Get ready to spend real time with Bill Maher in Clearwater

Expect Bill Maher to come out swinging when he takes the stage at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Saturday night.

The always politically incorrect host of HBOs Real Time is likely to take on conservative Republicans, the U.S. reaction to Ebola, what he calls the do nothing Congress, whatever else is in the news, and his latest target Islam.

In a recent telephone interview, Maher said he has even more new material to unload since his live HBO comedy special in September.

The last time he performed to a sold-out Ruth Eckerd Hall audience, the 2012 Republican Convention had just wrapped up in Tampa. I guess Im not doing my job because they are still around, he joked.

Maher, 58, has a loyal following and has garnered 32 Emmy nominations for his hit TV shows and specials. Mahers first creation, the late-night talk show Politically Incorrect (Comedy Central, ABC), ran from 1993 to 2002. Real Time has been on 12 years.

Conservatives have always been a target for Maher, a self-proclaimed proud liberal who goes back and forth from the serious to the funny. But in recent weeks he has made news by taking on other liberals over his views on the Muslim religion.

In a clash with actor Ben Affleck on his Real Time show, Maher said that to claim that Islam is like other religions was just nave and plain wrong, pointing to a recent New York Times article that 19 people have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia since August, with most being for non-violent crimes, including homosexuality.

Affleck, and others since that show, have accused Maher of being a bigot for painting all Muslims with the same broad, negative brush.

I think weve started a national debate over what are some of the non-liberal beliefs held by this religion, Maher responded during the interview. Ive never said all Muslims believe the same thing, but many, many throughout the world support treating women as second-class citizens, and that its all right to kill those who leave the faith.

All religions are strange in some ways, but Islam is the most dangerous and violent right now, he adds, noting that the terrorist group Isis is labeled as extreme but a high court in Pakistan recently upheld the death sentence for a woman whose crime was something derogatory against the prophet Muhammad.

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Get ready to spend real time with Bill Maher in Clearwater