Few men can make you laugh like Louis C.K. can. Even fewer can make you have an existential crisis at the same time. You kind of wish he was your dad or something. Most people his age are deemed too old to be relevant, or edgy, but he’s more redgy (relevant and edgy. I made up a new word. Deal with it) than most of his young counterparts. In his standup act, he points out the idiosyncrasies of everyday things like cell phones with the frustrated wit of a young man, and explores the shitty faults of the human psyche with the wisdom of an old philosopher.
FX has granted him a fourth season of his series ‘Louie’, which he writes, directs, and stars in. The show follows a fat, balding, ageing, single father/comedian who talks about masturbation a lot, played by Louis himself. If you haven’t guessed by now—the show is based on Louis’ own life. Almost every episode is completely different from the last—some will follow the rules of logic, others will be completely surrealistic—but every episode strikes the perfect balance of comedy, and melancholy.
Watching that show kind of makes you feel like it’s ok to be sad, or even depressed. It’s not far from being the misanthropic, introvert’s bible. At the beginning of one episode, after a successful standup gig, some random guy outside insists that he stays at the bar, and picks up a girl. “After a set like that, you gotta hang out and get laid.” Louie laughs, “I haven’t done that since I was like, 20. Nah I’ve got kids. I’ve gotta pick ‘em up in the morning.” “You own every woman in that place. You can have any one you want.” The stranger proclaims. After coming close to being threatened, Louie reluctantly hangs at the bar and orders a shot, as if he’s never done it before in his life.
He’s the opposite of smooth, as he nearly chokes on his first sip of whiskey, while watching women enter the bar, leaving from the gig. One woman eventually approaches him. A brief glimmer of hope, before realising she’s just from the office, and asking for him to update the headshots on his website. He then forces a cringe from the viewer, as he wanders the bar, sheepishly approaching groups of uninterested women, like a lost puppy. He just stands there, and waits for them to talk to him, and they just ignore him, as they chat amongst themselves. It’s hilarious to watch, but also just a bit depressing at the same time.
As a result of the show’s success, some of the biggest directors in Hollywood have taken an interest in the Emmy-winning comedian. You can see Louis in two of the year’s best films: Woody Allen’s ‘Blue Jasmine’, and David O. Russell’s ‘American Hustle’. After casting Louis, David O. Russell told the comedian, “I want you to be you, I want you to use all of your Louie-ness.” Woody Allen spoke of wanting to act alongside Louis in a future comedy project.
It’s not just Louie’s comedy chops that are admired—it’s his philosophical outlook on life. He’s getting quoted all over the internet, and for good reason. Both on his TV show, and his stand-up act, he pensively dwells on the ways in which the modern human takes life on earth for granted. When his 8-year-old daughter gets bored during a long car trip, he lectures her: “I’m bored’ is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say ‘I’m bored.”
Louis is shamelessly uncool, and brutally honest. He makes no attempt to create a desirable, flashy persona. He doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s just a not-so-great-looking guy who leads an often depressing, and awkward life. This is precisely what makes him so likeable. You’d never guess that this guy is one of the most popular comedians in the world, or that he has a handful of Emmys.
Written by Luke Morrow
If you haven’t checked out Louis yet, here’s a clip of an appearance on Conan, which went pretty viral a little while back:
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