Bill Maher – I’m Swiss and other treasonous statements

Bill Maher
I’m Swiss And Other Treasonous Statements
HBO Special
Image Entertainment 2005
99 minutes
Distributed in Canada by Paradox Entertainment Group

Bill Maher will probably never be able to top his Victory Begins At Home HBO special and stand-up comedy DVD perhaps only because that particular one-man show was so focused, very different from your usual comedy set, and visually interesting. Still, his follow-up, I’m Swiss And Other Treasonous Statements shows this stand-up comic in fine form with his usual talent to comment on society’s foibles and makes jokes at the expense of Republicans, Democrats, religious nuts, and anybody else who believes he or she has The Truth.

Maher is being facetious when he claims I’m Swiss because he most certainly takes position on quite a few current topics such as legalizing marijuana, gay marriage, the role of religion in politics and of politics in religion. He is also being honest in that his I’m Swiss statement is a good description of his own point of view on things which is do not judicialize your opinions on me and I will not force my opinions (and stand-up comedy) on you.

Of course, George Bush, the Republicans, the right-wing crazies, and the Religious Right (or is it Religious Wrongs) come in for a healthy dose of Maher’s caustic and dead on criticism. The supposedly left-wing but really right-wing media also gets knocked off whatever is left of its pedestal when Maher comments on what the media reported as Strom Thurmon’s “affair” with a Black servant some 76 years ago.

One of the many highpoints of this great in concert stand-up comedy DVD is Master P’s Theater where Maher translates into “white” the lyrics from gangsta rap tunes. He may make it look easy –and could have done a few more just to keep getting the laughs but his point was made so he moved on-but it is his ability to use just the right “white” words that makes Master P’s Theater such a brilliant and tight joke. Other personal favorites are Health Matters, It’s The Food, and Speed: America’s Drug because they clearly show how Bill Maher is different from other standup comics.

The extra feature on this comedy DVD is a Q&A session with Maher and the audience. Interesting.

Little factoid: Michael Drumm, the director for I’m Swiss has a note on the Amazon site where he states the mad Christian at the beginning of the stand-up comedy DVD is for real and not a plant.

Track List:

Pre-Show Entertainment
Morals And Values
A Man Of The People
Big Thinker
America’s Priorities
Reality Television
ADD
Texas
The Morph Master
Freedom
The Efficient Republicans
Bad Judgment
Homeland Security
Marijuana
Legislating Taste
Master P’s Theater
War On Sex
Health Matters
It’s The Food
Speed: America’s Drug
Cuckoo About Safety
Stem Cells
Religion
Stupid Compromises
End Credits

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