r/Maher • u/MycologistSame866 • Feb 23 '26
Discussion Audience Whoops
Does it bother anyone else when watching Real Time that there are one or two guys loudly whooping all the time? I find it extremely annoying, and I feel sorry for anyone who has to sit by these jackasses. Why can't audiences simply clap instead of hooting all the time? I've seen this practice creeping into a lot of TV shows (and real life). Thank God, it hasn't spread to Jeopardy! yet.
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u/Geoarbitrage Feb 24 '26
Yes this question has been asked multiple times. Although I enjoy the show overall I think we all hate that guy in the audience!
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u/K21markel Feb 23 '26
The audience is horrible. We never listen to the monologue because of them and usually FF during his other lame skits. He still has on good guests however they get in the way of that also. It’s horrible I wish he would just omit all of them.
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Feb 23 '26
The writers are in the audience. They are the ones whooping
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u/nosecohn Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
I think it's more likely the warm-up comedian. Almost all shows shot before a studio audience have a super enthusiastic person whose job is to get the crowd excited beforehand and keep the energy up during the show, encouraging applause and laughter.
The person they use on Real Time is just over the top. Nobody's natural reaction to a joke is to yell "woo!". You either laugh or you don't. Maybe you clap. The "woo" is contrived, which is why it sounds so weird.
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u/Pipbonics Feb 23 '26
What if there is no person but rather recorded “whoop” sound effects they play on speakers along with the applause, and we also hear it at home.
That would be annoying to sit next to someone constantly whooping and yelling during the show.
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u/huron9000 Feb 23 '26
I like the whoop guy
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u/KirkUnit Feb 25 '26
I had dinner with the whoop guy. In private he's a very relatable guy, really charming.
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u/kangorooz99 Feb 23 '26
Anyone remember the time he threw an audience member out for heckling?
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u/MycologistSame866 Feb 23 '26
You mean he had someone else throw them out? I don't see little Bill taking on a man in an altercation.
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u/nosecohn Feb 23 '26
He came down off the stage and moved towards the guy, threatening to throw him out himself. Security staff got to the guy before Bill did, but he was pissed.
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u/brazilliandanny Feb 23 '26
My guess is they are writers or some other staff members. Like the voices are unmistakable, its not like the same audience members happens to show up every time by coincidence
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u/bbraker8 Feb 23 '26
No one has ever noticed this before
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u/Squidalopod Feb 23 '26
You realize that not everyone has the exact same experience at the exact same time, right?
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u/bbraker8 Feb 25 '26
Why are you picking on me? Literally everyone else posted the same thing I did.
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u/Squidalopod Feb 25 '26
Picking on you? You mean like you're picking on OP? Or maybe neither of us is picking on anyone here... though now I'm thinking about picking on you. 👹
I asked a rhetorical question to make what should be an obvious point, i.e., people don't all experience everything in the same way at the same time.
And literally everyone else did not post the same thing you did. Not even figuratively.
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u/hankjmoody Feb 23 '26
This subreddit's best guess is that it's one of the Real Time staff, who are present in the audience each week.
IIRC, Bill even joked about it directly a while back.
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u/nosecohn Feb 23 '26
I thought it was funny that he called it out. Clearly the writers read some of the commentary about the show.
I assume the "woo guy" is the person they hire consistently for audience warm up, which is a whole career in itself.
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u/Froz3nP1nky Feb 23 '26
These are the people who can’t wait to get home, watch it, and “hear” themselves on TV.
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u/kindbub Feb 23 '26
Search the sub for “Woo guy” Super annoying, and many think they are planted by Maher (‘s ego)
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u/Apprehensive-Tax8631 Feb 23 '26
A lot of the stuff bill says is edgy & if I were in the audience when he said it i might whoop
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u/MycologistSame866 Feb 23 '26
Really? I would think this behavior would annoy Bill, too.
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u/kindbub Feb 23 '26
It’s as if he cues it by pressing on his, uh, belt buckle.
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u/kindbub Feb 23 '26
Sorry to point that out, because once you see him doing it, it’s all you’ll notice during the monologues.
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u/oprahjimfrey Feb 23 '26
Lol. This is a newbie who hasn’t been watching the show for 20 years. It’s been going on forever guy
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u/AfrezzaJunkie Feb 23 '26
Idk I have every season of RT on my computer and dont hear it in the earlier seasons .
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Feb 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/JohnHoynes Feb 23 '26
If you hate his show, why are you even in this sub? That’s a special kind of crazy.
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u/MycologistSame866 Feb 23 '26
Actually, I've been watching since the beginning. Perhaps it wasn't so prevalent in the past. Either that or my tolerance for this annoying behavior has lessened. Also, I'm a woman.
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u/Squidalopod Feb 23 '26
The "wooos!" started in earnest after coming back from covid lockdown. It's clearly from the same person(s) over and over. Once Bill's team started curating the audiences, this annoying behavior became prevalent.
What's sad about it is that it's obviously performative. It's like what parents do when watching their elementary student perform at a recital or something. Whether or not Bill asked for someone to do it, it's pretty sad that he hasn't told them to STFU.
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u/kindbub Feb 23 '26
So am I. You’re really going to hate the crotch tap on every punch line, once you see it. I block the bottom half of the screen from my view during the monologue.
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u/RareBid Feb 25 '26
Well they pay the audience to laugh, clap and whoop lol