I am very passionate about comedy. Laughter, to me, is one of the most essential bodily functions we have behind…well, you know. Charlie Chaplin once said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” I cannot think of a statement truer than that. I mean it has been proven, by doctors, that laughter is actually good for your health. You know the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine”? Well, that isn’t bullsh*t. It really is the best medicine.
Now, because I value comedy so much, I have decided to do a series of articles about my favorite comedians. I think I’m only going to do three, but it could turn into five depending on reader feedback. I want to say right off the bat that I am not saying these are unequivocally the best comedians. These are, in my humble opinion, the funniest (and in some cases most influential) comedians out there right now. IN MY OPINION. I want to emphasize that so that when you read this and think I’m wrong about some or all of these comedians, you don’t find it necessary to tell me.
That was a long opening and I apologize…now without further ado I am going to introduce the first comedian I am will be talking about: Louis C.K.
First thing I want to make sure you all know: it is pronounced “Louie”, even though it is spelled Louis.
The first time I ever saw Louis C.K. was in his comedy special Chewed Up on Netflix. I watched that for the first time my junior year of high school, and I’ve been obsessed with him ever since.
Louis C.K. was born on September 12th, 1967 as Louis Szekely (pronounced See-Kee). His father is of Mexican and Hungarian descent and his mother is Irish Catholic. His parents moved to Mexico City after he was born and he is still a citizen of Mexico to this day even though they moved to Massachusetts when he was seven years old. His parents divorced shortly after that and his mother raised him and his siblings in Newton, Massachusetts.
C.K. tried his hand at comedy for the first time when he was 17, but after only three minutes he ran out of material and was turned off from it for a few years. After he graduated high school in 1985 he became an auto mechanic, but he moved to New York in 1989 to give comedy another shot.
Things didn’t get much better in New York. He practiced his routine at empty venues most of the time and he auditioned for Saturday Night Live, but didn’t get hired.
His luck turned around when he got a job as a staff writer for the cable show Caroline’s Comedy Hour and then in 1993 he got a job as a writer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He also wrote for The Dana Carvey Show and The Chris Rock Show, before finally writing and directing his first feature film. It was called Pootie Tang and it did not do well critically. It has since become a cult classic.
In 2006, C.K. created and starred in Lucky Louie on HBO for one season before it was cancelled. He had several comedy specials between then and 2010 when he released his new show Louie on FX. He created the show and he writes and directs most of the episodes as well as stars in them. It is a semi-autobiographical show that shows the struggles of being a single, middle-aged father/comedian in New York. He won Emmys for 'Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series' in 2011, 2012, and 2014 for his work on Louie.
Not only has he been successful in comedy and Television, but he has appeared in such films as American Hustle and the upcoming film Trumbo starring Bryan Cranston.
Those are the facts that I believe solidify Louis C.K. as one of the most talented and impressive comedians out there today.
Now I’m going to get into why I personally think he’s one of the best.
Reason Number One: He is hilarious.
That is all. He is honestly one of the funniest people I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. Some people find his comedy exhausting, because it can be so negative, but that’s the best part to me. I like how he takes the fact that life is difficult and turns it around into something that makes people laugh.
Reason Number Two: He is not afraid to say things that most people wouldn’t say. In a society where political correctness is running rampant, it is people like him that offer a breath of fresh air so to speak. He says some very offensive things, but they’re only offensive if you don’t have a sense of humor. To a lot of people he may just sound like a vulgar pessimist that is looking for laughs by saying the most shocking things he can think of, but in reality he is just giving us a glimpse of how he views the world, and what is going on in his head. Nothing he says is wrong; it’s just that most people won’t admit it.
Reason Number Three: He is intelligent. He didn’t go to college, but that doesn’t make him stupid. He says smart things all the time, and sometimes they don’t seem like very deep statements like this one…
… but in reality that can be interpreted as extremely deep. People are too uptight. We all need to relax a little bit. However you interpret it, he is right. One of my favorite quotes of all time by anybody is this one right here:
It's things like that quote that I love about him. That definitely got a laugh, but it also might have got people thinking about their lives and how they live them. That, to me, is great comedy.
Louis C.K. is legitimately one of the funniest, most intelligent comedians in the business right now and I for one hope he just keeps creating because I love everything he does. He is taking a hiatus from his show currently so he can direct and star in a new movie. I am sad that I have to wait for more Louie, but I’m glad he is doing what he wants to do, and you better believe I will be seeing that movie.
If you have never heard of him, or you have and you have just never gotten around to watching anything he’s done, I strongly recommend you start now. Watch his comedy specials Chewed Up and Live at the Beacon Theater on Netflix to start out. If you like those then definitely watch Louie. There are five seasons so far, four of which are on Netflix, so there is plenty of content to binge on. I hope you enjoy his stuff as much as I do.
All facts came from http://www.biography.com/people/louis-ck-21014255
