Vegas in the '80s 134 00:04:37,277 --> 00:04:40,363 is what I called the dead-ball era of Vegas 135 00:04:40,405 --> 00:04:43,116 because it was, like, after the Rat Pack. 136 00:04:43,158 --> 00:04:45,326 We were too -- We weren't around for that. 137 00:04:45,368 --> 00:04:46,786 -I know exactly what the Rat Pack is, though, of course. 138 00:04:46,828 --> 00:04:48,455 -Yeah, I know, but that was the heyday of, you know, 139 00:04:48,496 --> 00:04:51,207 Sinatra and Sammy and swinging. 140 00:04:51,249 --> 00:04:53,209 -They made Vegas a thing. -And ring a ding ding. 141 00:04:53,251 --> 00:04:56,212 Yes, I mean, okay, you know, broads 142 00:04:56,254 --> 00:04:58,423 and drinking, and, you know. -Cigarettes. 143 00:04:58,465 --> 00:05:01,343 -A lot of cigarettes. -Suits with no ties. 144 00:05:01,384 --> 00:05:03,178 -Right, and threats from mafia people. 145 00:05:03,219 --> 00:05:05,597 It was wonderful. It was great. 146 00:05:05,638 --> 00:05:09,434 The Rat Pack were like -- They were still there, 147 00:05:09,476 --> 00:05:11,394 but they were, you know... 148 00:05:11,436 --> 00:05:13,438 Sinatra couldn't remember the words. 149 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,358 He had like -- -At the tail end of it. 150 00:05:16,399 --> 00:05:18,193 The Rat Pack has no tail anymore. 151 00:05:18,234 --> 00:05:19,611 -Very much so. 152 00:05:19,652 --> 00:05:21,321 -Okay, so at that point, were you pretty much -- 153 00:05:21,363 --> 00:05:23,156 Was Vegas the work space for you... 154 00:05:23,198 --> 00:05:24,407 -No, I was 26. 155 00:05:24,449 --> 00:05:25,909 -...or was it just dealing with Diana? 156 00:05:25,950 --> 00:05:27,243 So you were going in and out. 157 00:05:27,285 --> 00:05:29,204 -The only place I had ever worked before 158 00:05:29,245 --> 00:05:30,663 were little comedy clubs. -Yeah. 159 00:05:30,705 --> 00:05:33,375 -And the places we worked on the road, you know, 160 00:05:33,416 --> 00:05:36,628 so to be in Vegas was, like, a giant thing for me. 161 00:05:36,670 --> 00:05:40,423 And, of course, it was terrible because no one knew who I was. 162 00:05:40,465 --> 00:05:42,550 I was just there to waste 20 minutes 163 00:05:42,592 --> 00:05:45,011 while the crowd filed in before -- 164 00:05:45,053 --> 00:05:49,933 Diana Ross was the biggest star in that era of anybody. 165 00:05:49,974 --> 00:05:51,518 -Absolutely, yeah. 166 00:05:51,559 --> 00:05:54,062 -I think she was making something like $400,000 a week. 167 00:05:54,104 --> 00:05:56,022 -At that time, which is astronomical. 168 00:05:56,064 --> 00:05:57,399 -And I got two of it. 169 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:58,650 -Two? -Two grand. 170 00:05:58,692 --> 00:06:00,527 -Two grand. By the way, not bad, though. 171 00:06:00,568 --> 00:06:02,404 -No. -Still great money. 172 00:06:02,445 --> 00:06:05,824 -It was so far and above where any salary I had ever gotten. 173 00:06:05,865 --> 00:06:07,158 -Yes, yes. 174 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:08,660 -Trust me, I was thrilled to be in Vegas. 175 00:06:08,702 --> 00:06:10,537 I was thrilled to even meet Diana Ross, 176 00:06:10,578 --> 00:06:13,206 let alone open for her, and I was thrilled to get the money. 177 00:06:13,248 --> 00:06:16,668 But, yes, it -- The job itself was terrible. 178 00:06:16,710 --> 00:06:19,212 I wasn't very good. The crowd was old. 179 00:06:19,254 --> 00:06:21,715 I'm telling you, it wasn't a fun place, Vegas, then. 180 00:06:21,756 --> 00:06:25,301 -What was the standup comedy breaking point for you? 181 00:06:25,343 --> 00:06:29,222 What was the thing that acted as your break? 182 00:06:29,264 --> 00:06:31,683 -I mean, there's no single thing 183 00:06:31,725 --> 00:06:33,643 because I think it's an evolution. 184 00:06:33,685 --> 00:06:34,728 Some people, it is. 185 00:06:34,769 --> 00:06:37,647 They do, like, a "Tonight Show" episode 186 00:06:37,689 --> 00:06:40,316 and then suddenly they got a sitcom. 187 00:06:40,358 --> 00:06:42,861 I mean, that happened to people like Roseanne, 188 00:06:42,902 --> 00:06:44,487 maybe Robin Williams. 189 00:06:44,529 --> 00:06:45,905 I don't remember, but, yeah, there are people like that. 190 00:06:45,947 --> 00:06:48,533 -Was that your era? Is that your generation 191 00:06:48,575 --> 00:06:50,368 of comedy -- Roseanne, Robin Williams? 192 00:06:50,410 --> 00:06:53,913 -I was a little younger than -- Well, Roseanne, maybe. 193 00:06:53,955 --> 00:06:57,042 That was -- she was also on the "Tonight Show" in the '80s 194 00:06:57,083 --> 00:06:58,335 when I was doing that. 195 00:06:58,376 --> 00:07:00,086 I started with guys like Seinfeld 196 00:07:00,128 --> 00:07:02,964 and Richard Belzer, and those were the New York guys. 197 00:07:03,006 --> 00:07:04,341 -Okay. 198 00:07:04,382 --> 00:07:08,386 -Eddie Murphy was at the Comic Strip. 199 00:07:08,428 --> 00:07:11,181 There was three clubs. Yeah. 200 00:07:11,222 --> 00:07:12,474 -What a class already -- 201 00:07:12,515 --> 00:07:14,601 Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy, you, Belzer. 202 00:07:14,642 --> 00:07:16,561 I mean, that's already a dope-ass class of comedy. 203 00:07:16,603 --> 00:07:19,898 -Oh, yeah, and lots of other great ones I'm not mentioning, 204 00:07:19,939 --> 00:07:23,068 and, you know, we've lost a lot recently. 205 00:07:23,109 --> 00:07:24,361 -Yeah. -I mean, Richard Belzer, 206 00:07:24,402 --> 00:07:26,946 who was kind of my mentor when I started. 207 00:07:26,988 --> 00:07:28,323 You know, he was just very -- 208 00:07:28,365 --> 00:07:29,866 -What made him your mentor? How did he -- 209 00:07:29,908 --> 00:07:32,369 -Because he -- Well, he was just a bad man, you know. 210 00:07:32,410 --> 00:07:35,121 I mean, he was just -- He'd been a heroin addict, 211 00:07:35,163 --> 00:07:36,414 you know, and he would -- 212 00:07:36,456 --> 00:07:37,749 -Richard Belzer was -- He did some shit? 213 00:07:37,791 --> 00:07:39,959 -Yeah, and he, you know, he dressed all in black. 214 00:07:40,001 --> 00:07:41,461 First of all, he was older. 215 00:07:41,503 --> 00:07:44,631 He was, like, 10, 12, 15 years older, so I was just 22. 216 00:07:44,673 --> 00:07:48,593 I was just starting and, like, he was just in that little room, 217 00:07:48,635 --> 00:07:51,304 that Catch a Rising Star was the club that he worked at, 218 00:07:51,346 --> 00:07:52,972 and in that little room, he owned -- 219 00:07:53,014 --> 00:07:56,935 -Isn't it crazy that, like, when you talk standup comedy, 220 00:07:56,976 --> 00:07:58,103 you talk about New York. 221 00:07:58,144 --> 00:07:59,729 You know, throughout the years, 222 00:07:59,771 --> 00:08:02,732 I mean, you're talking about the '80s of being in Vegas. 223 00:08:02,774 --> 00:08:05,944 You're talking about that time of just embracing 224 00:08:05,985 --> 00:08:09,739 what was the world and culture of standup comedy. 225 00:08:09,781 --> 00:08:13,660 Like, all of these things, like, have so much history 226 00:08:13,702 --> 00:08:16,663 embedded in them that, like, as you're talking about this, 227 00:08:16,705 --> 00:08:18,957 I'm even remembering for me, like, "Holy shit." 228 00:08:18,998 --> 00:08:21,459 -Yeah, where did you start? -I started in Philadelphia, 229 00:08:21,501 --> 00:08:23,795 but New York is basically my home for standup comedy. 230 00:08:23,837 --> 00:08:26,548 I came up through the New York circuit. 231 00:08:26,589 --> 00:08:27,799 -Well, how long did it take you 232 00:08:27,841 --> 00:08:29,801 before you felt, like, you were good? 233 00:08:29,843 --> 00:08:35,598 -I probably started getting good 2004, 2003, 2004. 234 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:37,642 I was extremely hacky before then, 235 00:08:37,684 --> 00:08:40,186 but started to put together what was considered 236 00:08:40,228 --> 00:08:41,813 to be a set, right? 237 00:08:41,855 --> 00:08:45,191 -Right, and so to your question, it's an evolution. 238 00:08:45,233 --> 00:08:46,443 -Absolutely. 239 00:08:46,484 --> 00:08:48,153 -You know. It doesn't happen overnight 240 00:08:48,194 --> 00:08:49,612 and it's just always growing. 241 00:08:49,654 --> 00:08:52,741 And, I mean, I've done 12 HBO specials, you know. 242 00:08:52,782 --> 00:08:54,826 I just did one last year and I'm gonna do 243 00:08:54,868 --> 00:08:56,703 another one next year or whenever. 244 00:08:56,745 --> 00:08:58,830 It's still the most fun I can have. 245 00:08:58,872 --> 00:09:02,542 -Bill, listen, we are having a good conversation. 246 00:09:02,584 --> 00:09:04,878 I got to pause for one second because we got to pay bills. 247 00:09:04,919 --> 00:09:06,546 Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be right back 248 00:09:06,588 --> 00:09:09,257 with more "Hart to Heart" and Bill Maher after this. 249 00:09:24,230 --> 00:09:28,026 -Welcome back. We're still here. This is still Bill Maher. 250 00:09:28,068 --> 00:09:29,736 How old are you now, Bill? -67. 251 00:09:29,778 --> 00:09:33,490 -67 and still operating, still a machine, 252 00:09:33,531 --> 00:09:34,866 and still, like, churning. 253 00:09:34,908 --> 00:09:37,077 -Well, you know, this country is very unhealthy, 254 00:09:37,118 --> 00:09:41,539 so they have this idea that you're decrepit if you're 50, 255 00:09:41,581 --> 00:09:42,957 which I always thought, too. 256 00:09:42,999 --> 00:09:44,793 Because I -- when I was -- -Until you got 50. 257 00:09:44,834 --> 00:09:46,378 -What? -Until you got 50. 258 00:09:46,419 --> 00:09:48,922 -No, no. I'm still not decrepit. 259 00:09:48,963 --> 00:09:51,633 That's what I'm saying is, like, when I was younger, 260 00:09:51,675 --> 00:09:52,884 because of the way people act, 261 00:09:52,926 --> 00:09:54,719 and I would see the way they act, 262 00:09:54,761 --> 00:09:57,180 and the way they regard -- And it's a very ageist country. 263 00:09:57,222 --> 00:10:00,433 I would have thought, "Oh, when you hit this age, 264 00:10:00,475 --> 00:10:02,227 you'll just be very different." 265 00:10:02,268 --> 00:10:05,730 And the truth is there's almost nothing different about my life. 266 00:10:05,772 --> 00:10:06,648 -Mm-hmm. 267 00:10:06,690 --> 00:10:08,108 -Nothing. -Nothing at all. 268 00:10:08,149 --> 00:10:09,401 -Well, first of all, I never got married or had kids, 269 00:10:09,442 --> 00:10:10,819 so that changes you a lot. 270 00:10:10,860 --> 00:10:12,654 I mean, that's a big, you know, obviously -- 271 00:10:12,696 --> 00:10:15,031 -Intentional or just never happened? 272 00:10:15,073 --> 00:10:17,826 -Oh, very intentional. -Very intentional, okay. 273 00:10:17,867 --> 00:10:19,953 -No, Kevin, no one ever wanted to marry me. 274 00:10:19,994 --> 00:10:22,122 I could never find anyone willing to do that. 275 00:10:22,163 --> 00:10:23,707 -Well, you have some people that are like, 276 00:10:23,748 --> 00:10:25,709 "Things never worked out. 277 00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:27,627 I've always found myself on the back side." 278 00:10:27,669 --> 00:10:29,087 Or you're a person that just says, 279 00:10:29,129 --> 00:10:30,714 "I choose the single life. It's much better for me." 280 00:10:30,755 --> 00:10:32,757 -Exactly. That's what I choose. -Okay. 281 00:10:32,799 --> 00:10:34,092 -So, like, when you have kids, I feel like you sort of 282 00:10:34,134 --> 00:10:35,969 in a way trade your life for theirs. 283 00:10:36,011 --> 00:10:37,721 I mean, that is the deal. -Absolutely. 284 00:10:37,762 --> 00:10:39,180 -If you're gonna be a good parent, anyway. 285 00:10:39,222 --> 00:10:41,641 -Absolutely. -And, you know, I may be older, 286 00:10:41,683 --> 00:10:44,352 but, like, I am the latest version of me. 287 00:10:44,394 --> 00:10:45,979 There is no 2.0. -Okay. 288 00:10:46,021 --> 00:10:47,939 -I feel like that keeps me young. 289 00:10:47,981 --> 00:10:51,443 And, again, I can just basically do the things 290 00:10:51,484 --> 00:10:52,944 I've always liked to do. 291 00:10:52,986 --> 00:10:55,739 Now, I guess some people would say that's not mature. 292 00:10:55,780 --> 00:10:57,323 I don't see it that way. 293 00:10:57,365 --> 00:11:00,285 I don't think maturity has anything to do with whether 294 00:11:00,326 --> 00:11:02,996 you're a, you know, get married or have kids, 295 00:11:03,038 --> 00:11:05,749 or it's about something that goes on in your mind. 296 00:11:05,790 --> 00:11:07,292 And what can I say? 297 00:11:07,334 --> 00:11:10,879 The things I found that I like to do, I still like to do 298 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:12,756 and I still do those same things. 299 00:11:12,797 --> 00:11:16,217 So 67, it sounds old even to me, 300 00:11:16,259 --> 00:11:21,723 and yet until I start acting differently or slow down -- 301 00:11:21,765 --> 00:11:23,975 I mean, I'm working more than I ever have. 302 00:11:24,017 --> 00:11:26,061 -I like that you're even saying is that, 303 00:11:26,102 --> 00:11:30,148 you know, you have a choice and when you do embrace the idea 304 00:11:30,190 --> 00:11:32,609 and the world of marriage, you're choosing to share. 305 00:11:32,650 --> 00:11:33,943 You're saying, like, basically, 306 00:11:33,985 --> 00:11:37,322 "I choose myself, like, and choosing myself, 307 00:11:37,364 --> 00:11:40,825 I love the idea of what I do and I don't want to, like --" 308 00:11:40,867 --> 00:11:43,870 -Yeah, I mean, I definitely can share and join 309 00:11:43,912 --> 00:11:47,999 and all that good share-joining stuff without being married. 310 00:11:48,041 --> 00:11:50,377 -Yeah. -I just I never got it, 311 00:11:50,418 --> 00:11:51,836 but I totally understand 312 00:11:51,878 --> 00:11:54,089 that it's the most personal decision a person makes. 313 00:11:54,130 --> 00:11:56,174 I totally get it that, for some people, 314 00:11:56,216 --> 00:11:58,760 that's what works for them. For many people. 315 00:11:58,802 --> 00:12:01,680 I mean, I know people who, like, would be lost 316 00:12:01,721 --> 00:12:03,223 without their wife. 317 00:12:03,264 --> 00:12:05,684 Okay, one guy, but that guy is real. 318 00:12:05,725 --> 00:12:07,727 I swear he's real. 319 00:12:07,769 --> 00:12:10,730 Well, alright, he's also militia, 320 00:12:10,772 --> 00:12:13,733 but, you know, as an ideal, it's out there. 321 00:12:13,775 --> 00:12:15,193 No, I mean, some people really do. 322 00:12:15,235 --> 00:12:16,861 -Were you ever close? 323 00:12:16,903 --> 00:12:18,780 -Yes, of course. -Okay. 324 00:12:18,822 --> 00:12:23,535 -When I was young and, you know, 325 00:12:23,576 --> 00:12:25,203 I would say dumb because, I mean, 326 00:12:25,245 --> 00:12:28,581 the reasons why I was about to do it were not good reasons, 327 00:12:28,623 --> 00:12:31,835 why I was about to enter into it. 328 00:12:31,876 --> 00:12:37,048 The thought of being that person now seems just from a, 329 00:12:37,090 --> 00:12:39,467 you know, it just, like, living on Jupiter. 330 00:12:39,509 --> 00:12:41,136 It's just another person. 331 00:12:41,177 --> 00:12:43,722 Because one reason when people say, 332 00:12:43,763 --> 00:12:45,098 "Why did you never get married," 333 00:12:45,140 --> 00:12:48,059 that I always give is, "Why would I invite 334 00:12:48,101 --> 00:12:51,896 the federal and state government into my love life?" 335 00:12:51,938 --> 00:12:56,651 Because nothing is as -- shall we say -- imponderable 336 00:12:56,693 --> 00:12:59,154 and also unpredictable as love life. 337 00:12:59,195 --> 00:13:00,989 Things change. 338 00:13:01,031 --> 00:13:04,409 And then I'm involved with the government that way. 339 00:13:04,451 --> 00:13:07,037 I mean, it has to be a legal thing as opposed to, 340 00:13:07,078 --> 00:13:09,873 "Oh, it didn't work out or we just feel differently. 341 00:13:09,914 --> 00:13:11,374 We stopped loving each other." 342 00:13:11,416 --> 00:13:14,252 -Yeah, there's no easy departure from it. 343 00:13:14,294 --> 00:13:17,505 -Right. I don't understand why people voluntarily enter 344 00:13:17,547 --> 00:13:18,923 into that situation, 345 00:13:18,965 --> 00:13:21,092 especially now that we live in a day and age 346 00:13:21,134 --> 00:13:23,887 where you can have children without being married 347 00:13:23,928 --> 00:13:26,056 and no one looks askance upon this. 348 00:13:26,097 --> 00:13:27,599 I mean, it's just a choice. 349 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:29,851 -Well, I think it's all about, once again, the choice. 350 00:13:29,893 --> 00:13:31,269 You just said it. 351 00:13:31,311 --> 00:13:33,897 It's all about the choice that one is making 352 00:13:33,938 --> 00:13:37,317 and that choice is to say, "I choose you," right? 353 00:13:37,359 --> 00:13:42,280 The idea of choosing someone and loving the choice 354 00:13:42,322 --> 00:13:43,948 is what people are gravitating towards. 355 00:13:43,990 --> 00:13:45,241 -Well, but again, you can make that choice 356 00:13:45,283 --> 00:13:47,952 without making the legal commitment. 357 00:13:47,994 --> 00:13:50,163 It's just I feel like that is just, like, saying, 358 00:13:50,205 --> 00:13:54,250 "I choose you and I got this here. 359 00:13:54,292 --> 00:13:57,003 Even if I wanted to get out of this now, 360 00:13:57,045 --> 00:13:58,546 I'm locked in here now." You know what I mean? 361 00:13:58,588 --> 00:14:03,802 -No, I think -- Listen, I don't disagree with the stance 362 00:14:03,843 --> 00:14:06,179 and, you know, it's being spoken from a guy 363 00:14:06,221 --> 00:14:08,973 who embraces the idea and world of single. 364 00:14:09,015 --> 00:14:12,143 As a guy who now embraces the world of marriage, 365 00:14:12,185 --> 00:14:17,232 I do now, at the age 43, better see the value 366 00:14:17,273 --> 00:14:19,150 in marriage than I once did... -Yeah. 367 00:14:19,192 --> 00:14:22,278 -...at the age 22 or 30, right? 368 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,115 Like, it's as you grow up and grow older, 369 00:14:25,156 --> 00:14:28,076 it's, for me, it's about what you're building 370 00:14:28,118 --> 00:14:30,328 with the person, the foundation. 371 00:14:30,370 --> 00:14:33,832 As a guy that didn't come from a family 372 00:14:33,873 --> 00:14:38,003 with mother and dad together, family dinners, 373 00:14:38,044 --> 00:14:41,006 changing that narrative, creating new ground. 374 00:14:41,047 --> 00:14:45,844 And having a consistency of family bond 375 00:14:45,885 --> 00:14:47,679 and what we do and what we build, 376 00:14:47,721 --> 00:14:49,097 that's what I gravitate towards. 377 00:14:49,139 --> 00:14:51,349 That's where I personally find the joy 378 00:14:51,391 --> 00:14:53,518 and happiness in it for a very long time. 379 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:54,853 -The thing you said before 380 00:14:54,894 --> 00:14:56,521 about you didn't have it growing up. 381 00:14:56,563 --> 00:14:58,815 -Yes. -That I've heard a lot 382 00:14:58,857 --> 00:15:00,233 and that really resonates with me, 383 00:15:00,275 --> 00:15:02,318 not with my life. I was extremely lucky. 384 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,363 I had two wonderful parents and they stayed together. 385 00:15:05,405 --> 00:15:08,241 It was "Leave It to Beaver" land where I grew up. 386 00:15:08,283 --> 00:15:10,577 -Okay. -For good and bad. 387 00:15:10,618 --> 00:15:13,246 But this makes a lot of sense. 388 00:15:13,288 --> 00:15:15,123 When you don't have it growing up -- 389 00:15:15,165 --> 00:15:17,459 -What do you mean by for good and bad? What does that mean? 390 00:15:17,500 --> 00:15:21,004 -Well, I mean, I grew up in the '60s in, 391 00:15:21,046 --> 00:15:23,131 you know, an all-White town. -Got you. 392 00:15:23,173 --> 00:15:24,466 -And that's just in New Jersey. 393 00:15:24,507 --> 00:15:26,551 I mean, it was just the way things were. 394 00:15:26,593 --> 00:15:27,969 -Okay. 395 00:15:28,011 --> 00:15:30,555 -You know. I mean, a lot of it was not correct. 396 00:15:30,597 --> 00:15:32,057 -Got you. 397 00:15:32,098 --> 00:15:34,559 -But that's the -- You know, progress is an arc. 398 00:15:34,601 --> 00:15:35,977 -Okay. 399 00:15:36,019 --> 00:15:37,979 -You know, and I was a kid. I didn't do it. 400 00:15:38,021 --> 00:15:41,900 But I'm just saying, in my town, it was just, like, 401 00:15:41,941 --> 00:15:44,110 when I look back at how innocent it was, 402 00:15:44,152 --> 00:15:48,907 I mean, there was, like, no drugs in the school. 403 00:15:48,948 --> 00:15:50,200 Really no crime. 404 00:15:50,241 --> 00:15:53,828 You know, hardly any divorce. 405 00:15:53,870 --> 00:15:57,957 A number of the fathers did kill themselves in my town. 406 00:15:57,999 --> 00:16:00,210 -Okay. I mean, we just took another turn. 407 00:16:00,251 --> 00:16:01,544 Bill's really good at this. 408 00:16:01,586 --> 00:16:04,005 We'll be on a path and that car just, woof. 409 00:16:04,047 --> 00:16:05,423 -But that's true. There was, like, 410 00:16:05,465 --> 00:16:07,509 "Oh, they found him in the swimming pool," 411 00:16:07,550 --> 00:16:09,010 you know, kind of thing. 412 00:16:09,052 --> 00:16:11,096 But in a time when you weren't, like, 413 00:16:11,137 --> 00:16:13,264 it was not acceptable to have -- 414 00:16:13,306 --> 00:16:15,225 to divorce, that was sort of the way out. 415 00:16:15,266 --> 00:16:16,601 -That was the out. -Yeah, that was the out. 416 00:16:16,643 --> 00:16:19,312 -"I'm sick of this shit. I'm gonna end it all." 417 00:16:19,354 --> 00:16:21,773 Okay. -"I'm in the pool." 418 00:16:21,815 --> 00:16:23,274 -Alright, well, I can see -- 419 00:16:23,316 --> 00:16:25,860 Now I'm starting to understand more about your take 420 00:16:25,902 --> 00:16:27,362 and understanding for your choice. 421 00:16:27,404 --> 00:16:32,200 -No, but having had that very stable, lucky upbringing, 422 00:16:32,242 --> 00:16:36,496 it kind of gives me the luxury to then not want to re-create 423 00:16:36,538 --> 00:16:38,873 that kind of stability later in my life. 424 00:16:38,915 --> 00:16:40,000 -Yeah, you have an example of it. 425 00:16:40,041 --> 00:16:41,209 -Yeah, right. 426 00:16:41,251 --> 00:16:42,627 -You have an example that played 427 00:16:42,669 --> 00:16:44,087 live and in front of you. 428 00:16:44,129 --> 00:16:47,048 -Whereas when you became of age, you still needed it. 429 00:16:47,090 --> 00:16:48,591 Because you didn't get it as a child. 430 00:16:48,633 --> 00:16:51,011 -Yes, and I did not understand what it meant to have it, 431 00:16:51,052 --> 00:16:54,597 which is why I think my first round of it, 432 00:16:54,639 --> 00:16:58,309 I fucked up, and going into the second round of it, 433 00:16:58,351 --> 00:17:00,145 I didn't get it right automatically. 434 00:17:00,186 --> 00:17:01,730 And it's something that had to become a learned trait. 435 00:17:01,771 --> 00:17:05,108 You are a product of your environment to a certain degree 436 00:17:05,150 --> 00:17:06,359 and it's not until you... -Oh, very much. 437 00:17:06,401 --> 00:17:08,820 -...realize that and make the choices 438 00:17:08,862 --> 00:17:12,115 to fix and correct that it will be. 439 00:17:12,157 --> 00:17:15,744 So, for me, I didn't have that same org chart. 440 00:17:15,785 --> 00:17:17,078 -Right. 441 00:17:17,120 --> 00:17:18,371 -I didn't have that same want and goal 442 00:17:18,413 --> 00:17:20,248 because of my foundation that I came up in. 443 00:17:20,290 --> 00:17:23,710 So I think that's why I'm a little more true to it 444 00:17:23,752 --> 00:17:27,380 and a little more focused now more than I've ever been 445 00:17:27,422 --> 00:17:29,924 because I understand the bigger picture, overall. 446 00:17:29,966 --> 00:17:31,468 -You do seem focused. 447 00:17:31,509 --> 00:17:35,388 -Yes, right now, I will say 1,000%, more than that. 448 00:17:35,430 --> 00:17:36,514 -And a workaholic. 449 00:17:36,556 --> 00:17:38,683 -Bill, let me hold you up one quick second 450 00:17:38,725 --> 00:17:40,352 while we go to commercial. 451 00:17:40,393 --> 00:17:41,936 Guys, we'll be back with more "Hart to Heart" after this. 452 00:17:57,452 --> 00:18:01,331 -Welcome back. We're still here. This is still Bill Maher. 453 00:18:01,373 --> 00:18:04,376 Bill, alright, so let's finish. You were saying? 454 00:18:04,417 --> 00:18:06,378 -Like, I'm asking myself, "Why are you doing this?" 455 00:18:06,419 --> 00:18:08,213 -Yeah. Why am I or why are you? 456 00:18:08,254 --> 00:18:09,547 -Why are you? I mean, you've got -- 457 00:18:09,589 --> 00:18:11,508 -Well, I think for the same reason you are. 458 00:18:11,549 --> 00:18:14,135 -No, no. I'm not a big movie star. 459 00:18:14,177 --> 00:18:15,762 -Yeah. -I don't have -- 460 00:18:15,804 --> 00:18:18,848 I'm not on every commercial. -Okay. Yeah. 461 00:18:18,890 --> 00:18:21,059 -You know, I mean, you just have a lot more going on. 462 00:18:21,101 --> 00:18:23,395 -Yes. -Like, why you need this, too? 463 00:18:23,436 --> 00:18:24,896 I mean, you're good at it, and it's fun, 464 00:18:24,938 --> 00:18:27,399 and I'm flattered to be here, and I've seen it before, 465 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:28,942 and a lot of the people you've had on 466 00:18:28,983 --> 00:18:30,819 were really good people, so I'm glad to be part of that. 467 00:18:30,860 --> 00:18:32,737 -I'm inspired by what I've seen, 468 00:18:32,779 --> 00:18:36,241 yourself included, and the examples, right? 469 00:18:36,282 --> 00:18:38,159 Because we're comedians, we have the opportunity 470 00:18:38,201 --> 00:18:39,619 to be a multi-hyphenate, right? -Right. 471 00:18:39,661 --> 00:18:43,081 -So as you talk about still doing shows to date, 472 00:18:43,123 --> 00:18:44,958 you're also an author. 473 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:46,751 You have your own talk show. 474 00:18:46,793 --> 00:18:51,089 We have a lot of people don't and that's an understanding 475 00:18:51,131 --> 00:18:52,590 for rapport and back and forth. 476 00:18:52,632 --> 00:18:55,135 I now have an opportunity to sit across from people 477 00:18:55,176 --> 00:18:56,553 and talk in a manner that's separate 478 00:18:56,594 --> 00:18:58,888 from what I do as a standup comic. 479 00:18:58,930 --> 00:19:01,182 So I like the portfolio. 480 00:19:01,224 --> 00:19:03,268 I like to say at the end of the day, 481 00:19:03,309 --> 00:19:05,437 I've checked all these boxes, 482 00:19:05,478 --> 00:19:07,939 not because I had to but because I wanted to. 483 00:19:07,981 --> 00:19:10,316 And it becomes a résumé 484 00:19:10,358 --> 00:19:13,361 and a book of chapters as to what stage is in. 485 00:19:13,403 --> 00:19:15,030 -Yeah, and it's fun. -Absolutely. 486 00:19:15,071 --> 00:19:16,448 -I mean, the -- 487 00:19:16,489 --> 00:19:18,616 One of the main reasons I started my podcast, 488 00:19:18,658 --> 00:19:20,952 "Club Random," is, I mean, I have a show. 489 00:19:20,994 --> 00:19:23,997 I mean, I have a show on HBO for, as you said, 21 -- 490 00:19:24,039 --> 00:19:26,332 -21 seasons, man. -Well, 21 years. 491 00:19:26,374 --> 00:19:27,667 We're in our 21st year. It's amazing. 492 00:19:27,709 --> 00:19:29,294 -That's insane. -And before that, 493 00:19:29,336 --> 00:19:31,629 I had "Politically Incorrect" for nine years, 494 00:19:31,671 --> 00:19:33,631 so I've been on TV for 30 years straight. 495 00:19:33,673 --> 00:19:38,303 I don't need another job, but it's interesting. 496 00:19:38,345 --> 00:19:41,097 People like us -- I mean, I've seen you. 497 00:19:41,139 --> 00:19:44,601 I admire you a lot. I enjoyed everything you've ever done. 498 00:19:44,642 --> 00:19:48,438 I had Bryan Cranston on my podcast recently. 499 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:49,814 -Such a good guy. -And I was going on and on 500 00:19:49,856 --> 00:19:51,691 about how great you were. -Such a good guy. 501 00:19:51,733 --> 00:19:54,486 -Yeah, such a great guy and that's such a great movie 502 00:19:54,527 --> 00:19:55,820 that you did with him. 503 00:19:55,862 --> 00:19:57,572 -He made me better. 504 00:19:57,614 --> 00:20:00,617 -Well, I don't know better, but different, 505 00:20:00,658 --> 00:20:02,827 and, yes, I would -- I mean, I was going on and on 506 00:20:02,869 --> 00:20:04,412 how great you were in that movie. 507 00:20:04,454 --> 00:20:06,748 Because I said, you know, we've seen him a lot as, 508 00:20:06,790 --> 00:20:08,667 you know, kind of the Kevin Hart character. 509 00:20:08,708 --> 00:20:11,336 And whoever directed that movie or let him... 510 00:20:11,378 --> 00:20:12,712 -Neil Burger. 511 00:20:12,754 --> 00:20:14,589 -...take it in that direction, it just showed 512 00:20:14,631 --> 00:20:18,093 that you could take it to this very realistic level. 513 00:20:18,134 --> 00:20:19,469 -Thank you. 514 00:20:19,511 --> 00:20:20,762 -A really good acting job. -Thank you, man. 515 00:20:20,804 --> 00:20:23,098 -And he said -- You're making sequel. 516 00:20:23,139 --> 00:20:24,599 -Yeah. 517 00:20:24,641 --> 00:20:26,059 -I said, "What happens in this one, you stand up?" 518 00:20:26,101 --> 00:20:28,144 -[ Laughing ] -But... 519 00:20:28,186 --> 00:20:29,729 So... 520 00:20:32,023 --> 00:20:35,985 But the point being 521 00:20:36,027 --> 00:20:39,447 that people like us -- 522 00:20:39,489 --> 00:20:43,368 Oh, good, I got you. -It was good. It was good. 523 00:20:43,410 --> 00:20:46,538 That was good. Go ahead. Go ahead. 524 00:20:46,579 --> 00:20:49,749 -When -- What do we -- 525 00:20:49,791 --> 00:20:52,502 What makes us, like, sit down and talk to each other? 526 00:20:52,544 --> 00:20:54,295 Work. -Yeah. 527 00:20:54,337 --> 00:20:55,797 -Because it's part of work. -Yeah. 528 00:20:55,839 --> 00:20:57,924 -I mean, we probably wouldn't just come here 529 00:20:57,966 --> 00:21:00,385 and do this even though we both like each other 530 00:21:00,427 --> 00:21:02,220 and would be interested in doing that, 531 00:21:02,262 --> 00:21:03,638 but we're busy. We got the -- 532 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:05,640 But now that it's a job, now that it's work -- 533 00:21:05,682 --> 00:21:07,892 -You embrace the idea of work. Absolutely. 534 00:21:07,934 --> 00:21:10,395 -And then we just -- And then we can do 535 00:21:10,437 --> 00:21:12,105 what we would actually just be doing. 536 00:21:12,147 --> 00:21:13,606 -Yes. 537 00:21:13,648 --> 00:21:14,858 -Which is, I mean, actually I'd be smoking a joint 538 00:21:14,899 --> 00:21:16,359 if we were doing this at "Club Random" 539 00:21:16,401 --> 00:21:17,861 and you must do "Club Random" someday. 540 00:21:17,902 --> 00:21:19,696 -I will do "Club Random." -So then I can do my drug... 541 00:21:19,738 --> 00:21:21,531 -Well, let me tell you why -- -...and I'll get you your -- 542 00:21:21,573 --> 00:21:22,907 We can bring in your whole sommelier. 543 00:21:22,949 --> 00:21:24,868 -I will. I will fucking bring my wine. 544 00:21:24,909 --> 00:21:26,327 -Bring the whole ship in. 545 00:21:26,369 --> 00:21:27,871 -I'm gonna bring my wine, but let me tell you 546 00:21:27,912 --> 00:21:30,373 why I like your idea behind your podcast, right? 547 00:21:30,415 --> 00:21:32,375 Because you stepped away from the political side. 548 00:21:32,417 --> 00:21:33,918 -Yeah. -And you said, "That's here, 549 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,421 but here, I actually just want to have regular talks 550 00:21:36,463 --> 00:21:37,672 and regular conversation." 551 00:21:37,714 --> 00:21:39,299 When did you make the choice, right? 552 00:21:39,341 --> 00:21:42,802 Because in standup, you have comedians that make the choice 553 00:21:42,844 --> 00:21:45,764 to take the turn and go political 554 00:21:45,805 --> 00:21:48,975 and start to address real issues, real problems. 555 00:21:49,017 --> 00:21:51,770 When was it that you made the decision to say, 556 00:21:51,811 --> 00:21:53,938 "You know what, man? Being funny is great, 557 00:21:53,980 --> 00:21:55,982 but I'm gonna shift the narrative 558 00:21:56,024 --> 00:21:58,693 and start to address my funny with a clever approach 559 00:21:58,735 --> 00:22:00,862 to talking about the problems that I see in the country." 560 00:22:00,904 --> 00:22:04,115 -Right. Well, again, like the other thing, 561 00:22:04,157 --> 00:22:08,453 it's an evolution that I almost couldn't stop from happening 562 00:22:08,495 --> 00:22:10,538 because my father was in news. 563 00:22:10,580 --> 00:22:12,916 My father was a radio newsman in the day 564 00:22:12,957 --> 00:22:15,627 when every news station in the radio 565 00:22:15,669 --> 00:22:17,462 had news at the top of the hour. 566 00:22:17,504 --> 00:22:18,922 So that's what he did for a living. 567 00:22:18,963 --> 00:22:20,131 -Okay. 568 00:22:20,173 --> 00:22:21,466 -So my parents were interested in the news. 569 00:22:21,508 --> 00:22:23,134 I heard about it at home. 570 00:22:23,176 --> 00:22:26,054 We weren't like a lot of families where they don't -- 571 00:22:26,096 --> 00:22:27,972 they didn't pay attention. They don't know. 572 00:22:28,014 --> 00:22:30,725 -Yeah, they didn't give a shit. -They don't give a shit. 573 00:22:30,767 --> 00:22:33,353 Politics wasn't what was talked about. 574 00:22:33,395 --> 00:22:34,854 So it was always in my ear. 575 00:22:34,896 --> 00:22:37,649 And my father was a good living-room comedian, 576 00:22:37,691 --> 00:22:40,068 which is something a lot of comedians will tell you. 577 00:22:40,110 --> 00:22:41,444 -Wow. 578 00:22:41,486 --> 00:22:42,821 -That it kind of gestates over one generation, 579 00:22:42,862 --> 00:22:44,906 that the parent, one or maybe both parents -- 580 00:22:44,948 --> 00:22:48,868 My mother was witty, too -- show you that in the home. 581 00:22:48,910 --> 00:22:51,496 Again, the background of what you have at home. 582 00:22:51,538 --> 00:22:52,997 -Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 583 00:22:53,039 --> 00:22:57,252 -And so, like, the idea that I would go into comedy 584 00:22:57,293 --> 00:22:59,713 with a bent toward not just news 585 00:22:59,754 --> 00:23:01,798 but stuff that was in the culture, 586 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:03,883 something that was meaty and important 587 00:23:03,925 --> 00:23:06,553 and something you could talk about and chew on, 588 00:23:06,594 --> 00:23:09,556 that has some intellectual nutrition to it, 589 00:23:09,597 --> 00:23:11,266 as opposed to just trivia, which you can -- 590 00:23:11,307 --> 00:23:14,686 That can be genius comedy, too, but it's just not my style. 591 00:23:14,728 --> 00:23:16,771 That was always I feel like inevitable 592 00:23:16,813 --> 00:23:18,690 given what was in my home. 593 00:23:18,732 --> 00:23:21,901 Now, the downside of it for me is that people see me, 594 00:23:21,943 --> 00:23:24,946 especially as a standup, as, like, this political comedian. 595 00:23:24,988 --> 00:23:27,907 And that's not really -- When you see me do standup, 596 00:23:27,949 --> 00:23:30,410 you don't really have to know a hell of a lot about politics. 597 00:23:30,452 --> 00:23:32,287 Of course, I'm going to make it -- 598 00:23:32,328 --> 00:23:33,663 That's what my show is, also. 599 00:23:33,705 --> 00:23:34,998 I'm doing this for the people 600 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,375 who don't follow it that closely... 601 00:23:37,417 --> 00:23:38,710 -Yeah. 602 00:23:38,752 --> 00:23:40,045 -...who want someone to interpret for them 603 00:23:40,086 --> 00:23:41,546 and, you know, give an opinion of it 604 00:23:41,588 --> 00:23:43,715 and make it funny and make it palatable. 605 00:23:43,757 --> 00:23:45,008 -Yeah. 606 00:23:45,050 --> 00:23:46,676 -A little sugar to help the medicine go down. 607 00:23:46,718 --> 00:23:48,553 So, you know, when you come to see me do standup, 608 00:23:48,595 --> 00:23:50,388 yes, you don't have to be up on the news 609 00:23:50,430 --> 00:23:52,057 and I'm not just political. 610 00:23:52,098 --> 00:23:54,184 I talk about my personal life and everything in my standup. 611 00:23:54,225 --> 00:23:55,435 That's what we love to do. 612 00:23:55,477 --> 00:23:56,519 -That's what you're supposed to do. 613 00:23:56,561 --> 00:23:58,021 -That's standup. 614 00:23:58,063 --> 00:24:00,023 -I mean, that's what makes us not only relatable, 615 00:24:00,065 --> 00:24:01,691 but that's what gives us the legs, right? 616 00:24:01,733 --> 00:24:03,568 -Right. -You're able to continue 617 00:24:03,610 --> 00:24:05,236 year after year after year 618 00:24:05,278 --> 00:24:06,654 because you're talking about your growth, your trajectory. 619 00:24:06,696 --> 00:24:08,198 -But my real -- my main job -- 620 00:24:08,239 --> 00:24:10,367 I was kidding with you before about my real job, 621 00:24:10,408 --> 00:24:13,620 the one I'm gonna get back to today as soon as I leave here, 622 00:24:13,661 --> 00:24:16,081 and I work on all week, is "Real Time" on HBO. 623 00:24:16,122 --> 00:24:19,250 That, you know -- It's a once-a-week show 624 00:24:19,292 --> 00:24:20,960 on a premier cable network. 625 00:24:21,002 --> 00:24:23,630 I have to make that show as good as I can 626 00:24:23,672 --> 00:24:25,298 and once a week for one hour. 627 00:24:25,340 --> 00:24:28,760 I have one hour to try to tell people what happened that week 628 00:24:28,802 --> 00:24:31,221 that I think is important and give them my slant on it 629 00:24:31,262 --> 00:24:35,016 and make it so entertaining they can't turn that dial. 630 00:24:35,058 --> 00:24:36,685 So that's my main thing. 631 00:24:36,726 --> 00:24:39,646 And then, you know, standup is just my -- 632 00:24:39,688 --> 00:24:41,106 is, like, my mistress. 633 00:24:41,147 --> 00:24:44,859 It's way more fun because I'm not married to her. 634 00:24:49,614 --> 00:24:53,326 -Who acted as inspiration for you, right? 635 00:24:53,368 --> 00:24:54,452 Were there -- -Comics? 636 00:24:54,494 --> 00:24:56,037 -Yes, because when you -- 637 00:24:56,079 --> 00:24:58,957 I'm thinking about George Carlin as you're talking, right? 638 00:24:58,998 --> 00:25:00,000 -Yep, absolutely. 639 00:25:00,041 --> 00:25:01,584 -You know, George Carlin was a guy -- 640 00:25:01,626 --> 00:25:02,961 -Carlin -- For comics in my generation, 641 00:25:03,003 --> 00:25:06,631 it was Carlin and Klein, Robert Klein. 642 00:25:06,673 --> 00:25:08,883 Those were -- I mean, Johnny Carson also 643 00:25:08,925 --> 00:25:14,764 was, you know, a guy who I watched every single night, 644 00:25:14,806 --> 00:25:17,183 sneaking watching because he was on late 645 00:25:17,225 --> 00:25:20,729 and I was not supposed to be up at 11:30. 646 00:25:20,770 --> 00:25:22,981 But that's who I wanted to be. He was handsome. 647 00:25:23,023 --> 00:25:25,608 He was debonair. He was successful. 648 00:25:25,650 --> 00:25:27,736 It looked like the girls liked him. 649 00:25:27,777 --> 00:25:29,988 And he was kind of mischievous. 650 00:25:30,030 --> 00:25:33,783 And he was just -- I mean, it's hard to imagine this now, 651 00:25:33,825 --> 00:25:35,160 but that show, I mean, 652 00:25:35,201 --> 00:25:37,912 a show at 11:30 at night, I think at its peak 653 00:25:37,954 --> 00:25:39,706 had something like 17 million viewers. 654 00:25:39,748 --> 00:25:40,999 -Absolutely. -I mean -- 655 00:25:41,041 --> 00:25:42,584 -Absolutely. -Shows in prime time now 656 00:25:42,625 --> 00:25:44,753 sometimes don't get a million. -Yeah. 657 00:25:44,794 --> 00:25:46,463 -Everything is so -- -That's how big that show was. 658 00:25:46,504 --> 00:25:47,714 -Yeah. -Yeah. 659 00:25:47,756 --> 00:25:50,675 -Huge, and he dispatched all the people 660 00:25:50,717 --> 00:25:52,302 who came up against him. 661 00:25:52,344 --> 00:25:55,347 That was also something he did where he was just bad, you know. 662 00:25:55,388 --> 00:25:59,059 Everybody tried to beat Johnny and he just fucking -- 663 00:25:59,100 --> 00:26:01,061 -He destroyed them. -Every single one of them. 664 00:26:01,102 --> 00:26:02,937 -The biggest thing to hit late-night television. 665 00:26:02,979 --> 00:26:04,356 -Yeah. -I mean, he's -- 666 00:26:04,397 --> 00:26:06,775 -So, I mean, that was just the era I grew up in 667 00:26:06,816 --> 00:26:08,818 and, you know, those are the -- 668 00:26:08,860 --> 00:26:11,946 I wanted to be some combination of, I think, 669 00:26:11,988 --> 00:26:14,824 Robert Klein, George Carlin, Johnny Carson. 670 00:26:14,866 --> 00:26:17,118 And you can still see me doing Johnny Carson 671 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,205 when I do a monologue every Friday night on "Real Time," 672 00:26:20,246 --> 00:26:22,082 which is, you know, news that, you know, 673 00:26:22,123 --> 00:26:24,959 that those are the jokes you just got that day. 674 00:26:25,001 --> 00:26:26,378 That's not, like, my act. -Mm-hmm. 675 00:26:26,419 --> 00:26:28,963 -Your act is a lot more passionate and practiced 676 00:26:29,005 --> 00:26:30,965 and, you know, you just kind of riff. 677 00:26:31,007 --> 00:26:32,717 But a monologue is something different 678 00:26:32,759 --> 00:26:33,968 and that's what Johnny did every night. 679 00:26:34,010 --> 00:26:35,553 He kind of -- He didn't invent it, 680 00:26:35,595 --> 00:26:38,598 but he certainly perfected that in late-night television. 681 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,392 So that version of me is there. 682 00:26:40,433 --> 00:26:44,562 And then when I do standup, it's much more Klein and Carlin. 683 00:26:44,604 --> 00:26:45,980 -How often are you going out now, 684 00:26:46,022 --> 00:26:47,649 when you talk about standup? 685 00:26:47,691 --> 00:26:49,984 -I don't think I've ever not been out more -- 686 00:26:50,026 --> 00:26:53,571 Less than say 25 weekends a year. 687 00:26:53,613 --> 00:26:54,864 -That's so dope. 688 00:26:54,906 --> 00:26:56,366 -But just weekends. -That's so dope. 689 00:26:56,408 --> 00:26:58,493 -Because I have this other, you know, my real job. 690 00:26:58,535 --> 00:26:59,661 -That happens on Fridays. 691 00:26:59,703 --> 00:27:01,287 -But I just go out on Saturday. 692 00:27:01,329 --> 00:27:04,582 I do a show Saturday. I do a show Sunday. 693 00:27:04,624 --> 00:27:06,126 I go home after the show Sunday 694 00:27:06,167 --> 00:27:08,503 and I go back to my real work on Monday. 695 00:27:08,545 --> 00:27:09,921 -That's so dope. 696 00:27:09,963 --> 00:27:11,798 I love that you're still committed to the craft. 697 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:13,258 I love that. -Yes. I love it. 698 00:27:13,299 --> 00:27:14,801 -That you're still committed to the craft. 699 00:27:14,843 --> 00:27:16,344 -But because there's nothing like it, 700 00:27:16,386 --> 00:27:18,096 especially in this day and age where everything is -- 701 00:27:18,138 --> 00:27:20,974 gets more and more politically correct, 702 00:27:21,016 --> 00:27:23,184 which is something I've been fighting for 30 years. 703 00:27:23,226 --> 00:27:25,103 -I was gonna, I mean, this was the next stance, 704 00:27:25,145 --> 00:27:27,522 the next place that I wanted to take you to. 705 00:27:27,564 --> 00:27:29,065 You've had a real voice. 706 00:27:29,107 --> 00:27:34,112 -But, yeah, but standup is the last place 707 00:27:34,154 --> 00:27:38,158 where, I mean, there is just the most freedom. 708 00:27:38,199 --> 00:27:43,163 I mean, look, if you do a show like Jimmy Kimmel 709 00:27:43,204 --> 00:27:47,876 or Jimmy Fallon, great guys, great shows, 710 00:27:47,917 --> 00:27:49,461 but you have to be much more careful. 711 00:27:49,502 --> 00:27:52,172 You know, we're not gonna throw "F" bombs around there... 712 00:27:52,213 --> 00:27:54,007 -Mm-hmm. -...and it's -- Okay. 713 00:27:54,049 --> 00:27:57,010 Then my show on HBO, much looser, 714 00:27:57,052 --> 00:28:00,305 and that's why I love HBO, and they've been great. 715 00:28:00,347 --> 00:28:04,392 But still, there's a dimension and it's always been my goal 716 00:28:04,434 --> 00:28:07,854 to get to that ultimate free dimension of just s-- 717 00:28:07,896 --> 00:28:10,982 And that's the podcast and that is standup comedy. 718 00:28:11,024 --> 00:28:12,692 -That's what it does for you. 719 00:28:12,734 --> 00:28:16,321 -The standup audience paying good money for a hard ticket. 720 00:28:16,363 --> 00:28:18,782 They are not a politically correct crowd. 721 00:28:18,823 --> 00:28:20,450 They're my people. 722 00:28:20,492 --> 00:28:23,078 They want to see me do what I do and I want to do it for them. 723 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,122 And they don't want me to be any way pulling any punches, 724 00:28:26,164 --> 00:28:29,834 not that I really do on "Real Time," but it is different. 725 00:28:29,876 --> 00:28:31,252 I'm sitting sometimes -- I mean, 726 00:28:31,294 --> 00:28:32,837 Bernie Sanders was there the other night with me. 727 00:28:32,879 --> 00:28:34,547 I mean, he's a senator. 728 00:28:34,589 --> 00:28:37,092 You just -- You're not gonna be quite as loose as you and I are. 729 00:28:37,133 --> 00:28:40,261 -Yeah. Do you find yourself 730 00:28:40,303 --> 00:28:42,514 when you are with those people that are a little more reserved, 731 00:28:42,555 --> 00:28:47,686 do you find yourself going even harder to try to get a reaction, 732 00:28:47,727 --> 00:28:49,562 trying to get... -No, no. 733 00:28:49,604 --> 00:28:52,023 -...a piece of real out of them, or do you navigate -- 734 00:28:52,065 --> 00:28:53,525 -That's not the way to do it, 735 00:28:53,566 --> 00:28:57,862 by going harder at the senators and governors. 736 00:28:57,904 --> 00:28:59,906 And you just have to accept 737 00:28:59,948 --> 00:29:03,201 if somebody is a politician, for example -- 738 00:29:03,243 --> 00:29:05,495 I mean, politician means full of shit, to a degree. 739 00:29:05,537 --> 00:29:08,373 I mean, that's the job. I don't blame it all on them. 740 00:29:08,415 --> 00:29:11,292 The voters only can accept so much truth, 741 00:29:11,334 --> 00:29:14,087 so politicians would like to be more truthful. 742 00:29:14,129 --> 00:29:17,215 You know, some of them are bullshitters from the beginning 743 00:29:17,257 --> 00:29:20,385 and they're full of crap, everything down the line. 744 00:29:20,427 --> 00:29:23,388 But some of them would like to be more truthful. 745 00:29:23,430 --> 00:29:25,432 They can't because people don't accept it, 746 00:29:25,473 --> 00:29:27,392 because people want to hear what they want to hear. 747 00:29:27,434 --> 00:29:30,061 And they don't want to be told, for example, 748 00:29:30,103 --> 00:29:31,938 that we can't cut your taxes 749 00:29:31,980 --> 00:29:33,815 and also give you more entitlements. 750 00:29:33,857 --> 00:29:35,025 -Mm-hmm. 751 00:29:35,066 --> 00:29:36,234 -They want to hear that. -Mm-hmm. 752 00:29:36,276 --> 00:29:38,069 -They want to hear that it's magic. 753 00:29:38,111 --> 00:29:40,572 -Mm-hmm. I mean, the truth sometimes is hard to receive. 754 00:29:40,613 --> 00:29:43,700 -Right, we can have the Swedish welfare system 755 00:29:43,742 --> 00:29:45,410 on the Arizona tax base. 756 00:29:45,452 --> 00:29:46,911 That's what they want. 757 00:29:46,953 --> 00:29:50,290 So politicians lie, and, yes, it is my job 758 00:29:50,331 --> 00:29:52,125 to hold their feet to the fire. And by the way, 759 00:29:52,167 --> 00:29:54,336 this is why a lot of politicians don't do my show. 760 00:29:54,377 --> 00:29:56,504 -I was gonna say, like... -I'm not like the other shows. 761 00:29:56,546 --> 00:30:00,258 -...have you seen a decline in who wants to participate 762 00:30:00,300 --> 00:30:04,262 versus who doesn't or do you like the space of growth 763 00:30:04,304 --> 00:30:06,514 throughout the years? -It was always this. 764 00:30:06,556 --> 00:30:09,100 I mean, we just are never gonna get everybody. 765 00:30:09,142 --> 00:30:11,561 There are a lot of politicians who just want to be 766 00:30:11,603 --> 00:30:12,771 in a very safe space 767 00:30:12,812 --> 00:30:14,105 and there are places they can go. 768 00:30:14,147 --> 00:30:15,440 -Okay. -That's not me. 769 00:30:15,482 --> 00:30:17,359 I mean, if I feel that way, I'll say that, 770 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:18,985 but I don't always feel that way. 771 00:30:19,027 --> 00:30:20,653 So when you come on my show, 772 00:30:20,695 --> 00:30:23,114 I mean, I'm sure my producers probably tell them. 773 00:30:23,156 --> 00:30:25,283 "Just tell him the truth and you'll be fine. 774 00:30:25,325 --> 00:30:27,535 But if you start bullshitting, yes, 775 00:30:27,577 --> 00:30:30,413 you're gonna get a reaction from him that you may not like." 776 00:30:30,455 --> 00:30:32,290 And so that is not for everybody 777 00:30:32,332 --> 00:30:34,084 and there are lots of famous politicians. 778 00:30:34,125 --> 00:30:35,460 I never had Bill or Hillary Clinton 779 00:30:35,502 --> 00:30:37,921 on my show and they're Democrats. 780 00:30:37,962 --> 00:30:39,339 You know, lots of people won't do it 781 00:30:39,381 --> 00:30:41,466 because they don't want to stand up to that. 782 00:30:41,508 --> 00:30:44,803 But otherwise, I feel like I wouldn't be doing my job. 783 00:30:44,844 --> 00:30:46,054 That's my job. 784 00:30:46,096 --> 00:30:47,681 -Bill, let me hold you up one quick second 785 00:30:47,722 --> 00:30:49,307 while we go to commercial. 786 00:30:49,349 --> 00:30:51,893 Guys, we'll be back with more "Hart to Heart" after this. 787 00:31:06,282 --> 00:31:07,784 -Welcome back to "Hart to Heart." 788 00:31:07,826 --> 00:31:10,537 I'm still sitting here and I'm talking to Bill Maher. 789 00:31:10,578 --> 00:31:13,331 Bill, in real time, yes, pun intended, 790 00:31:13,373 --> 00:31:16,209 in you doing your job, what do you think you've gotten 791 00:31:16,251 --> 00:31:20,588 the biggest, like, reaction or pushback? 792 00:31:20,630 --> 00:31:22,799 Like, have things ever presented itself 793 00:31:22,841 --> 00:31:28,596 to get out of hand on the show in ways to where producers 794 00:31:28,638 --> 00:31:31,850 and you couldn't navigate in the waters? 795 00:31:31,891 --> 00:31:36,521 Like, have things ever reached a high level of conflict for you? 796 00:31:36,563 --> 00:31:38,815 -You know, they're trying to get rid of me every single week. 797 00:31:38,857 --> 00:31:40,442 -What do you mean by that? Are you talking about... 798 00:31:40,483 --> 00:31:42,360 -The woke. -...people outside of -- 799 00:31:42,402 --> 00:31:43,737 -The woke... -Okay. 800 00:31:43,778 --> 00:31:45,905 -...are trying to kill me every week and I just -- 801 00:31:45,947 --> 00:31:48,575 -You feel like you're at war -- you're at war with the woke. 802 00:31:48,616 --> 00:31:51,536 -Well, I don't want to be at war with anybody, 803 00:31:51,578 --> 00:31:54,706 but I'm gonna say what I feel about certain issues 804 00:31:54,748 --> 00:31:58,793 and there are many things where the woke, in my view, 805 00:31:58,835 --> 00:32:01,046 are not expanding on liberalism. 806 00:32:01,087 --> 00:32:02,547 I'm an old-school liberalist. 807 00:32:02,589 --> 00:32:04,924 I would say that there's four tribes in the country 808 00:32:04,966 --> 00:32:06,217 right now politically. 809 00:32:06,259 --> 00:32:09,054 You have Trumpers way on the right 810 00:32:09,095 --> 00:32:10,555 and you have the wokers way on the left. 811 00:32:10,597 --> 00:32:12,474 And in the middle, you have most people 812 00:32:12,515 --> 00:32:15,477 who are old-school conservatives or old-school liberals. 813 00:32:15,518 --> 00:32:19,439 I feel like I'm mostly old-school liberal, 814 00:32:19,481 --> 00:32:22,817 but the woke believe in many things that are, again, 815 00:32:22,859 --> 00:32:25,528 they don't build on liberalism. They're the opposite of -- 816 00:32:25,570 --> 00:32:29,616 Liberalism to me is striving for a color-blind society. 817 00:32:29,657 --> 00:32:32,410 -Mm-hmm. That's not where the woke are. 818 00:32:32,452 --> 00:32:35,622 They're "Race has to be the most important thing 819 00:32:35,663 --> 00:32:37,248 in every single issue." -Mm-hmm. 820 00:32:37,290 --> 00:32:38,708 -And we have to see it always. 821 00:32:38,750 --> 00:32:41,211 Again, you may believe that, but it's not liberalism. 822 00:32:41,252 --> 00:32:42,671 It's something different. 823 00:32:42,712 --> 00:32:44,839 I mean, I remember when I used to do the show 824 00:32:44,881 --> 00:32:47,842 that HBO did for the homeless, "Comic Relief." 825 00:32:47,884 --> 00:32:49,552 You remember that show that we did charity? 826 00:32:49,594 --> 00:32:51,096 -Okay, yeah, I remember "Comic Relief," yeah. 827 00:32:51,137 --> 00:32:52,639 -And back then, we were like, 828 00:32:52,681 --> 00:32:54,557 "For God sakes, in the name of compassion as liberals, 829 00:32:54,599 --> 00:32:56,768 can we help these people get off the street?" 830 00:32:56,810 --> 00:32:58,687 That's not where they are now with the homeless. 831 00:32:58,728 --> 00:33:01,272 It's, "How dare you move them off the street? 832 00:33:01,314 --> 00:33:02,899 That's their right to be there." Really? 833 00:33:02,941 --> 00:33:04,734 That's what we want to do with the homeless, 834 00:33:04,776 --> 00:33:06,820 make sure they stay on the street? 835 00:33:06,861 --> 00:33:09,322 You know, I mean, I could give you 10 examples 836 00:33:09,364 --> 00:33:11,866 of that same kind of thing. Freedom of speech. 837 00:33:11,908 --> 00:33:15,286 Freedom of speech used to be the number-one liberal issue. 838 00:33:15,328 --> 00:33:16,579 We owned the First Amendment 839 00:33:16,621 --> 00:33:18,665 the way the conservatives owned the Second. 840 00:33:18,707 --> 00:33:20,417 Well, the woke certainly don't even believe 841 00:33:20,458 --> 00:33:21,543 in freedom of speech. -Yeah. 842 00:33:21,584 --> 00:33:23,169 -They believe that feelings 843 00:33:23,211 --> 00:33:25,005 are more important than free speech. 844 00:33:25,046 --> 00:33:26,297 -You know what was crazy? 845 00:33:26,339 --> 00:33:28,550 I mean, for me, politics are very tricky. 846 00:33:28,591 --> 00:33:30,385 I've never participated in the world of politics 847 00:33:30,427 --> 00:33:32,137 because there's such a divide 848 00:33:32,178 --> 00:33:35,557 and I feel like there is no right. 849 00:33:35,598 --> 00:33:39,352 It's a constant argument of my feeling versus yours. 850 00:33:39,394 --> 00:33:41,438 And sometimes because of that argument -- 851 00:33:41,479 --> 00:33:42,981 -Well, facts should get involved. 852 00:33:43,023 --> 00:33:44,441 -Facts, you can say -- Let's say facts and feelings, 853 00:33:44,482 --> 00:33:45,817 right? It's whatever the -- 854 00:33:45,859 --> 00:33:47,777 -The problem is nowadays, we live in a country 855 00:33:47,819 --> 00:33:49,821 where people have their own facts. 856 00:33:49,863 --> 00:33:51,656 We don't even agree with the facts. 857 00:33:51,698 --> 00:33:53,158 -Let's say whatever the through line for that thing is 858 00:33:53,199 --> 00:33:54,701 that makes it make sense. 859 00:33:54,743 --> 00:33:58,663 For me, where I find the biggest frustration 860 00:33:58,705 --> 00:34:03,626 is sometimes we skip what could be the solving solution 861 00:34:03,668 --> 00:34:08,465 by constantly arguing over our ideas of the problem. 862 00:34:08,506 --> 00:34:10,592 And because of our ideas and differences 863 00:34:10,633 --> 00:34:14,429 of the "problems," we never get to a place of solution. 864 00:34:14,471 --> 00:34:16,306 We never get to the true place of change. 865 00:34:16,348 --> 00:34:18,516 So regardless of what your issue is, 866 00:34:18,558 --> 00:34:20,852 when you're skipping over the idea of change, 867 00:34:20,894 --> 00:34:25,690 or the idea of help, or the idea of conflict resolution -- 868 00:34:25,732 --> 00:34:27,901 And it's because of my stance 869 00:34:27,942 --> 00:34:31,279 and what I'm saying is right and what you're saying is wrong, 870 00:34:31,321 --> 00:34:34,991 I just see that as, like, two rams butting heads all day. 871 00:34:35,033 --> 00:34:36,242 -Yeah, it's worse than ever, 872 00:34:36,284 --> 00:34:39,621 and people have to get past this idea 873 00:34:39,662 --> 00:34:42,624 that they can own the other side, you know. 874 00:34:42,665 --> 00:34:44,542 -Mm-hmm. -If you look on the Internet 875 00:34:44,584 --> 00:34:46,628 and what people write, it's just all this, 876 00:34:46,670 --> 00:34:48,880 "So-and-so destroyed so-and-so. 877 00:34:48,922 --> 00:34:50,757 We're gonna own --" You're not gonna own anybody. 878 00:34:50,799 --> 00:34:52,676 You're not gonna destroy anybody. 879 00:34:52,717 --> 00:34:55,929 You can't do that. The country's pretty evenly divided. 880 00:34:55,970 --> 00:34:57,555 -Mm-hmm. 881 00:34:57,597 --> 00:34:59,557 -And the half that you don't like are not going anywhere. 882 00:34:59,599 --> 00:35:02,060 They're not self-deporting, okay? 883 00:35:02,102 --> 00:35:05,438 This country has to find a way to live with assholes 884 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,400 you can't stand on both sides. 885 00:35:08,441 --> 00:35:09,734 -By the way, I don't -- 886 00:35:09,776 --> 00:35:12,404 Like, that's called everyday life, you know. 887 00:35:12,445 --> 00:35:13,655 -Yeah, it is, exactly. 888 00:35:13,697 --> 00:35:15,990 -You're not going to like everyone. 889 00:35:16,032 --> 00:35:17,617 -No. 890 00:35:17,659 --> 00:35:19,077 -It doesn't mean that you're supposed to hate them, either. 891 00:35:19,119 --> 00:35:20,829 You don't have to... -Exactly. 892 00:35:20,870 --> 00:35:22,539 -...see the same POV 893 00:35:22,580 --> 00:35:25,875 or be on the same, like, eye line. 894 00:35:25,917 --> 00:35:29,796 So the idea of just being cohesive and being together 895 00:35:29,838 --> 00:35:31,923 in this environment is one we all should adapt to. 896 00:35:31,965 --> 00:35:35,427 But it's so hard for some because of the idea of control. 897 00:35:35,468 --> 00:35:38,680 "I want to control what men or women can do" 898 00:35:38,722 --> 00:35:41,599 and that to me is where the fights start. 899 00:35:41,641 --> 00:35:44,227 -It comes from a place of control. 900 00:35:44,269 --> 00:35:45,437 -Right. 901 00:35:45,478 --> 00:35:46,521 -When it's coming from a place of power 902 00:35:46,563 --> 00:35:47,897 and everybody wants that power, 903 00:35:47,939 --> 00:35:49,441 once again, you're not getting to the solution. 904 00:35:49,482 --> 00:35:51,151 -You seem like you are a control freak. 905 00:35:51,192 --> 00:35:52,444 I am a control freak. 906 00:35:52,485 --> 00:35:53,611 -I'm not a control freak. -No? 907 00:35:53,653 --> 00:35:55,071 -No. I've gotten to a point now 908 00:35:55,113 --> 00:36:00,076 where I allow the people with me under the umbrella 909 00:36:00,118 --> 00:36:03,121 of what we've created to help make that thing better. 910 00:36:03,163 --> 00:36:08,335 I now trust and empower those that I've hired to help me. 911 00:36:08,376 --> 00:36:09,961 Where I once wanted to control, 912 00:36:10,003 --> 00:36:12,130 where I once wanted to be responsible 913 00:36:12,172 --> 00:36:14,132 and be the person that did, 914 00:36:14,174 --> 00:36:16,551 I realized I wasn't getting as far as I should 915 00:36:16,593 --> 00:36:18,136 because I'm trying to wear every hat. 916 00:36:18,178 --> 00:36:21,806 So naturally, things aren't going to find the highest levels 917 00:36:21,848 --> 00:36:23,641 of success because I'm getting in my own way. 918 00:36:23,683 --> 00:36:25,852 So I took a back step, I got out of my own way, 919 00:36:25,894 --> 00:36:28,396 and then I saw things start to flourish more. 920 00:36:28,438 --> 00:36:30,857 I saw new opportunities present themselves 921 00:36:30,899 --> 00:36:33,651 and it all came from me embracing the work 922 00:36:33,693 --> 00:36:38,365 and the ideas and the world of opportunities 923 00:36:38,406 --> 00:36:39,908 that people were bringing to the table. 924 00:36:39,949 --> 00:36:42,327 -So what's your day like? I imagine you get up very early. 925 00:36:42,369 --> 00:36:43,787 -I'm up at 5:00 A.M. -Wow. 926 00:36:43,828 --> 00:36:46,373 -5:00 A.M. every day. -I'm just going to bed. 927 00:36:46,414 --> 00:36:48,917 -At 5:00 A.M.? -Well, no. For a long -- 928 00:36:48,958 --> 00:36:53,421 Much of my life, I went to bed probably 3:00, 4:00 A.M. 929 00:36:53,463 --> 00:36:54,881 Last five years or so, I -- 930 00:36:54,923 --> 00:36:56,800 -You're staying up that late after smoking weed? 931 00:36:56,841 --> 00:36:58,677 -Yeah. -Jesus Christ, Bill. 932 00:36:58,718 --> 00:37:00,512 -Weed keeps me up. 933 00:37:00,553 --> 00:37:01,888 -What kind of weed are you smoking? 934 00:37:01,930 --> 00:37:05,308 -Good. Very good. -Okay. Alright. Alright. 935 00:37:05,350 --> 00:37:07,686 -But if you can get me better... -No, I don't have -- 936 00:37:07,727 --> 00:37:10,772 I don't even smoke weed like that. I'm not a weed head. 937 00:37:10,814 --> 00:37:13,400 -No, exactly. Because you're a control freak. 938 00:37:13,441 --> 00:37:15,026 -No, because I -- Fucking weed. 939 00:37:15,068 --> 00:37:16,736 You know how you said this makes your breath stink? 940 00:37:16,778 --> 00:37:19,489 Well, show me a weed smoker with good breath 941 00:37:19,531 --> 00:37:21,282 and I'll show you a lie. 942 00:37:21,324 --> 00:37:24,202 All their breath smell like ass. I've never, like, talked 943 00:37:24,244 --> 00:37:28,248 to a consistent weed smoker with good breath. 944 00:37:28,289 --> 00:37:30,250 It's bad. 945 00:37:30,291 --> 00:37:32,711 And you talking about wine drinkers' teeth. 946 00:37:32,752 --> 00:37:33,920 What about a weed smoker's teeth? 947 00:37:33,962 --> 00:37:36,297 -Okay, why are you taking such a -- 948 00:37:36,339 --> 00:37:38,550 -Because we're in a battle of fucking war right now. 949 00:37:38,591 --> 00:37:40,427 This is politics at an all-time level. 950 00:37:40,468 --> 00:37:43,054 Wine! Let's go, wine! 951 00:37:43,096 --> 00:37:45,807 -You take such a proprietary interest in wine. 952 00:37:45,849 --> 00:37:47,767 Like, I'm not insulting you. 953 00:37:47,809 --> 00:37:50,061 I just -- Wine. I mean, you -- What are you -- 954 00:37:50,103 --> 00:37:52,564 -I took it to a battle. Weed against wine. 955 00:37:52,605 --> 00:37:55,734 No, I'm joking. 956 00:37:55,775 --> 00:37:57,277 -I know. 957 00:37:57,318 --> 00:37:58,945 -But, for me, the day to day and me wanting to be productive, 958 00:37:58,987 --> 00:38:00,947 that's the only reason why I... -But why -- Now, 5:00 A.M. 959 00:38:00,989 --> 00:38:02,365 Is that because you want to work out? 960 00:38:02,407 --> 00:38:03,742 -Get up, work out. 961 00:38:03,783 --> 00:38:04,951 -Is that the first thing you do? -First thing. 962 00:38:04,993 --> 00:38:06,202 -Every day? -Every day. 963 00:38:06,244 --> 00:38:07,495 -That's too much. -Why? 964 00:38:07,537 --> 00:38:09,831 -It just is. -Why? 965 00:38:09,873 --> 00:38:11,291 -You should not work out every day. 966 00:38:11,332 --> 00:38:12,917 -Why? 967 00:38:12,959 --> 00:38:15,045 -Because from what I've been told 968 00:38:15,086 --> 00:38:16,796 by the people who I've -- -Who told you this? 969 00:38:16,838 --> 00:38:18,465 -My trainers, my doctors. 970 00:38:18,506 --> 00:38:19,799 -Who the fuck are they? 971 00:38:19,841 --> 00:38:20,967 -They're very smart people on this subject. 972 00:38:21,009 --> 00:38:23,595 -Says who? -I -- Okay, look. 973 00:38:23,636 --> 00:38:25,430 Drink wine and work out every day. 974 00:38:25,472 --> 00:38:27,974 I don't give a damn what you do, 975 00:38:28,016 --> 00:38:30,852 but I'm telling you, at some point in your life -- 976 00:38:30,894 --> 00:38:32,437 By the way, you know who understands this? 977 00:38:32,479 --> 00:38:34,189 -Who? -People like Tom Brady. 978 00:38:34,230 --> 00:38:35,565 -Okay. 979 00:38:35,607 --> 00:38:36,733 -Understands this, totally on that page. 980 00:38:36,775 --> 00:38:38,276 -Okay. -We work out too much. 981 00:38:38,318 --> 00:38:40,987 We tax our bodies too much. -You do need a break. 982 00:38:41,029 --> 00:38:42,989 -You do need a break. -Yes, you do. 983 00:38:43,031 --> 00:38:44,866 -You shouldn't work out every day. 984 00:38:44,908 --> 00:38:46,076 -Well, every day doesn't have to be the hardest workout. 985 00:38:46,117 --> 00:38:47,660 Your workouts can be five days a week 986 00:38:47,702 --> 00:38:49,037 and your Saturday and Sunday is like -- 987 00:38:49,079 --> 00:38:50,705 -Well, I mean, if the workout is, for example, 988 00:38:50,747 --> 00:38:52,332 if it's stretching. You can do that every day. 989 00:38:52,374 --> 00:38:53,792 -Yes, that's what I'm saying. 990 00:38:53,833 --> 00:38:55,043 For me, it's being active. -Right. 991 00:38:55,085 --> 00:38:56,795 -I like to get up and I like to be active. 992 00:38:56,836 --> 00:38:59,130 I like to simply work on myself at the top of the day. 993 00:38:59,172 --> 00:39:00,590 -You're on a film set, you're on location? 994 00:39:00,632 --> 00:39:02,133 -I'm still working out. 995 00:39:02,175 --> 00:39:06,054 -But doesn't filming sometimes start very early? 996 00:39:06,096 --> 00:39:09,683 -I'm the star, so it starts when I say start. 997 00:39:09,724 --> 00:39:10,975 -I heard that. 998 00:39:11,017 --> 00:39:12,477 -Yeah, it start -- -That's -- Yeah. 999 00:39:12,519 --> 00:39:14,396 -Yeah, the call times are set... -Really? 1000 00:39:14,437 --> 00:39:15,772 -...so they fit the schedule. 1001 00:39:15,814 --> 00:39:17,315 -There you go. That's how you do it. 1002 00:39:17,357 --> 00:39:19,818 -So if I want -- The call times start at 7:00, 7:30, 1003 00:39:19,859 --> 00:39:21,319 I'll get up at 5:00, work out. 1004 00:39:21,361 --> 00:39:23,905 If we're starting a little earlier, I can do a 4:30, 1005 00:39:23,947 --> 00:39:26,574 but I'm gonna start my day with a workout, for sure. 1006 00:39:26,616 --> 00:39:28,034 -Okay. -I need that. 1007 00:39:28,076 --> 00:39:30,161 Alright, Bill, look, let's take a quick break. 1008 00:39:30,203 --> 00:39:32,247 Guys, we'll be right back with more "Hart to Heart" 1009 00:39:32,288 --> 00:39:34,082 and Bill Maher after this. 1010 00:39:49,014 --> 00:39:51,891 -Welcome back to "Hart to Heart." 1011 00:39:51,933 --> 00:39:54,185 Bill, you don't have something that acts 1012 00:39:54,227 --> 00:39:55,687 as a routine that you do every day? 1013 00:39:55,729 --> 00:39:57,022 -Oh, I do, I work out, 1014 00:39:57,063 --> 00:39:59,024 but I certainly don't do it at 5:00 A.M. 1015 00:39:59,065 --> 00:40:01,234 -What time does your day start? 1016 00:40:01,276 --> 00:40:03,111 -I usually -- Well, first of all, 1017 00:40:03,153 --> 00:40:05,030 sleep is so important. -Okay. 1018 00:40:05,071 --> 00:40:06,406 -We understand that, right? -Okay. 1019 00:40:06,448 --> 00:40:08,074 -We don't have to argue about sleep, right? 1020 00:40:08,116 --> 00:40:09,409 -No. We're not arguing about sleep. 1021 00:40:09,451 --> 00:40:11,619 I don't sleep enough, but I understand. 1022 00:40:11,661 --> 00:40:13,038 -That's key. -Yes. 1023 00:40:13,079 --> 00:40:14,914 -You should because you don't make it up, 1024 00:40:14,956 --> 00:40:16,416 not that we didn't understand that sleep 1025 00:40:16,458 --> 00:40:18,877 wasn't important before, but they understand a lot more. 1026 00:40:18,918 --> 00:40:20,420 -How many hours do you get, on average? 1027 00:40:20,462 --> 00:40:23,298 -Well, you should get -- I mean, people differ, 1028 00:40:23,340 --> 00:40:26,926 but it's very rare that someone really can live 1029 00:40:26,968 --> 00:40:28,261 on less than eight hours. 1030 00:40:28,303 --> 00:40:31,139 -Wow. -Yes. And here's the thing. 1031 00:40:31,181 --> 00:40:34,100 The last two hours are the most important two hours. 1032 00:40:34,142 --> 00:40:36,311 So if you get six hours sleep and you think, 1033 00:40:36,353 --> 00:40:39,022 "Oh, I've gotten 75% of the sleep I need," 1034 00:40:39,064 --> 00:40:41,024 you did not because you didn't get those 1035 00:40:41,066 --> 00:40:42,942 last two hours where all the good sleep is, 1036 00:40:42,984 --> 00:40:45,111 the REM sleep and the deep sleep, okay? 1037 00:40:45,153 --> 00:40:49,324 So my point is, I try to get up without an alarm any day. 1038 00:40:49,366 --> 00:40:51,076 That's why I go to bed earlier now 1039 00:40:51,117 --> 00:40:54,120 because it takes me longer to get that eight hours. 1040 00:40:54,162 --> 00:40:55,914 I mean, I have to be in bed for 10 hours 1041 00:40:55,955 --> 00:40:57,415 to get eight hours of sleep. 1042 00:40:57,457 --> 00:41:00,627 But, like, usually, I wake up around 10:30, 11:00. 1043 00:41:00,669 --> 00:41:04,964 -You're coming off to me like it's well-read research 1044 00:41:05,006 --> 00:41:06,299 and in tune. 1045 00:41:06,341 --> 00:41:07,967 What is it that sparked your interest 1046 00:41:08,009 --> 00:41:09,344 to, like, start learning all of this stuff 1047 00:41:09,386 --> 00:41:11,805 and, you know, basically understand 1048 00:41:11,846 --> 00:41:13,973 more about how the body functions 1049 00:41:14,015 --> 00:41:15,600 and what can better help you function 1050 00:41:15,642 --> 00:41:17,977 at the highest level? Did something happen? 1051 00:41:18,019 --> 00:41:19,604 -Being not dead. -Okay. 1052 00:41:19,646 --> 00:41:22,148 -Being not dead is such an important thing 1053 00:41:22,190 --> 00:41:24,150 when you're 67, Kevin. You will see. 1054 00:41:24,192 --> 00:41:28,071 -Okay. And people around you -- Were people around you -- 1055 00:41:28,113 --> 00:41:31,282 Did people around you suffer from things, you know, 1056 00:41:31,324 --> 00:41:32,951 whether it was illness or diseases 1057 00:41:32,992 --> 00:41:34,327 from not taking care of themselves? 1058 00:41:34,369 --> 00:41:35,954 -Oh, well, we certainly have known, 1059 00:41:35,995 --> 00:41:37,580 all of us have. -Absolutely, absolutely. 1060 00:41:37,622 --> 00:41:39,124 -You can't get through life without knowing lots of people 1061 00:41:39,165 --> 00:41:40,709 who have suffered from lots of things. 1062 00:41:40,750 --> 00:41:42,252 -Well, that's what sparked my world of health awareness. 1063 00:41:42,293 --> 00:41:43,503 -Yes, oh, and look, I've had my moments 1064 00:41:43,545 --> 00:41:45,171 and we're not gonna go into those. 1065 00:41:45,213 --> 00:41:47,674 I never talk about health stuff or, you know, 1066 00:41:47,716 --> 00:41:49,759 I never burden the audience with any of that stuff. 1067 00:41:49,801 --> 00:41:51,177 -Okay. 1068 00:41:51,219 --> 00:41:53,513 -I never missed a show in 30 years on television 1069 00:41:53,555 --> 00:41:56,141 except the two that they forced me to miss 1070 00:41:56,182 --> 00:41:58,852 when I came down with the dreaded forever flu 1071 00:41:58,893 --> 00:42:00,145 even though I had no symptoms. 1072 00:42:00,186 --> 00:42:01,396 But, you know, I tested positive, 1073 00:42:01,438 --> 00:42:03,314 so they forced me to not do those. 1074 00:42:03,356 --> 00:42:05,191 But 30 years, never missed a show. 1075 00:42:05,233 --> 00:42:07,694 And there were some shows when I was not feeling well, 1076 00:42:07,736 --> 00:42:10,530 but, you know, the old school was there's no business 1077 00:42:10,572 --> 00:42:13,283 like show business. There's no business I know. 1078 00:42:13,324 --> 00:42:15,952 We go out there when we're feeling low. 1079 00:42:15,994 --> 00:42:17,203 -Yeah. 1080 00:42:17,245 --> 00:42:19,205 -You know, I wish we'd go back to that. 1081 00:42:19,247 --> 00:42:23,251 But, you know, I just think, 1082 00:42:23,293 --> 00:42:26,212 first of all, my views on medicine 1083 00:42:26,254 --> 00:42:29,382 and how Western medicine handles things are at variance 1084 00:42:29,424 --> 00:42:31,384 with a lot of people in the audience 1085 00:42:31,426 --> 00:42:33,178 because I think people are scared. 1086 00:42:33,219 --> 00:42:34,596 When it comes to health, they're very scared. 1087 00:42:34,637 --> 00:42:36,765 So what they want to believe is that the people 1088 00:42:36,806 --> 00:42:38,183 in the white coats 1089 00:42:38,224 --> 00:42:40,143 have all the answers, just do what they say. 1090 00:42:40,185 --> 00:42:41,519 They're doctors. They know everything. 1091 00:42:41,561 --> 00:42:44,439 They don't. They don't know everything. 1092 00:42:44,481 --> 00:42:46,691 Sometimes they don't even know more than you do. 1093 00:42:46,733 --> 00:42:49,736 I know they hate it when you bring in Dr. Google, 1094 00:42:49,778 --> 00:42:51,196 but sometimes Dr. Google, 1095 00:42:51,237 --> 00:42:53,782 which has the latest real research out there, 1096 00:42:53,823 --> 00:42:55,200 knows more than the doctor 1097 00:42:55,241 --> 00:42:57,035 who got out of medical school 30 years ago. 1098 00:42:57,077 --> 00:43:02,457 And there's no law that says he has to refresh his memory bank 1099 00:43:02,499 --> 00:43:06,086 or learn the new facts that come down about medicine 1100 00:43:06,127 --> 00:43:08,254 and it's changing every day. 1101 00:43:08,296 --> 00:43:10,256 So, you know, when you get sick, 1102 00:43:10,298 --> 00:43:11,466 what's the first thing they tell you? 1103 00:43:11,508 --> 00:43:13,093 Get a second opinion. -Mm-hmm. 1104 00:43:13,134 --> 00:43:14,594 -But what does that tell you, Kevin, 1105 00:43:14,636 --> 00:43:17,097 that it's an opinion and that you need another one. 1106 00:43:17,138 --> 00:43:18,848 -Mm-hmm. I have a question for you. 1107 00:43:18,890 --> 00:43:20,975 So within the world of, like, 1108 00:43:21,017 --> 00:43:22,268 what you're talking about, right, 1109 00:43:22,310 --> 00:43:23,937 and you're saying, "Here's my beliefs. 1110 00:43:23,978 --> 00:43:25,522 Like, these things are an opinion. 1111 00:43:25,563 --> 00:43:27,315 Getting a second opinion is just that. It's just an opinion. 1112 00:43:27,357 --> 00:43:28,650 Sometimes the research you can do will put you 1113 00:43:28,692 --> 00:43:30,694 in a better position to solve the problem 1114 00:43:30,735 --> 00:43:32,028 that you feel you have." 1115 00:43:32,070 --> 00:43:33,446 When somebody counters and they say, 1116 00:43:33,488 --> 00:43:37,784 "Well, I believe medical opinions are the way to go 1117 00:43:37,826 --> 00:43:39,494 and I believe that without medical opinions --" 1118 00:43:39,536 --> 00:43:41,121 -Which medical opinions? That's the truth. 1119 00:43:41,162 --> 00:43:43,164 I'm saying doctors disagree. 1120 00:43:43,206 --> 00:43:45,500 That's why they say get a second opinion. 1121 00:43:45,542 --> 00:43:47,919 They're not saying get a second opinion from the garbage man. 1122 00:43:47,961 --> 00:43:51,381 They're saying get a second opinion from another doctor. 1123 00:43:51,423 --> 00:43:53,591 So why are your doctors better than my doctors 1124 00:43:53,633 --> 00:43:55,635 if we're having an argument about doctors? 1125 00:43:55,677 --> 00:43:57,053 -Got you. 1126 00:43:57,095 --> 00:43:58,972 -And the truth is that because medicine is not fixed. 1127 00:43:59,014 --> 00:44:00,432 That's what science is. 1128 00:44:00,473 --> 00:44:01,933 That's why science is different from religion. 1129 00:44:01,975 --> 00:44:04,644 We don't have one fixed belief that we never vary from. 1130 00:44:04,686 --> 00:44:08,148 New information comes along and we can adapt and change. 1131 00:44:08,189 --> 00:44:09,607 And we've seen that just with COVID. 1132 00:44:09,649 --> 00:44:11,651 I mean, they told us a bunch of things about it 1133 00:44:11,693 --> 00:44:14,487 that weren't right. I seem to remember six months 1134 00:44:14,529 --> 00:44:17,157 when we were all wiping off packages 1135 00:44:17,198 --> 00:44:19,325 like it was a stool sample from Chernobyl. 1136 00:44:19,367 --> 00:44:20,827 -Mm-hmm. -Okay, that wasn't true. 1137 00:44:20,869 --> 00:44:23,246 They said the vaccine would stop you from getting it 1138 00:44:23,288 --> 00:44:25,290 or transmitting it. That wasn't true. 1139 00:44:25,331 --> 00:44:27,417 Okay, I'm not saying they were trying to get it wrong, 1140 00:44:27,459 --> 00:44:29,169 but they get a lot of shit wrong. 1141 00:44:29,210 --> 00:44:30,628 Just in the last couple of years, 1142 00:44:30,670 --> 00:44:33,340 we found out they have gotten metabolism wrong. 1143 00:44:33,381 --> 00:44:35,008 Metabolism is a pretty basic thing. 1144 00:44:35,050 --> 00:44:41,014 They've gotten depression wrong. It wasn't about the serotonin. 1145 00:44:41,056 --> 00:44:44,184 You know, it's evolving. 1146 00:44:44,225 --> 00:44:46,644 -You know what I am? I'm this guy. 1147 00:44:46,686 --> 00:44:49,647 I'm the guy, like, if you tell me what you just said 1148 00:44:49,689 --> 00:44:52,067 and I have, like, a different feeling of it, 1149 00:44:52,108 --> 00:44:53,443 I'm like, "Oh, that's cool." 1150 00:44:53,485 --> 00:44:55,445 Like, what you said makes sense for you, 1151 00:44:55,487 --> 00:44:57,572 but I'm still kind of just gonna -- I'm gonna do this 1152 00:44:57,614 --> 00:44:59,699 because I think this is just better for me. 1153 00:44:59,741 --> 00:45:03,536 I'm a guy that's okay with someone having a feeling 1154 00:45:03,578 --> 00:45:05,497 or an opinion for themselves. 1155 00:45:05,538 --> 00:45:08,541 I believe that, hey, man, you got one life. 1156 00:45:08,583 --> 00:45:10,210 How you choose to live your life 1157 00:45:10,251 --> 00:45:11,628 and what you choose to believe in, 1158 00:45:11,670 --> 00:45:15,215 it's yours, or hers, or whomever. 1159 00:45:15,256 --> 00:45:16,716 Mine's is mine. 1160 00:45:16,758 --> 00:45:19,386 So I don't really debate, 1161 00:45:19,427 --> 00:45:23,390 you know, the idea of your beliefs versus mine. 1162 00:45:23,431 --> 00:45:27,143 I don't debate religion. I don't debate medical. 1163 00:45:27,185 --> 00:45:29,229 Like, at the end of the day, 1164 00:45:29,270 --> 00:45:31,523 where I found success... -You do you, right? 1165 00:45:31,564 --> 00:45:33,650 -...is just by doing the thing 1166 00:45:33,692 --> 00:45:37,362 that I feel will best benefit me and my family 1167 00:45:37,404 --> 00:45:41,366 and our future world of success and opportunity. 1168 00:45:41,408 --> 00:45:43,827 I think sometimes there's a lot of weight 1169 00:45:43,868 --> 00:45:46,788 put on what we talked about earlier, which is me 1170 00:45:46,830 --> 00:45:49,374 and what I'm saying versus you and what you're saying. 1171 00:45:49,416 --> 00:45:51,084 And I don't disagree what you're saying. 1172 00:45:51,126 --> 00:45:52,711 I think you made some valid points. 1173 00:45:52,752 --> 00:45:53,920 -No, no. 1174 00:45:53,962 --> 00:45:55,255 -And I think that somebody else had the same 1175 00:45:55,296 --> 00:45:56,589 and I'm fine with either one of them, 1176 00:45:56,631 --> 00:45:58,258 but it's never going to change my stance. 1177 00:45:58,299 --> 00:45:59,426 -I'm never ever looking for a debate. 1178 00:45:59,467 --> 00:46:00,885 The world would be way better 1179 00:46:00,927 --> 00:46:02,595 if everybody would just agree with me right off. 1180 00:46:02,637 --> 00:46:05,598 -I do agree -- I need you to agree with me for a second 1181 00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:07,600 while I toss to this break. We got to pay bills. 1182 00:46:07,642 --> 00:46:09,686 Guys, we'll be right back with more "Hart to Heart" after this. 1183 00:46:24,117 --> 00:46:25,452 -Welcome back, guys. 1184 00:46:25,493 --> 00:46:28,621 This is "Hart to Heart" and we're talking still. 1185 00:46:28,663 --> 00:46:30,498 So, Bill, where were we at? 1186 00:46:30,540 --> 00:46:32,917 -You're 43, you said? 1187 00:46:32,959 --> 00:46:34,711 -43. -Okay. 1188 00:46:34,753 --> 00:46:39,799 Look, when you're that age, you can -- 1189 00:46:39,841 --> 00:46:43,470 even younger, of course, you can do crazy things, 1190 00:46:43,511 --> 00:46:45,221 not that you are abusing your body at all. 1191 00:46:45,263 --> 00:46:46,639 You seem very healthy. 1192 00:46:46,681 --> 00:46:49,476 But when you get older, 1193 00:46:49,517 --> 00:46:51,811 I mean, you just have to throttle back 1194 00:46:51,853 --> 00:46:54,731 and you're just more, like I told you before, 1195 00:46:54,773 --> 00:46:56,483 I do everything I always did, 1196 00:46:56,524 --> 00:46:58,151 but I have to be much more careful. 1197 00:46:58,193 --> 00:46:59,527 -Absolutely. 1198 00:46:59,569 --> 00:47:00,904 -I mean, I used to have 20, 30 drinks a week. 1199 00:47:00,945 --> 00:47:02,822 You know, it wasn't -- That was normal 1200 00:47:02,864 --> 00:47:04,783 and I would go out three or four nights a week. 1201 00:47:04,824 --> 00:47:06,993 I don't do that anymore. I mean, I could barely drink -- 1202 00:47:07,035 --> 00:47:09,621 -No, the older you get, things start to change in conversation. 1203 00:47:09,662 --> 00:47:10,997 -They do change. -And the simple things. 1204 00:47:11,039 --> 00:47:12,499 "Hey, man, hey, let's get on the mountain bikes 1205 00:47:12,540 --> 00:47:13,833 and ride down the hill." 1206 00:47:13,875 --> 00:47:15,251 You know, well, you know, "Fuck that. 1207 00:47:15,293 --> 00:47:16,878 I'm not gonna do that. Let's go the other way. 1208 00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:18,296 I don't want to go down the hill." 1209 00:47:18,338 --> 00:47:19,631 -But I'm saying when -- 1210 00:47:19,673 --> 00:47:21,633 I hope you are healthy until you're 120. 1211 00:47:21,675 --> 00:47:23,510 But if at some point in the future, 1212 00:47:23,551 --> 00:47:25,178 you find you have some medical issue 1213 00:47:25,220 --> 00:47:28,098 and you're not really getting satisfaction from the doctor 1214 00:47:28,139 --> 00:47:31,518 you're talking to, you know, just give me a ring. 1215 00:47:31,559 --> 00:47:33,019 -Give you a ring and see. 1216 00:47:33,061 --> 00:47:35,522 -And maybe I could point you in the right direction. 1217 00:47:35,563 --> 00:47:37,941 -Here's how different I am. 1218 00:47:37,982 --> 00:47:41,778 When I had to get surgery on my back and everybody -- 1219 00:47:41,820 --> 00:47:45,073 I looked at it like jewelry for a second, you know. 1220 00:47:45,115 --> 00:47:48,535 Everybody had the idea of the best back surgeon 1221 00:47:48,576 --> 00:47:51,329 that I should go and everybody's idea. 1222 00:47:51,371 --> 00:47:53,540 And literally, every call I got, 1223 00:47:53,581 --> 00:47:55,792 "I know the best back surgeon. Trust me. 1224 00:47:55,834 --> 00:47:57,585 We're gonna get you out of there and we're gonna go." 1225 00:47:57,627 --> 00:47:59,045 And then another person would call, 1226 00:47:59,087 --> 00:48:01,381 "I'm gonna go and get you the best back surgeon. 1227 00:48:01,423 --> 00:48:03,008 This is -- Trust me, I know." 1228 00:48:03,049 --> 00:48:05,677 Everybody had an idea and I ended up talking to the doctor 1229 00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:07,345 that was there and I said, "Hey, man." 1230 00:48:07,387 --> 00:48:09,889 I said, "I just want to have an honest conversation with you 1231 00:48:09,931 --> 00:48:13,184 about your practice and your confidence in this procedure. 1232 00:48:13,226 --> 00:48:15,729 Like, what are the chances of this being a success?" 1233 00:48:15,770 --> 00:48:18,815 He said, "Kevin, this is what I do. This is my specialty. 1234 00:48:18,857 --> 00:48:20,859 I would not put your life in danger. 1235 00:48:20,900 --> 00:48:23,987 Trust me. I can do this." And I was like, "Okay." 1236 00:48:24,029 --> 00:48:25,905 Like for me, it was like, "Alright. 1237 00:48:25,947 --> 00:48:27,741 I mean, no matter what, I'm going to have to trust someone." 1238 00:48:27,782 --> 00:48:29,993 -Okay, I don't know what your back issue was, 1239 00:48:30,035 --> 00:48:33,913 but I'm wondering if you ever encountered anybody who said, 1240 00:48:33,955 --> 00:48:36,082 "Well, actually you don't need back surgery at all." 1241 00:48:36,124 --> 00:48:37,959 -No, my shit was fucked up. I broke my -- 1242 00:48:38,001 --> 00:48:40,670 I think it was, like, my T10 to 2 or something like that. 1243 00:48:40,712 --> 00:48:42,088 -You broke something. 1244 00:48:42,130 --> 00:48:43,840 -Yeah, it was my spine was, like, fractured. 1245 00:48:43,882 --> 00:48:46,259 I had to get real surgery. So on spinal, like -- 1246 00:48:46,301 --> 00:48:48,636 -How did you break your back? -I was in a car accident. 1247 00:48:48,678 --> 00:48:50,805 -Oh. -And back was, like, destroyed. 1248 00:48:50,847 --> 00:48:53,516 They said I had, like, this much of a chance to walk again. 1249 00:48:53,558 --> 00:48:55,143 -Wow. 1250 00:48:55,185 --> 00:48:56,686 You almost could have played the other part in the movie. 1251 00:48:56,728 --> 00:48:58,188 -Well, that's very true. I was very -- 1252 00:48:58,229 --> 00:49:02,192 That's actually, it's dark, but it's good. 1253 00:49:02,233 --> 00:49:03,985 It's dark but good. 1254 00:49:04,027 --> 00:49:06,780 I'm all for a good comedy joke. 1255 00:49:06,821 --> 00:49:09,908 Good comedy is comedy. That was good. 1256 00:49:09,949 --> 00:49:11,618 I almost could, but I'm saying, like, 1257 00:49:11,659 --> 00:49:13,787 there was a conversation then about just, 1258 00:49:13,828 --> 00:49:15,872 "Kevin, do this or you should." And I'm just saying, like, 1259 00:49:15,914 --> 00:49:17,791 in that moment, I had to make a decision. 1260 00:49:17,832 --> 00:49:19,125 I was like, "Nah, I'm just gonna do this." 1261 00:49:19,167 --> 00:49:21,795 And I ended up being fine and I'm fine today. 1262 00:49:21,836 --> 00:49:25,423 And I just think that -- I just -- 1263 00:49:25,465 --> 00:49:28,009 I'm not a believer in, 1264 00:49:28,051 --> 00:49:31,805 you know, the idea of just everybody's right. 1265 00:49:31,846 --> 00:49:33,723 Everybody's got the better answer. 1266 00:49:33,765 --> 00:49:35,475 Everybody's got the better person. 1267 00:49:35,517 --> 00:49:36,976 Everybody's got the better deal. 1268 00:49:37,018 --> 00:49:38,812 Everybody's got the better opportunity. 1269 00:49:38,853 --> 00:49:41,773 -Okay, that happens to you because you're a star. 1270 00:49:41,815 --> 00:49:43,650 -Yes. -So everybody wants 1271 00:49:43,692 --> 00:49:46,361 to give you the best wine, the best doctor. 1272 00:49:46,403 --> 00:49:47,737 -Yes, I believe, yes. 1273 00:49:47,779 --> 00:49:49,489 -If you smoked weed, you'd get the best weed. 1274 00:49:49,531 --> 00:49:50,865 You know, they just -- 1275 00:49:50,907 --> 00:49:53,493 They're trying to curry favor that way. 1276 00:49:53,535 --> 00:49:54,953 I mean, that's part of being -- 1277 00:49:54,994 --> 00:49:57,455 That is not the typical person's experience. 1278 00:49:57,497 --> 00:49:58,707 -I 1,000% agree. 1279 00:49:58,748 --> 00:50:00,000 -Right. -1,000% agree. 1280 00:50:00,041 --> 00:50:01,376 -But having achieved that in your life, 1281 00:50:01,418 --> 00:50:02,794 you should be proud of that, 1282 00:50:02,836 --> 00:50:04,504 that everyone is trying to lick your ass. 1283 00:50:04,546 --> 00:50:08,508 -Well, I don't think that's -- Another hard right, Bill. 1284 00:50:08,550 --> 00:50:09,926 -Not a hard right. No, no. 1285 00:50:09,968 --> 00:50:11,177 -Like, really, these cars, vroom, man. 1286 00:50:11,219 --> 00:50:12,929 -No, no. It was right on track there. 1287 00:50:12,971 --> 00:50:14,681 -Well, then you said, "Lick my ass." 1288 00:50:14,723 --> 00:50:16,307 It just went really to the right. 1289 00:50:16,349 --> 00:50:18,977 -You told me you didn't want to stifle me from swearing. 1290 00:50:19,019 --> 00:50:21,062 -Yes. No, you can say what you want. 1291 00:50:21,104 --> 00:50:24,649 I will say this before wrapping up, right? 1292 00:50:24,691 --> 00:50:26,026 Dude, you got a hard job. 1293 00:50:26,067 --> 00:50:28,486 You got a hard job and you've had a hard job. 1294 00:50:28,528 --> 00:50:30,822 And to last over, you know, 1295 00:50:30,864 --> 00:50:34,242 we're talking about 25 years on TV, 1296 00:50:34,284 --> 00:50:38,830 and not only doing what you love but doing it at a high level, 1297 00:50:38,872 --> 00:50:40,331 right, and embracing all the hard conversations. 1298 00:50:40,373 --> 00:50:42,083 -The thing I'm most proud of when people say, 1299 00:50:42,125 --> 00:50:43,960 "What are you most proud of?" I always say surviving. 1300 00:50:44,002 --> 00:50:46,838 -Yeah. -That I was able to stay on, 1301 00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:49,632 and by the way, not to, like, do -- 1302 00:50:49,674 --> 00:50:51,885 start singing the song, but did it my way. 1303 00:50:51,926 --> 00:50:53,219 -Yeah. 1304 00:50:53,261 --> 00:50:56,389 -You know, it's not like I'm pulling any punches 1305 00:50:56,431 --> 00:50:58,516 or saying things that, you know, 1306 00:50:58,558 --> 00:51:00,101 just to make people happy. 1307 00:51:00,143 --> 00:51:01,811 I mean, I say a lot of things that people don't like, 1308 00:51:01,853 --> 00:51:03,897 but the bond I've always had with my audience 1309 00:51:03,938 --> 00:51:06,191 is that they trust that I am saying 1310 00:51:06,232 --> 00:51:08,109 what I truly believe about something. 1311 00:51:08,151 --> 00:51:10,362 That I am not going to pull my punches 1312 00:51:10,403 --> 00:51:12,989 and I've lost plenty of fans over the years 1313 00:51:13,031 --> 00:51:15,241 because I just, "Oh, that was too far. 1314 00:51:15,283 --> 00:51:17,994 That was too far, Bill Maher. That was this." 1315 00:51:18,036 --> 00:51:21,373 And then I get new ones who like that and they find 1316 00:51:21,414 --> 00:51:25,877 that there's not enough of that in America. 1317 00:51:25,919 --> 00:51:30,882 -I have watched a few through my time period 1318 00:51:30,924 --> 00:51:34,719 embrace politics through the comedic lens 1319 00:51:34,761 --> 00:51:36,930 and sit behind the desk in doing it. 1320 00:51:36,971 --> 00:51:39,099 And Jon Stewart, Trevor Noah, 1321 00:51:39,140 --> 00:51:42,394 yourself, you know, some of the ones 1322 00:51:42,435 --> 00:51:45,271 that have done it for a long time, in doing it, 1323 00:51:45,313 --> 00:51:51,319 found a way to maintain a personality that's theirs. 1324 00:51:51,361 --> 00:51:52,696 I respect that. 1325 00:51:52,737 --> 00:51:54,948 You know, can I say that I've agreed 1326 00:51:54,989 --> 00:51:57,492 with everything that Bill Maher has said? 1327 00:51:57,534 --> 00:51:58,952 No, I can't. -Yeah. 1328 00:51:58,993 --> 00:52:01,287 -Is my stance one to say that I should? 1329 00:52:01,329 --> 00:52:03,748 -That's fine. -No. That's not where I am, 1330 00:52:03,790 --> 00:52:06,209 but what I do embrace is entertainment 1331 00:52:06,251 --> 00:52:10,588 and I do know how hard it is to successfully have a TV show, 1332 00:52:10,630 --> 00:52:12,090 produce a TV show, 1333 00:52:12,132 --> 00:52:16,136 and constantly conform and adapt to the now. 1334 00:52:16,177 --> 00:52:18,930 I know the work that it takes for you to deliver that show 1335 00:52:18,972 --> 00:52:23,059 every Friday when you do it and that I respect, man. 1336 00:52:23,101 --> 00:52:26,730 And I also respect that you come from the same ground -- 1337 00:52:26,771 --> 00:52:28,023 that world of standup comedy. 1338 00:52:28,064 --> 00:52:29,524 I do believe that we're a fraternity. 1339 00:52:29,566 --> 00:52:30,942 -Definitely. 1340 00:52:30,984 --> 00:52:32,193 -So when I get to sit across from another... 1341 00:52:32,235 --> 00:52:34,195 -Yeah. -...and embrace the true world 1342 00:52:34,237 --> 00:52:35,864 of success that you've had... -Yeah, I'm glad we did this. 1343 00:52:35,905 --> 00:52:37,490 -...it comes from a genuine place, man. 1344 00:52:37,532 --> 00:52:39,409 -I'm so glad we did this. -I'm glad that we did, too. 1345 00:52:39,451 --> 00:52:41,286 Ladies and gentlemen, it doesn't get better than this. 1346 00:52:41,327 --> 00:52:44,039 This was Bill Maher. And you know what? 1347 00:52:44,080 --> 00:52:46,207 Just stemming off of the idea of what his show was, 1348 00:52:46,249 --> 00:52:48,335 this was a real time, man, a real moment 1349 00:52:48,376 --> 00:52:51,046 that we both had and I thank you for that, right? 1350 00:52:51,087 --> 00:52:52,339 This is an unexpected conversation 1351 00:52:52,380 --> 00:52:53,840 where people get to see you differently. 1352 00:52:53,882 --> 00:52:55,175 -No, I never do anything during the week 1353 00:52:55,216 --> 00:52:58,386 because my show takes all of me. -I believe it. 1354 00:52:58,428 --> 00:53:00,930 -But I wanted to do this, so I did come here. 1355 00:53:00,972 --> 00:53:02,265 -I believe it. Thank you, man. -Yeah, my pleasure. 1356 00:53:02,307 --> 00:53:04,059 -I appreciate you doing it. -Thank you. 1357 00:53:04,100 --> 00:53:06,102 -It was everything that I wanted it to be plus more. 1358 00:53:06,144 --> 00:53:07,604 Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Maher. 1359 00:53:07,645 --> 00:53:08,897 This is "Hart to Heart." 1360 00:53:08,938 --> 00:53:10,398 Nice. So fucking easy! 1361 00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:12,984 This is why I do it. I do it because I love it. 1362 00:53:13,026 --> 00:53:14,527 What do you mean? -I know. 1363 00:53:14,569 --> 00:53:15,987 -Because I have a goddamn conversation with Bill Maher, 1364 00:53:16,029 --> 00:53:17,322 people go, "Why are they talking?" 1365 00:53:17,364 --> 00:53:19,657 -The same way. -Yes, come here, man. Hey. 1366 00:53:19,699 --> 00:53:21,201 -Let's hug it out, come on. 1367 00:53:21,242 --> 00:53:27,290 **