The nominations were unveiled on Tuesday, and C.K. earned a nod in the category of Best Comedy Album for Sincerely Louis CK. This was the comedian's first stand-up special since his career was derailed in 2017 after multiple women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct. He admitted at the time that stories of him masturbating in front of women or asking to do so "are true."
The nomination prompted me to look for the album on Spotify, and it's there, not canceled, completely accessible. I listened to the whole thing right after I saw the nomination. It was great!
And he talks about the "stories," at least some aspects of the stories. He doesn't concede that everything they're saying about him is true. Is there anything about the problem of a man using his power within the entertainment industry to gain consent from women who don't really want the sex he's offering but might be hoping for other advantages? Not overtly, but he does say that he knows that a woman may give consent and then, without saying so become unconsenting, so you have to keep "checking in." At least. In the end, he says that if you ask a woman if you can masturbate in front of them — which everyone knows is his thing — and she says yes, ask again, and then don't do it.
Of course, you have to listen to how he says it. He's a comedian. To write out the "ideas" as I've done is to drain out the comedy. His comedy depends a lot on shifting from cruelty to sensitivity, and he's brilliant drawing the audience into cruelty and then turning on them. To see what I mean, listen to the track "Wheelchairs and Legs and Retarded People":
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I hope he or Chappelle win the grammy in that category. Just so we can see them go up on stage (if they show up) and watch the crowd alternately look around, applaud, hoot, then look around again and sheepishly put their hands down. Or up. And down again.
The Left doesn't know what it actually thinks, only what it thinks it's supposed to think. And that gets confusing from day to day and requires constant checking in with the groupthink to see which way the flag is blowing on any given day. Or hour.
Nothing like a sound philosophical base.
Nothing wrong with forgiving; he can bill this as his Second Coming.
That's some funny shit
I listened and thought it was funny but his cursing to excess is distracting.
Brilliant? Sounds like ordinary standup to me.
One of the nice things out Netflix is you can pick a standup routine at random and stop watching as soon as it's time to go to bed knowing you'll be missing nothing important.
Louis CK uses that same high-pitched voice as Jim Gaffigan. It's annoying.
Once your cancellation is revoked you can’t be easily canceled again. The re-cancel worthy infraction has to be orders of magnitude greater than the original sin that triggered the first cancellation. It’s actually a blessing, if you stop to think about how terrible the art form is right now. CK is free to jerk the apple off the comedy tree of no-nos for everyone to see and hear like Althouse did in Spotify. This might be the beginning of something wonderful.
I think LCK got the end of the movie Like Normal People (1979), where even the liberal lady doesn't want the "retarded" people to reproduce, confused with Oliver Wendell Holmes writing in Buck v. Bell (1927):
It is better for all the world if, instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. . . . Three generations of imbeciles are enough.
I might even watch the Grammy's this time if Ricky Gervais emcees. Think how many Hollywood heads he could explode with this type of material to work with.
He admitted at the time that stories of him masturbating in front of women or asking to do so "are true."
At least he asked.
A perfect gentleman in today's world.
I never have understood what is wrong with the word 'retarded'. Same with 'Oriental'. And 'black', though I guess 'black' is OK again. I think.
What is the currentlly woke-approved word for retarded?
Eric: were you never in the military or worked construction? Is it tea time Lord Grantham?
Bless Louis for ridiculing the 'retarded' anathema. Give him the Grammy now!
Some people were allowed back to Moscow from the Gulag, as examples for the others.
Eric the Fruit Bat-
Completely agree with your takes, both on picking a random routine that I can start and walk away from when it's time for sleep, without thinking twice about it.
And...what is that high-pitched voice thing of Gaffigan's? It never ends. I can't listen to it anymore.
Very funny--I thought the voicings and timing were superb, and the observations acute. Thanks, Prof.
That track is funny?
speaking of jokes. and people who are jokes....
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
For what it's worth, I found that pretty funny. But I am notoriously fond of what used to be called "sick" humor.
A man who exposes himself and masturbates in front of an unwilling woman is a shitbag.
He may be a funny shitbag, but he is a shitbag.
Fuck him.
Two good things from this post. Louis CK's excellent routine and his Grammy nomination indicates that the cancel culture movement may be starting to lose steam.
"which everyone knows is his thing"
Needs a new thing.
I used to watch CK's TV show just to find out why so many people seem to think he's funny. I still haven't found the answer. Just being strange is not the same thing as being funny, although it seemed to work for Jerry Lewis, at least financially.
CK really impresses me, negatively.
It's not like he made a wisecrack about trannies.
I hear that's a career killer.
I think his particular predilection is uncommon, although it's not the kind of thing anyone brags about so who knows. It does seem a lot more common among show biz people than the public at large. I guess show biz attracts exhibitionists.
Still, who really wants to jerk off in front of female comedians. Better than wanting to jerk off in front of a CNN panel, but definitely not the first choice of those with taste and discernment....His routine was funny, but my life would not be diminished if I were deprived of his humor. Stand up comedians are not that big of a deal and, in time, they all fade away like George Gobel or Edgar Bergen. That said, the punishment he has thus far received seems disproportionate to the crime. He didn't ruin anyone's life or career, and his life and career should not be ruined.... `
A man who exposes himself and masturbates in front of an unwilling woman is a shitbag.
The key word is 'unwilling.'
In every single case, he asked if he could do that with them, and they all said, yeah sure, go ahead.
The claim is that although they said 'yes', they believed that if they said no, doors would not open for them in the world of comedy. Or something like that. I confess I don't quite understand the implied coercion angle. If a famous person in your chosen career asks you for kinky sex, is that automatically coercion?
By the way, I think he's brilliant. When I first discovered him several years ago, I binged on every Louis CK youtube video I could find. He is appalling, and sometimes shocking, and so self-deprecating, and pushes things way past where normal people will go. As Ann said, he draws you in, then turns on you.
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