Bill Maher Sees God

Erev Rosh Hashanah. Bill Maher greeted the luncheon crowd at the Brasserie Ruhlman: “We're all going to Hell.” Tell that to Debra Winger and Dr. Annette Insdorf, deep in discussion about synagogues. The Jewish holidays are about, among other things, casting off sins. The occasion was the opening of Maher's new movie, “Religulous,” an equal opportunity offender--that is, an often hilarious attempt to see the ironies, incongruities, and downright unbelievable stuff in a lot of religious dogma. Director Larry Charles of “Borat” fame said he wanted to make a Saturday night date movie, and “Religulous” is both entertaining and provocative, just like Maher, the Neal Cassady to his Kerouac on this road movie that travels to some key places: the Vatican, a Holy Land theme park in Florida where the stations of the cross are enacted several times a day by actors, the Dome of the Rock near the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, and Megiddo, the site of Armageddon. Born of a Jewish mother, Maher was brought up Catholic and so one point that seemed particularly difficult for him is the idea of the Virgin birth. Fortunately a very pregnant Caroline Rhea-she's due this month--brought her partner Costaki Economopoulos who was thrilled about becoming a father. Rhea began kibitzing with “The View”'s Joy Behar, and realizing that she may have gone too far, proclaimed, “It's the pregnancy. It's like truth serum.” Tell that to Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter. In fact, one of the points stressed in “Religulous” is how leaders use religion as a weapon for selfish agendas. Given the pre-election mood, Maher, on his television show, “Real Time with Bill Maher,” is particularly vocal proclaiming that Levi, the young man about to marry Palin's daughter is an endangered political prisoner. Hoping that he would be giving away some “Free Levi” tee shirts at the luncheon, I chatted with Maher, riffing on some of his outrageous bits, “Aren't you the guy at McCain Motors who is trying to sell me a lemon?” And given that the room was filled with comedians and humor writers, Steve Guttenberg, Bob Balaban, Gary Fisketjon, Oscar Hijuelos, Tama Janowitz, Nora Ephron, Janeane Garofalo, Tatum O'Neal, to name a mere few, the lunchKathleen Turner,eon was a lively event even as the markets plummeted.Debra Winger brought her stepson Sam who just completed a documentary with his brother Noah about drilling in N. Dakota-talk about timely topics. Let's hope that excellent in “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” will be available for Edward Albee's new play this spring. Upon leaving, I had a revelation: uber party doyenne Peggy Siegal resembles Nora Ephron, if the hilarious author of “I Feel Bad About My Neck” were meticulously made up and coiffed.

Regina Weinreich 

Graphic Design: Salpeter Ventura

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