Bill Maher: What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

The question

What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Bill Maher

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Right now, here with you. Let’s not ruin it by talking.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, May 2010 source ↗

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Ben Stiller

Probably as a small child in a pool in my mother’s arms.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2025 source ↗

John Waters American filmmaker

Chasing after fire engines as a child with my dad and watching neighbours' houses burn to the ground.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 September 2008 source ↗

Ben Kingsley English actor

I look forward to answering that question in 15 years.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 November 2013 source ↗

Gloria Estefan Cuban-American singer and songwriter

1 March 1991, when I got back on the stage almost a year after a road accident in our tour bus. I felt like I had climbed Mount Everest. That was euphoric.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 June 2019 source ↗

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Question What does happiness look like for you when life is going well? Identity & self

Being in love while organizing my closet.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 May 2010 source ↗

Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

Waking up after a sleepover at John Waters’s house and finding my sleeping bag isn’t zipped up the same way as when I passed out. Or “President Palin.”

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, May 2010 source ↗

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