Segues and Louis C.K.

Oh yeah remember your blog? Shit.

The plan was a segue. Lucky Louie to Louis C.K. but then I sorta got distracted and 12 days later yay new post. But apologies.

So, Louis C.K..

My first Louis C.K. experience was the sudden discovery of what I'll look like when I'm middle-aged. Once I got past his dashing good looks I realized that C.K. was also a pretty funny comedian. What makes C.K. at first so appealing (i.e. hilarious) is his natural presentation. If, for example, you found yourself at shrimp-fest with Louis his routine might seem like a pleasant (i.e. hilarious) conversation. In fact, only after becoming more familiar with his routines did I realize a lot of the funny things he said during interviews were just jokes he uses on stage.

This natural delivery not only keeps C.K.'s comedy from seeming contrived but also compliments nicely the matter he discusses. C.K. talks frankly (seriously frankly) about his marriage and his family. He says things about his daughters that I've never heard from a father before, but things which immediately seemed like that which a parent thinks but never says. "My daughter is an asshole." Anyone that's ever spent time with a child knows that this is too often true, but who has ever heard someone on TV say it? I cringe to use the cliché that it's funny because it's true but, seriously, kids are assholes. I was.

I heard or read an interview with C.K. in which he said his earlier comedy was clever but that it didn't really matter at all. And he's not being cocky, his jokes are moving past the tired comedy clichés about the family into a discussion about family (that at least to me) seems pretty honest. I laugh because C.K.'s jokes are new and shocking, but further I think about the topics a little differently after. I grow!?

Aaron posted a link in a comment to my last post that's a great sample of C.K.'s comedy (as usual: beware of content). Also he has a new HBO special you could probably acquire through bittorrent.