Bill Maher enjoys taking a dig at people of faith and in his latest comedy skit, he turns it around completely and plays the part of the believer. 

The 'Funny or Die' skit opens with him clutching at some rosary beads and praying.  

When Annabelle Gurwitch walks in on him, she's surprised by what she sees but Maher, apparently the devout believer, insists on finishing his prayer and crossing himself before giving her his full attention.  

"But you're an atheist!" she cries, at which point Maher explains that all this time his atheism's really been a clever act.  

"Stephen Colbert isn't really conservative.  Rock Hudson isn't really a lady killer.  This is an act.  This is what we do.  This is Hollywood, sweetheart," he tells her. 

In fact, he puts his conversion down to once seeing Jesus sitting on his bed and engaging in conversation with the Saviour Himself.  

And Maher may have made money over the years from his mockery of religion - he was behind the 2008 documentary "Religulous" - but he claims that in actual fact he's been giving the money to local churches all this time.

"Every place I play, I take their money and give it to local churches," he says.  

Even his friendship with the conservative commentator Ann Coulter has more to it than would meet the eye.  When Annabelle asks what they do together, he replies: "We pray, that's what we do." 

Watch the skit below (warning: language):