Louis CK

One thing about comedy. It's utterly audience dependent. They laugh or they don't. I laughed for years at Louis C.K. I think it'd be hard to do now, thanks to images he put in my brain. I don't think his comeback will go well.

 

He told a joke about rape whistle? He's either tone-deaf or self destructive.

Re. Lenny Bruce. My first exposure to his material was a piece of his that appeared in "The Big Book of Jewish Humor." It was the joke about finding a confession to the murder of Jesus. It was very funny. What it wasn't was him going deep blue for its own sake. I'm sure a lot of the transgressive material from his later years was groundbreaking back then. Seeing it now, much of it scans as juvenile.

 

Watching a comedian work through material is always an ugly process. That’s why I don’t think he can ever come back completely. He’s never going to be able to work through those awkward sets with fucked-up material on a random Tuesday night at a club to get to where he eventually gets. He’s lost the right to ever do that again.

 

Louis C.K.'s career, especially after those allegations, is essentially finished. Sure, he'll pull the crowds of die-hard fans who'll look past his actions, but he'll never, ever pull the same clout prior to everything that's happened.

 

This does not go ...

... with this.

If he pulls the diehard fans, he will still be quite successful. Not "essentially finished."

 

I think that depends on how many "diehard" fans there are.

 

Just to extend the thought, what are we talking about when we talk about "success?"

Without another public apology and demonstration of contrition, can he play to relatively small audiences in clubs? Sure.

Will he get another series? Or film? Not very likely.

 

WTF is the allure of jerking off in front of others, anyway?
It was skeevy-funny at best – maybe – when it was a comedy bit.

His other stuff made me a big fan, and now I doubt I'll ever watch him again.

 

Let me clarify: Louis C.K. has peaked prior to the allgeations. He won't make it back there again. That's what I meant by finished.

 

I’ll buy that.

I don’t think he will disappear from the culture as many are expecting and/or demanding. I think he will remain quite influential — especially among disaffected white guys who will watch just to piss people off.

 

Why do flashers flash?

Part of it's a turn-on, I suppose, but it's also a way to humiliate himself. It's an expression of self-loathing.