August 28, 2018

Louis C.K. reemerges, in classic standup style — showing up on stage at a comedy club.

The NYT reports:
He appeared around 11 p.m., said Noam Dworman, the owner of the Cellar, the Greenwich Village club with a long tradition of surprise appearances by famous comedians. Dressed in a black V-neck T-shirt and gray pants, he did a 15-minute set that touched on what Mr. Dworman called “typical Louis C.K. stuff” — racism, waitresses’ tips, parades. “It sounded just like he was trying to work out some new material, almost like any time of the last 10 years he would come in at the beginning of a new act.”
Just like starting over. Apt. Humble. Good luck, Louis.
One audience member called the club on Monday to object to the surprise set, the owner said. “He wished he had known in advance, so he could’ve decided whether to have been there or not,” Mr. Dworman said. 
As if the show itself is a sexual impingement that requires affirmative consent. But only one person said that. The crowd, en masse, gave Louis a warm reception.

Dworman said he cared about the reaction — "Every complaint goes through me like a knife" — but "there can’t be a permanent life sentence on someone who does something wrong." And, enigmatically, "I think we’ll be better off as a society if we stop looking to the bottlenecks of distribution — Twitter, Netflix, Facebook or comedy clubs — to filter the world for us."

I think that means that he sees his comedy club as a kind of public forum. Presumably, he will discriminate based on what draws and keeps a crowd, but other than that, he's for letting the comedian decide what to say.

47 comments:

Clyde said...

So one snowflake guy from the audience called afterward to complain. None of the women in the audience did? After all, if anyone should be holding an offended grudge, it should be the women, since that was the demographic that was subjected to Louis C.K.'s attentions. If the women ain't a-bitchin', he can keep on pitchin'.

Henry said...

“He wished he had known in advance, so he could’ve decided whether to have been there or not”

That's a very equivocal complaint.

Widmerpool said...

Best of luck to Louis. Gotta go with Dave Chapelle here.

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

Henry said...

It does raise a question -- is there a personality for who a warning would be advisable? Bill Cosby? O.J. Simpson? Folks, we have a special guest tonight. I hear he's got all new material. Give a big round of applause for John Wilkes Booth!

Mark said...

Aziz Ansari just did some pop up shows in Madison and Milwaukee in a similair vein.

Jealous of those who saw him at the Comedy Club on State, as I bet he can really work a small room like that.

With the election to distract us, these guys are coming out of hiding.

iowan2 said...

The acceptance after the fact is still the classic leftist double standard. I say that because a NASCAR driver is losing sponsors because of something his father said decades ago.

Using the same standard, Lewis CK should never be allowed to earn a living again. Don't get me wrong. Equality is never going to happen. ie Roman Polanski.

rehajm said...

As if the show itself is a sexual impingement that requires affirmative consent

There is a large part of our population for which the expectation is exactly that- for everything.

rehajm said...

Matt Lauer and a number of others will be watching for elements of the comeback they can emulate.

tim maguire said...

Unless you bought tickets for a specific act, you take what you get and hope they don't all suck. It's ridiculous that someone complained. Louis C.K. showing up is the downtown entertainment version of winning the lottery.

I like the line about bottlenecks. I would normally laugh at the arrogance that this guy is comparing his club to Facebook or Twitter, but it works. And shows a good attitude. Nice job.

iowan2 said...

Try the exact same scenario with someone like Dennis Miller, or Tim Allen. Maybe Jeff Foxworthy. If the situation was reversed, the NYT would have this on the front page and seeking to destroy the Club, the Club owner, and shame anyone they could identify as staying to see the show and hoping to get them fired too.

born01930 said...

It would have been funny if the applause was the sound of monkey spanking rather than hand clapping. No issues with CK himself...I just think that would have been hilarious. Yes my humor tilts towards the gutter

Wince said...

This paragraph from the NYT article caught my attention.

During Ms. Goodman and Ms. Wolov’s surreal visit to Louis C.K.’s Aspen hotel room, they said they were holding onto each other, screaming and laughing in shock, as Louis C.K. masturbated in a chair. “We were paralyzed,” Ms. Goodman said. After he ejaculated on his stomach, they said, they fled. He called after them: “He was like, ‘Which one is Dana and which one is Julia?’” Ms. Goodman recalled.

Bob Boyd said...

You have to hand it to him.

tcrosse said...

It's time for Louis C.K. to stop beating himself up.

Known Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bay Area Guy said...

Remind me again what this comedian did? We know Harvey Weinstein jerked off into a potted plant, and this guy jerked off in front of female subordinates?

Maybe these male Hollywood types need a refresher course in proper jerk-off etiquette.

Known Unknown said...

A good, relevant read: You're not allowed to change.

Kay said...

I always kind of suspected we’d be hearing from Louie CK again. I can imagine him working his recent issues into his material as well.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

"I think we’ll be better off as a society if we stop looking to the bottlenecks of distribution — Twitter, Netflix, Facebook or comedy clubs — to filter the world for us."

Very well said.

MayBee said...

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...
"I think we’ll be better off as a society if we stop looking to the bottlenecks of distribution — Twitter, Netflix, Facebook or comedy clubs — to filter the world for us."

Very well said.


Totally agree.

Louis CK's punishment was too much. It made no sense to me, and I'm happy if people are going to be willing to walk back from the instinct to casually ruin lives.

William said...

Let the punishment fit the crime. Let him work small venues before tepid audiences for five years. Then he will be fit to rejoin decent society..........His offense seems more absurd and pathetic than truly offensive. Who among us has ever had a wish to jerk off in front of female comedians? That's some weird fetish. I don't see Louis as the avant-garde of a huge, new trend. Female comics can sleep safely in their beds because Louis CK has been vanquished...... Perhaps porn stars might have a problem with this. Many will say that wanking is the whole point of being a porn star. There's merit to this argument, but a star like Stormy has many facets beyond her sexuality. I just hope that Chuck Todd, inspired by the bad example of Louis CK, doesn't start wanking during her next appearance on MTP. That would cheapen and debase public discourse in America.

Martin said...

Refund the complainer's cover charge and invite it not to come back so it isn't at risk of being offended in a comedy club.

Someone being offended in a comedy club reminds me of Dr. Strangelove: "You can't fight here, this is the War Room!"

tim in vermont said...

I guess that the internet has figured out the gatekeeper problem Hillary was so worried about when open communication was hampering her efforts to tamp down #METOO.

walter said...

Mark said...Aziz Ansari just did some pop up shows in Madison and Milwaukee in a similair vein.
--
Unfortunate term for that.

Everyone knew Louis is a whack job.

Bay Area Guy said...

Yeah, I don't think LCK should be banned for life. Way too extreme. He should apologize to those he harmed, and get on with his comedic life. Jeez, if Michael Richards can rebound from calling hecklers the "N-Word," surely LCK can rebound too.

walter said...

William said...a star like Stormy has many facets beyond her sexuality.
--
Her appeal is pole tested.

Jupiter said...

Bay Area Guy said...
"Remind me again what this comedian did? We know Harvey Weinstein jerked off into a potted plant, and this guy jerked off in front of female subordinates?"

No subordinates. He jerked off in front of two chicks who followed him back to his hotel room. Basically, he got busted for impersonating a rock star.

Ralph L said...

Why did the NYT report on his clothes? To verify he was wearing pants? This can be a common problem, I'm told.

Nonapod said...

I don't believe he'll ever be able to fully regain what he has lost. Figures like Mel Gibson and Paula Deen have never been able to fully return from their exile in outer darkness. They're kept along the fringes.

walter said...

Aziz will never live down his brutal violation of "Affirmative Consent":

After arriving at his apartment in Manhattan on Monday evening, they exchanged small talk and drank wine. “It was white,” she said. “I didn’t get to choose and I prefer red, but it was white wine.”

walter said...

This has more funny than a lot of CK's actual bits:
"typical Louis C.K. stuff” — racism, waitresses’ tips, parades."

Dave Begley said...

The right guy could heckle him mercilessly. I'd pay money to see that.

Bay Area Guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bay Area Guy said...

@Jupiter,

No subordinates. He jerked off in front of two chicks who followed him back to his hotel room. Basically, he got busted for impersonating a rock star.

Thanks, Jupiter. It is important that we get the jerk-off story accurate, unlike the fake news media.

Proper jerk-off protocol:

If you're a star, they let you grab them by the pussy.

If you're not a star, you settle for jerking off in front of groupies -- or into potted plants.

The Crack Emcee said...

Guys, masturbating in front of women, in potted plants, and women sending nude photos to kids - y'all are creating a GREAT place to grow up - in case those of us with difficult childhoods didn't get enough.

Good luck, Louie? I haven't been able to watch anything by him since it happened. I'll stick with Bill Burr for now.

I'm angling for some normalcy, Folks.

readering said...

He should release his film. I'd watch.

tim maguire said...

Shorter Crack: Forgiveness is for pervs. But making light of the crack epidemic is fine.

Anonymous said...

Has a 'decent interval' passed? If so, you may continue, Louis.

mccullough said...

Sounds like Louis is cured of his perversion. What midfle age guy hasn’t jerked off in front of front of women to humiliate them before?

This guy should be performing in peep shows. A trench coat is the only piece of clothing he needs. He’s a scumbag

Ralph L said...

He should release his film. I'd watch.

You'll have to wait for it to dry.

readering said...

In other news, POTUS turned up for work, tweeted and deleted tweets.

dustbunny said...

I assume he had a very serious coke habit when he was exposing himself at least that’s that rumor I heard. He seemed to have no understanding that what he was doing was weird. He hates Trump so that will help with his re-entry.

The Crack Emcee said...

tim maguire said...

"Shorter Crack: Forgiveness is for pervs. But making light of the crack epidemic is fine."

Who makes fun of the crack epidemic - but white conservatives?

Darrell said...

People should be able to throw stuff at him for a couple of years.
He makes $Millions, so it shouldn't bother him that much.

zefal said...

louis ck has the right politics and the right friends with the right politics. These inherent two-faced hypocrites were just waiting a set amount of time before initiating this coordinated effort. Big shock.

Beth B said...

Welcome back, Michael Richards! All is forgiven! Ladies and Gentlemen, Andy Dick...

Gee, that makes things so much easier, doesn't it?

mikee said...

What measures have been taken by the comedy club to insure the comedian isn't left alone with women, at least on site, in case he has another unavoidable attack of masturbation? Or is that going to be a surprise when it happens, too, like his comedy routine that night?