After No-Showing at Fair Park, Bill Maher Reschedules for April 30

On April 30, comedian Bill Maher will attempt to kiss and make up with hundreds of fans who had purchased tickets to see him perform stand-up comedy at Music Hall at Fair Park on Sunday Jan. 22, and were informed just a few minutes before the start of the show that he would not be appearing after all because of "mechanical plane issues."

All previous tickets will be honored on the new date, at the same location and time on a Sunday, just three months after it was supposed to take place. If you didn't have a ticket for the original date, you also now have the chance to purchase one for $35 to $125 through Ticketmaster.

Maher took to Facebook on Jan. 23 to share how sorry he was for leaving his Dallas fans high and dry, saying that it was only the second stand-up date he'd missed in his entire career — the last time in 2004, also due to plane failure.

"While it is not exactly my fault, I want you to know I very much consider it my responsibility to make it up to you as best I can," he wrote. "But I want you to know that I also realize that there's more to the expense of a show than just the ticket — people get babysitters, and sometimes people drive from longer distances or even fly in. They get hotel rooms."

He pledged that he would not make any money off of the Dallas date, billed as "An Evening with Bill Maher," suggesting he could donate the proceeds to charity. Live Nation's announcement of the rescheduled date Wednesday afternoon did not include those details.

Maher's tour stopped in Austin the night before he was to appear in Dallas, and in an interview with Austin's My Statesman before that show, Maher said its purpose was purely to make people laugh, although obviously the jokes would occupy the political niche he has cornered as host of the left-leaning shows Politically Incorrect and now HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher.

"It’s a cathartic experience, to all be in a room with people who basically think like them and commiserate about what happened, and laugh about it and hopefully take something optimistically into the future," he said.

The reaction on Facebook to the news that Maher's Dallas appearance was canceled by and large seemed to be one of disappointment rather than anger, so it's looking likely that he will be able to get many of the original ticketholders out on the new date.

Facebook commenter Bob Lotman is one person who is surely relieved to hear about a new show being set for April. "Was sitting in Music Hall telling my wife I could cross seeing you off my bucket list. Five minutes later you post this," Lotman wrote. "You better get back here before I kick the bucket."

See Bill Maher at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at Music Hall at Fair Park, 909 1st Ave. Tickets are $35 to $125 at ticketmaster.com.