Dave Paulson

dnpaulson@tennessean.com

These days, comedian Bill Maher isn't just looking to take down politicians he disagrees with — he aims to take them out of office.

On his popular HBO talk show "Real Time With Bill Maher" (which followed his former network series "Politically Incorrect"), Maher has announced the "Flip a District" campaign, wherein one unlucky member of Congress will be placed under heavy scrutiny by the show in the hopes of making him or her lose in the 2014 election. Tennessee U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais is among the finalists.

While he embarks on this bold new experiment, Maher also is sticking to what's worked for him for decades: stand-up comedy. He'll bring his uncompromising take on politics, organized religion and more back to Nashville on Sunday for a show at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall.

Maher called The Tennessean earlier this week to talk district-flipping, being an "agent for change" and rankling liberals and conservatives alike.

With your "Flip a District" campaign, are we talking about "flipping" a district along party lines?

Well, we're talking about getting rid of a bad congressman. We're talking about flipping it, and I'm not going to lie and pretend that there are as many bad Democratic congressmen as Republican ones. That would be false equivalency. It's unfortunate, but most of the bad ones are on one side of the aisle, and even in districts where you would want to get rid of a pretty rotten Democratic congressman, the Republican one is always even worse.

So, yes, all of the members in the Tweet 16 that we have put up there, they're all Republicans. And I'm in it to win it. I'm not kidding around here. I would really like to demonstrate that people can, if they get involved, flip a district.

I think about ("The Daily Show's") Jon Stewart, whose general stance has seemed to be "We're here to entertain, we're not trying to supplant the news or bring about change." But this campaign is aiming to make a difference. Have you always seen this as part of your role — being an agent for change?

Anybody that talks about national issues, whether they admit it or not, is an agent for change. Of course I concur that my main job is to be an entertainer. I'm on an entertainment network, and I'm a comedian. But you can't be voicing heartfelt opinions for as long as I have on television without feeling like you're actually, hopefully reaching people. ... It just can't take over as the primary role. When you do that, you become Lenny Bruce at the end. You can't bore people, because then they'll turn you off completely. So I hope we never fall into that trap. But yeah, I do want people to think about some of the things I say.

And by the way, this is bipartisan, because I (upset) some of my own liberal audience quite often on this show. Liberals are far from perfect, either. A good example is the NSA (National Security Agency). We had revelations this week about the NSA that were just astounding, talking about the fact that they are into our business in every way they said they weren't. Basically looking into our love letters and so forth.

Well, I hate to keep bringing up the "If this was Bush" card. But come on. If (George W.) Bush was president, liberals would be going (crazy). But when it's (Barack) Obama? Not a word is said about it. So I will definitely (upset) both sides, and so it should be.

Does that happen a lot? Your stance on an issue alienating a segment of your audience who thought you were on their side?

Conservatives always think I'm not on their side, so they're pleasantly surprised when something comes up like this. It's the liberals who do feel betrayed, but they should feel betrayed if they're not thinking. They should feel betrayed enough to look into the situation themselves. As I've said to them many times, "Obama's not your boyfriend."

Given the nature of your job, you're plugged into controversial politicians and practices in Tennessee. But what's your general impression of the state? Are there things you like about the South?

I've been to the South an awful lot. I've been to Alabama twice this year! (laughs) I've been to Birmingham and Mobile. You know the cities of the South are just like the cities everywhere else. I think this is one of the great mysteries to people who don't live in the South, or should I say one of the great misconceptions that the South is just full of hillbillies. Now, of course, if you get about an hour outside the city in Alabama, I mean give me a break. They think "12 Years a Slave" is a date movie ... But I don't go there. I go to the cities. And they're very sophisticated, like anywhere else in America. They have a Pottery Barn in Mobile, Ala. (laughs). They have Thai food. It's not all goobers picking corn nuts out of their feet.

And the thing is, when somebody like me goes to red states, very conservative areas, they're more appreciative, because they don't expect that I would go there. What I find is there's no place so red in America that I can't find two or three thousand very progressive, free-thinking people. They're all over this country. They just happen to be marbled into the population. They may not be the majority of the people in Tennessee or Alabama, or Utah. But they're out there. They kind of like it when they gather under one roof and see that there are so many other people who live in the area that they didn't know thought like them.

I'd imagine HBO grants you a lot of creative leeway on "Real Time," but performing standup, solo, on stage, does that give you another level of freedom?

Absolutely ... I think of all the communication I do as smaller or larger circles. For example, when I go on a show on broadcast television, like David Letterman or Jimmy Fallon, I know that they don't want to hear about atheism and, of course, I can't say bad words. There's a lot of ideas that would be rather comfortable for them to hear expressed. That's just the nature of those shows. They're not political shows, and people are not expecting that their ideas are going to be upset. So I talk about the things that are important to me, but I understand that I don't have the freedom that I do when I go on HBO. But I also don't have the freedom on HBO that I have when I go onstage and do standup. Standup is truly the last bastion of free speech in America, I think. Especially because, as we were alluding to before, I perform for a very liberal audience here in Southern California. It's obviously a blue state, and liberals are very politically correct. That's why they're always booing, and they're always upset about something I say. , and I'm always looking at them like, "(Shut up) and get the stick out of your (expletive)." ...

I want the freedom to speak the way I want to speak, and that's what I get when I do standup comedy. That audience is always ready for me going to the absolute outer edge of whatever I want to express or say. They are never too politically correct, and I love that about them.

Though I have heard that you tend to save your material on organized religion until the end of the show. Has that worked out well for you?

I do that because sometimes people are big fans of what I have to say politically, but let's be honest: This country is a religious country. Now, most of the people who come to my shows are either on my page religious-wise, or they understand, of course, that I'm not a religious person. So even if they are, they're OK with it. But there's always a few people who I think are a little surprised or a little disappointed that the guy who was so right when he was talking about the Republicans could be so wrong when he starts talking about Jesus. So I feel like, at least if I do it at the end, as they're leaving, they can say, "Well, until then, we saw a really good show. (laughs) We got 90 minutes of great laughs — and then we wanted to kill him."

If You Go

What: Bill Maher

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall, 505 Deaderick St.

Tickets: $49.50-$59.50 at patron.tpac.org or the box office at 615-782-4040

Info:http://www.billmaher.com/

Contact

Reach Dave Paulson at 615-664-2278 or on Twitter at @ItsDavePaulson.