Bill Maher Reveals Why He Quit Stand-Up Comedy: “It’s A Good Time To Not Be Out There”

Bill Maher is putting a pause on stand-up comedy, and one of his reasons is due to the intense political division in the country.

Maher told Patton Oswalt on his Club Random podcast Monday that he decided to stop touring at the end of 2024 because, “I don’t want to be out there in this country, in this political atmosphere. I could get shot by the left or the right,” adding “Its a good time not to be out there.” He did acknowledge though, that there are other reasons. He said he was “tired of the travel,” and “I just got tired of being twice as funny as people who were selling twice as many tickets as me.”

“Not that I didn’t sell a lot of tickets and do great theaters — but I didn’t sell arenas,” Maher added. “And some people did, who, frankly, are not that great. But, you know, when the audience is 35 to 45, they don’t wanna see somebody 70… I just did my 13th HBO special. I feel like that’s a good body of work… I felt they all, they basically got better as it went along. I feel like the last one was the best one, which is a good way to get off.”

Maher has taken heat over the years from both the left and right over his contrarian views, but the criticism intensified on the left when he had dinner with Donald Trump earlier this year at the White House. He insisted he “didn’t go MAGA,” and he defended his decision to meet with Trump.

“Lemme first say to all of the people who treated this like it was some kind of summit meeting, you’re ridiculous… like I was gonna sign a treaty or something,” he said. “I have no power, I’m a f—ing comedian, and he’s the most powerful leader in the world.”