In front of a live audience at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Emmy-nominated host of Real Time with Bill Maher performs an all-new hour of stand-up comedy. Among the topics Bill discusses in his ninth HBO solo special are: Whether the "Great Recession" is really over; the fake patriotism of the right wing; what goes on in the mind of a terrorist; why Obama needs a posse instead of the secret service; the drug war; Michael Jackson; getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan; racism; the Teabagger movement; religion; the health-care fight; why Gov. Mark Sanford will come out looking good, and how silly it is to ask "Why do men cheat?"; and why comedy most definitely didn't die when George Bush left office.
Bob Hope tours China, takes in the culture and meets up with Big Bird, Crystal Gayle, Peaches and Herb, and others.
Comic Janeane Garofalo gives a performance in New York City.
Lewis and Clark, aka The Sunshine Boys, were famous comedians during the vaudeville era, but off-stage they couldn't stand each other and haven't spoken in over 20 years of retirement. Willy Clark's nephew is the producer of a TV variety show that wants to feature a reunion of this classic duo. It is up to him to try to get the Sunshine Boys back together again.
Famous and wealthy funnyman George Simmons doesn't give much thought to how he treats people until a doctor delivers stunning health news, forcing George to reevaluate his priorities with a little help from aspiring stand-up comic Ira.
The greatly anticipated follow up to the platinum selling Beyond the Pale. In this Austin performance that capped off the 2008 sold-out stand up tour, Gaffigan does not let the audience catch their breath. This all-new show proves no other comedian working today can romanticize laziness and over-indulgence like Jim Gaffigan.
Dry, wry and hilariously deadpan, Steven Wright unleashes a torrent of ironic and hysterical thought-provoking one-liners in the quirky stand-up style that has become his trademark. From Toronto's historic Elgin Theater, this Oscar-winning comedian keeps an adoring audience in stitches with random observations on everything from baby monitors as a form of wiretapping to his addiction to placebos.
Comedian and actress Ellen DeGeneres brings her honesty and off-the-wall wit to this stand-up special taped live at NYC's Beacon Theater.
The life of famed 1930s comedienne Fanny Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of New York, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, as well as her marriage to the rakish gambler Nick Arnstein.
Comedian Cedric the Entertainer uses his considerable appeal to introduce some up-and-coming young stand-up comedians. Cedric himself takes on topics such as Bill Clinton, the death penalty, reality television, fast-food chicken, church etiquette, and much more. The other comedians are a mixed lot: Roland Powell amusingly mocks insecure boyfriends and sings a singles bar pick-up song and Juan Villareal gets some laughs out of food stamps and The Blair Witch Project, while Tony Luewellyn flounders through weak material about Ex-Lax and the war on terror. Then along comes J.J., who gives a surreal spin to roadkill and giving birth to septuplets.
Comedian Adam Rowe sets out to explore the question: what is the role of comedy in today’s increasingly divided, febrile and hostile world? In order to answer this, he is tasked to explore the controversial subject of Cultural Appropriation and then deliver a brand new stand-up comedy routine about it to an audience who have been affected by it.
Comedian and actor Joe Valencia returns home for an Easter celebration with his riotous, bickering, eating, drinking, laughing, loving family, in this love letter to the Filipino-American community.
A look at the work of two stand-up comics, Jerry Seinfeld and a lesser-known newcomer, detailing the effort and frustration behind putting together a successful act and career while living a life on the road.
The handsome and funny host of The Soup on E! and star of the hit NBC show, Community, brings you his first stand-up special ever. Joel McHale discusses everything from feeding alligators in the south to wanting to change the San Francisco 49er’s name to something a little more relevant. This is not actually filmed in Pyongyang, but it’s definitely a stand-up special and it's 100% really filmed in San Jose. Go Seahawks!
North Carolina-born Jon Reep brings the laughs to Chicago and discusses everything from outdated state laws to giant satellite dishes and asks maybe the most important question - why isn’t there a fresh salt guy at restaurants?
Jerry Falk, an aspiring writer in New York, falls in love at first sight with a free-spirited young woman named Amanda. He has heard the phrase that life is like "anything else," but soon he finds that life with the unpredictable Amanda isn't like anything else at all.
East Friesian Otto moves to the big city Hamburg. There he gets into trouble with a loan shark and needs to find a way to impress his love interest Silvia.
The film mainly consists of various, often grotesque episodes. There is also a frame story from which the episodes are derived. However, the connection between the frame story and the episodes is very weak. Many episodes revolve around surveillance and security. In the frame story, insurance agent Erich and Richard are stuck together in an elevator that is unusually large for an apartment building (about 3x3 meters). While Erich wants to get out as quickly as possible, Richard isn't actually in any hurry, as he seems to live in the elevator.
Sane Man was filmed before Bill recorded ‘Dangerous’, his first comedy album, and is a turning point in Hicks’ career. It was the first complete Hicks show ever filmed and Bill pulled out all the stops for the cameras. Completely focused, a newly-sober Hicks paces the stage like a wild animal riffing effortless.
Acclaimed stand-up comedian Michael McIntyre delivers a hilarious performance to a receptive crowd at London's Hammersmith Apollo.