Louie (Louis C.K.'s show on FX)

CK could get to Michael Richards level disappearance/punchline for sure. a standup show here and there is one thing, but all the writing, producing, directing, acting gigs are gone and aren't showing signs of coming back yet.

when even one of the principal stars of your latest movie thinks no one should see it, you're probably fucked for a good long while

a standup show here and there is one thing, but all the writing, producing, directing, acting gigs are gone and aren't showing signs of coming back yet.

Agreed. Club owners being willing to give you stage time is way different from movie studios/producers being willing to work with you. Also, I don't think he's gonna be lining up any headlining arena shows anytime soon.

Unlike, say, Michael Richards, who apologized and fell of the face of the earth

he fell off the face of the earth a decade before that even happened

I certainly can’t stomach Louis CK anymore but if people still show up for his shows there’s not really much that can be done

The next day we met for a five-hour conversation. Wearing an unmistakable pair of bright red shoes, Costello was serious about the situation

Forensic journalist Marcus reassures readers that he is fully able to recognise the distinctive form of footwear known as "shoes"

um... really dude?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0aAGP3ty_A

whiney do you feel that CK has done enough? what is your opinion of him?

The next day we met for a five-hour conversation.

Music journalism is a terrible way to make a living, but at least writers aren't required to spend five hours hanging out with Elvis Costello anymore. Thank Christ for the 20-minute publicist-monitored phoner.

whiney do you feel that CK has done enough? what is your opinion of him?

― Greta Van Fleek (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, October 30, 2018 4:20 PM (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He clearly hasn't done enough. I think people have outlined the many, many better things he could/should do!

I still think Chewed Up is easily top 5 stand-up specials of the 21st Century, I saw Pootie Tang in the theater and I think Lucky Louie was very slept on

I approached Louie at the Knitting Factory in like 2010 just to tell him I loved Lucky Louie and I think he got a raw deal. He informed me he had a new show coming out. I think he was kind of a dick about it iirc?

^^ Amazing evening of Louie reading "The Gift" with Lou Reed, Marc Ribot, and Laurie Anderson backing.

As much as he complained about his ex-wife when they were married, it's a minor miracle he hasn't just leaned in and gone full MRA comic.

On one hand I'm just going to accept that people still love him and continue to go their shows, I don't control him, I don't control his fans, only thing I can do is ignore him. I do wish for more judicial punishment, not just 'court of the public opinion' befalling to poor ole fella, something with tangible consequences. Had he stolen money from fellow male comedians instead of viciously traumatizing young women he would have faced so much more.

He should just do another job or volunteer. His stand up was gross and his show was overly bleak

Nothing wrong with bleak, other stand up comedians do good bleak without assaulting female comedians.

But agreed it would be best for everyone involved, except the ticketing business of New York, that he just doesn't perform anymore.

Yeah, as much as I like Louie’s stand-up, I have no idea why he doesn’t just quietly fuck off and be incredibly rich and spend time with his kids.

I think the fact that he was ever thought of as politically progressive or even feminist was insane. He sometimes would talk about how disgusting and inadequate men were and god bless women for putting up with them, but that was just projected self loathing. It wasn’t grounded in a larger vision of human equality.

I can see his talent in pushing into dark territories and making comedy out of people’s—and especiall men’s— fears of inadequacy but I just hated it.

At the time i appreciated some of the show but i think i was valuing its subversion of expectations too highly

I think the parenting material was its saving grace in this respect

You can be politically progressive and a sexual monster, it's been seen over and over. I'm sure his views on the economy or the rights of people of color is on the progressive side of things, even today.

The self-loathing, which is central to his mythology and pathos, is that he was never was able to be the man he claimed to be, that he had to act the hero to be seen as one. I retroactively think of him as an artist who knew he was on borrowed time. We just thought he was honest, that the acting only extended to the joking material, and that's natural, sometimes we are just going to have buy into some performances. I'm still bitterly disappointed he turned out to be the person he is, but I am not going to whip myself into guilt either. Hindsight is 20/20 etc.

I retroactively think of him as an artist who knew he was on borrowed time.

I don't think this is true actually - I think he always thought he'd get by for one reason or another, and that's why he's handled this so poorly. ILYD really showcases the extent of his hubris in this regard.

As much as he complained about his ex-wife when they were married, it's a minor miracle he hasn't just leaned in and gone full MRA comic.

Simon H. forgot to take ILYD into the equation and yes, you are right.

Missed that he now did a 70-minute set in Paris.

salute to this true hero

Hello from your friend who just got asked to leave Comedy Cellar for telling Louis C.K. to get his dick out on stage.

— Klaire Randall (@killer_klaire) December 3, 2018

haha

honestly he could probably eke out a comfortable rest of career if he never left France

Can't wait for his new show on actual Fox -- Fox News that is:

Louis CK, 2017: "I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen"
Louis CK, 2018: pic.twitter.com/2qN1RrbgPH

— Mike Pearl (@MikeLeePearl) December 31, 2018

For everyone asking, yes it's real unless some very sophisticated fakery is going on. It's from this: https://t.co/aHwfH6vUJT

— Mike Pearl (@MikeLeePearl) December 31, 2018

It's amazing how fast he went from "progressive" to nakedly reactionary. He truly is an innovator.

if any of y'all are still a fan of this man who masturbates so wantonly, the bootleg set in the tweet is actually pretty hilarious

if it's as funny as the bit from the screencap i think i'll pass

Sad montage of Louis CK jacking off in front of smaller and smaller audiences

— complete lyrics to Auld Lang Syne knower (@pixelatedboat) December 31, 2018

Louis CK and Ricky Gervais are going to do a joint “are you offended?????” comedy tour and there’s nothing any of us can do to stop it

— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) December 31, 2018

tbf he said he would listen, not that he would like understand or grow as a result

i undeerstand comics wanting to be edgy but, like that Kevin Hart tweet, this isn't funny. be edgy if you want but have a goddamned joke. "i'd beat up my gay kid" and "kids survived shooting, who cares" are not funny jokes.

“I'm saying, Come on, the global warming thing? How did the ice melt during the ice ages? Was the dinosaurs driving SUVs around back then?” pic.twitter.com/eL4h1Y316L

— Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) December 31, 2018

jfc he's just gonna go full Dennis Miller isn't he

Dennis made a play for respectability in the right wing circles. Louis still wants to be a rogue naughty boy like Joe Rogan or whatever.

FYI, the PFT tweets are just mocking japeries of the CK set.

I think there's a lot of bad faith readings of this stuff, but Louis most definitely forfeited his stake in the good faith reading industry

I think there's a lot of bad faith readings of this stuff, but Louis most definitely forfeited his stake in the good faith reading industry
― ebro the letter (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, December 31, 2018 11:29 AM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Whiney what is the bad faith reading of that clip? Or, conversely what is the good faith reading?

my guess is the good faith reading of this sort of thing is that he's playing a "clueless character", which a lot of edgy liberal comics use as an excuse to do this sort of humor. i believed it with CK for a long time, tbh

that trans bit is considerably worse than Chappelle's (also controversial) handling of same in his last set of specials imo

like, Chappelle used trans ppl as a punchline and then felt kinda guilty about it and examined it and wrestled with it in his set, expressed sympathy etc.

maybe Louis did too, I sure as shit am not listening to that bootleg set to find out so someone else will have to tell me

i undeerstand comics wanting to be edgy but, like that Kevin Hart tweet, this isn't funny. be edgy if you want but have a goddamned joke. "i'd beat up my gay kid" and "kids survived shooting, who cares" are not funny jokes.

its weird b/c he was one of the very few comics who was good at straddling that line. its as though he felt he spent so much time trying to be open-minded and sympathetic and now feels deeply wounded that people won't accept his apology so he's lashing out by transforming his act into "being open-minded and sympathetic to others is stupid, lol"

One thing I find notable about Louis's fall away and pivot is that fellow comics are pulling no punches. They're as pissed at him as the rest of us are, and they're usually the first ones—no matter how woke they claim to be—to say "you can make anything into a joke, so don't be oversensitive."