Very bad comment by Bill Maher about the Beach Boys/us

[Crow]

I love Bill Maher. And it's just a joke. And face it there's a lot to make fun of with the Beach Boys. It doesn't diminish their amazing contributions to music guys....

[Roger Ryan]

The joke had nothing to do with the scope of the Beach Boys' recorded output, only with the longevity of the band. Replace "The Beach Boys" with the name of any other recording artist celebrating a 50th anniversary and the joke would be the same.

As to Maher, I find his show to be very funny and, while I dislike his blanket dismissal of religion (especially in regards to Muslims), REAL TIME is one of the few places where American politics is discussed in any kind of intelligent manner. This, of course, is more of a condemnation of the media in the U.S. in that the "comedy" shows are better at discussing serious issues than the news programs are.

[guitarfool2002]

Let's take a look at this Bill Maher topic from another angle.

I just happened to be reading a news article in the Las Vegas Review Journal, when I saw a piece about Maher. So I clicked on it, and here was the main point of it, copied directly from the article:

By Doug Elfman
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Jan. 8, 2013 | 2:03 a.m.

The Palms has stolen HBO star Bill Maher away from The Orleans, giving him more performances in a bigger theater for 2013.

"I always loved The Orleans," Maher tells me. "My only complaint is that it was three weekends a year. I think we got a little more now," with four weekends a year in the Palms' Pearl.

The star of "Real Time with Bill Maher" regularly sold out tickets in the Orleans Showroom, which holds 850 seats. The Pearl can do seating configurations of 1,100 or 2,500, and it offers two huge video screens.

When I ask Maher how this move came about, he says, "I don't know. I mean, that's for agents to think about."


So Bill Maher regularly "sold out" a room that holds 850 seats, and is now getting bumped up to a larger room.

Fan-fucking-tastic, good for him!

The object of his derision, the Beach Boys, had a Vegas show in 2012 at the Red Rock Casino Amphitheatre, where their fans which Maher made it a point to use as the punchline for one of his snide comments masked as a joke, filled up pretty well.

Without having the exact numbers, I think the seats filled for those old Beach Boys far exceeded Maher's 850 seat "sell out" crowds that bought tickets to his show. In fact I'd like to also see a tally of how many of Maher's seats were empty at those sellouts as a result of hotels buying up blocks of "comp" tickets for their guests and not having any takers to see the gig.

So I'd suggest Maher back off a bit on the Beach Boys and their fans, at least until he pays some more dues, gets some more fans, attains more popularity through his work, and becomes worthy of being booked in the kinds of Vegas rooms that The Beach Boys in their several incarnations can be booked and sell solid numbers of tickets on a regular basis.

I think the root of guys like Maher's anger is jealousy, as much as a lack of things to be happy about. In this case, his 850-seat capacity sell-outs which warranted newer bookings in lower-to-mid-size Vegas rooms *still* pales in comparison to the popularity and solid ticket sales for The Beach Boys which warrant rooms with five times the capacity of Maher's bookings.

Maher should reserve the snide remarks for that time when he can command the bigger rooms in Vegas...at least those which seat more than his current gigs, and those which the Beach Boys play when in Vegas...and I doubt that time will come anytime soon.  

So good luck, Mr. Maher, and be sure to tell your Vegas audience to tip the bartenders, be nice to the dealers at the tables, and enjoy the hotel's buffet. $5.99, all you can eat.

[AndrewHickey]

Maher should reserve the snide remarks for that time when he can command the bigger rooms in Vegas...at least those which seat more than his current gigs, and those which the Beach Boys play when in Vegas...and I doubt that time will come anytime soon.  

So no comedian should make a joke which touches, even tangentially, on anyone, even in a totally different field, who can by some metrics be seen to be more popular than that comedian?
Sounds like all comedy ever should cease to exist, then...

[guitarfool2002]

Comedy is great! Is that what Bill Maher does, or is he a social commentator and critic?

The original post:

He just said on Leno something to the effect that we have it going for us in that Republicans are dying off faster than Beach Boy fans.

Maher can tell any joke he wants, but in reference to groups of people dying off and him suggesting that is in some way a positive thing "for us", whoever "us" might be, he can go sh*t in his hat as far as I'm concerned.

I'm just suggesting he should first attain the kind of popularity and clout that the Beach Boys have attained and fill the kinds of rooms the Beach Boys regularly play in Vegas before using them as the punchline of a joke centered around fans dying of old age. Until then, let him pop the cork and celebrate his selling out of 850-seat venues with all the young hip folks who pack his Vegas shows, just don't be that ignorant and insulting. And if Maher thinks it's a positive that people are dying, he has some serious issues beyond being a jackass.

[Mikie]

Bill Maher just doesn't realize who he's messin' with here.

[Justin]

Without having the exact numbers, I think the seats filled for those old Beach Boys far exceeded Maher's 850 seat "sell out" crowds that bought tickets to his show. In fact I'd like to also see a tally of how many of Maher's seats were empty at those sellouts as a result of hotels buying up blocks of "comp" tickets for their guests and not having any takers to see the gig.

So I'd suggest Maher back off a bit on the Beach Boys and their fans, at least until he pays some more dues, gets some more fans, attains more popularity through his work, and becomes worthy of being booked in the kinds of Vegas rooms that The Beach Boys in their several incarnations can be booked and sell solid numbers of tickets on a regular basis.

I think the root of guys like Maher's anger is jealousy, as much as a lack of things to be happy about. In this case, his 850-seat capacity sell-outs which warranted newer bookings in lower-to-mid-size Vegas rooms *still* pales in comparison to the popularity and solid ticket sales for The Beach Boys which warrant rooms with five times the capacity of Maher's bookings.

Maher should reserve the snide remarks for that time when he can command the bigger rooms in Vegas...at least those which seat more than his current gigs, and those which the Beach Boys play when in Vegas...and I doubt that time will come anytime soon. 

So good luck, Mr. Maher, and be sure to tell your Vegas audience to tip the bartenders, be nice to the dealers at the tables, and enjoy the hotel's buffet. $5.99, all you can eat.

I usually like your posts guitarfool, but I'm bewildered by your position here.  I'm surprised you are taking what Maher said seriously.  But more so, Im surprised you would compare the attendance figures of a single comedian versus a rock and roll band.  Two completely different audiences and the two groups perform in different venues.  How many comedians actually perform in arenas or stadiums?  Bill Maher is plenty big enough to make cracks about the Beach Boys--that's not even an issue.  George Carlin was a certified legend in comedy yet he never worked anything bigger than a 1200 seat theater.  Would he have not been eligible to make any jokes about The Beach Boys and any other band?  Jerry Seinfeld is another huge comedian of our generation, and also doesn't work anything larger than a theater. 

I get that we're all a bit miffed about the comment but it's just a joke.  The Beach Boys are an old band.  They have a lot of old fans.  Old people tend to die.  Not rocket science here, is it?  Is the joke in good taste?  Not really...but I doubt any of us would be this steamed if the joke was about the Rolling Stones or anybody else.  So we should probably not be so uppity about it.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Maybe Maher got the idea for his Beach Boys' line from attending a BB concert and heard Mike Love doing his "schtick" about 409 being the year the song was written and taking a break after the first three songs and on and on.

[guitarfool2002]

Nothing to be bewildered about, I'm basically saying I have no time for Bill Maher or the way he vilifies entire groups of people. This is just one example of the way his "jokes" can strike a raw nerve with people, and if that's the kind of persona he wants to project and the kind of humor he practices, he will continue to reside on the "D-List" of celebrities and he will *never* know the kind of power to make someone's day a little brighter the way the music of the Beach Boys has done for 50 years.

Perhaps if he looked out into the audience of a BB's show and saw people of all ages either openly weeping or choking back tears as a certain song played and as certain emotions were stirred *by the power of a single SONG*, he might craft his jokes and pick his target groups a bit more carefully.

I'd pretty much bet the farm on my assumption that something Bill Maher has created or starred in has *never* touched people as deeply as the music of The Beach Boys, and I think that makes him bitter.

Well, let me clarify - I'm sure some people had tears in their eyes after realizing they had wasted their money and two hours of their lives which they can never get back to watch him act in either of his films "Cannibal Women In The Avocado Jungle Of Death" or "Pizza Man".  

Honestly, did anyone here laugh at this so-called "joke"?

[Jon Stebbins]

The over-reactions in this thread are way funnier than Bill's harmless joke.

[Mikie]

 

[Michael Edwards Love]

Maher has used this line at least once before (in November).

http://www.politicususa.com/bill-maher-republicans-problem-beach-boys-fans-dying.html

[guitarfool2002]

If that's the case, I'll get my agent on the phone and book that 850-seat room that Maher will be vacating in Vegas. I do this great routine where I overreact live on stage while playing guitar, harmonica, and kicking a bass drum with oversized clown shoes. Oh, and there are dancing poodles, too.  

Make sure to tip the bartenders...

[G.C]

The over-reactions in this thread are way funnier than Bill's harmless joke.

Yeah, threads like this is hilarious! 

[monicker]

This thread is embarrassing. As someone else said, i hope he makes fun of this thread in an episode of his show.

[Paul J B]

I can't stand the guy as he makes a living spewing hateful insults at people and 'groups' of people. That being said, in this case he just made a joke. If your letting a clown like that offend you, then you have bigger problems.

[guitarfool2002]

I can't stand the guy as he makes a living spewing hateful insults at people and 'groups' of people. That being said, in this case he just made a joke. If your letting a clown like that offend you, then you have bigger problems.

I agree with this 100%. And important to note that there is a difference between taking offense and having fun throwing a few hooks and jabs right back at the guy who makes a living doing that.

[guitarfool2002]

This thread is embarrassing. As someone else said, i hope he makes fun of this thread in an episode of his show.

I agree, he should read this board, maybe go to a few more shows, and get to know more Beach Boys fans, then he might realize his stereotype of them is wrong. I'd expect a veteran comedian who would use a stereotype as the basis of a joke to at least make sure the stereotype is somewhat accurate before using the joke. 

[Paulos]

I do not know who Bill Maher is. From reading this thread I am led to believe that he is a comedian. Comedians make jokes. Sometimes people find them funny, sometimes they don't. It's incredible to me that there is a 2 page thread about this.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Comedy is great! Is that what Bill Maher does, or is he a social commentator and critic?

He's a comedian and he's much better at comedy than he is at being "a social commentator and critic."

[AndrewHickey]

This thread is embarrassing. As someone else said, i hope he makes fun of this thread in an episode of his show.

I agree, he should read this board, maybe go to a few more shows, and get to know more Beach Boys fans, then he might realize his stereotype of them is wrong. I'd expect a veteran comedian who would use a stereotype as the basis of a joke to at least make sure the stereotype is somewhat accurate before using the joke. 

*WHAT* stereotype?!!!
Dear God in heaven...
The only thing -- the *only* thing -- he's said, even jokingly, about Beach Boys fans there is that they/we are dying off quite quickly. The vast majority of Beach Boys fans are boomers. A lot of that generation *are* dying. We've had two threads in the last month alone on this board about well-known fans dying. It's awful, but it's happening.
He's chosen the Beach Boys, not out of some malice against the band or their fans, or because he has some hateful stereotype in mind, but because they're a band who are well-known enough that anyone (except, apparently, the people on this board) will get the joke, and who have an ageing fanbase. That's all.

You could even take the joke as a compliment to Beach Boys fans, in a twisted sort of way. If it's good that Republicans are 'dying faster than Beach Boys fans', then surely that means that it's good that Beach Boys fans aren't dying as fast as Republicans? (No comfort if you're a Republican as well as a Beach Boys fan, of course).

Now you can argue if the joke is funny (I don't think it is from what's written here, but that kind of thing can be contextual), you can argue about whether it's tasteless to make that sort of joke (and I'd agree -- although jokes from all sides about the death of one's political enemies are fairly common). But he didn't say *anything* bad about the Beach Boys, their music, their fans, or anything else to do with the band.

And even if he had... really, so what? Are we, as a group, so oversensitive now that we can't take a joke?

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I agree, he should read this board, maybe go to a few more shows, and get to know more Beach Boys fans, then he might realize his stereotype of them is wrong. I'd expect a veteran comedian who would use a stereotype as the basis of a joke to at least make sure the stereotype is somewhat accurate before using the joke. 

Well, according to another joke by Maher (that I posted in this thread), he does go to see Beach Boys shows. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he is a fan of the band since he is a fan of 60s music in general. The fact is that the joke (again, not a joke about the Beach Boys) depends on the stereotype in order for it to be funny.

[AndrewHickey]

Well, according to another joke by Maher (that I posted in this thread), he does go to see Beach Boys shows. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he is a fan of the band since he is a fan of 60s music in general.

Doubt it. He called Bruce a 'has-been' after Bruce's remarks about Obama.

[Jason]

As someone heavily opposed to his politics, let me say this to you all...TAKE A f***ING JOKE FOR ONCE.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Well, according to another joke by Maher (that I posted in this thread), he does go to see Beach Boys shows. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he is a fan of the band since he is a fan of 60s music in general.

Doubt it. He called Bruce a 'has-been' after Bruce's remarks about Obama.

That's true - though at least he acknowledges that they had been.