The words “standup comedy” and “insightful documentary” don’t traditionally coincide. There was Seinfeld’s Comedian, of course, and 2005’s raunch-orific The Aristocrats, but while such films tend to reveal a great deal about the decidedly unfunny creative process of crafting material, they fail to achieve what the best comedy does in the first place: making the audience laugh at the absurdities of the world around them.
Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your sociopolitical views), Bill Maher will get his Michael Moore on this fall, storming multiplexes across the land with Religulous. Directed by Larry Charles (Borat, Seinfeld), the doc questions the role religious fervor plays on a worldwide scale, boasting not only an educated, inquisitive, and – gasp! – funny perspective, but one of the best movie posters in recent history, to boot.
Want to enjoy Maher not only live, but sans the hassle of picket lines and overblown boycotts? The satirist brings all the spirited, informed outrage at which HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher has excelled the past five years to Dodge Theatre. Catching Maher live just as his career reaches a new level? Priceless.
Sat., Aug. 9, 8 p.m., 2008
