I wasn’t sure whether to put this in Cafe Society or IMHO. Well it seems Louis C.K. is taking the steps to come back to the comedy world at least in the arena of stand up. I’ve read complaints online that he can’t make a comeback if he doesn’t at a minimum address his actions in his act. It appears he is now edging closer to doing just that. Anyone have opinions about him performing stand-up again? Honestly I would still pay money to see him and think he is one of the funniest comics of this generation, given the age of the accusations, his admission and apology about what happened, I don’t see a problem with it. If audiences are willing to pay to see him or get their money back if he makes an unannounced appearance then I think it will happen. I don’t know that his career will ever see the same heights that it once did, but I suppose it is possible. I would be more interested in hearing the opinions of fellow fans and if his actions affect their enjoyment of his material but anyone is welcome to comment.
His “admission and apology” was indeed courageous, certainly the actions of a contrite and broken man, and not a naked and laughably transparent attempt to mitigate his disgusting, perverse actions, actions that he repeated time and time again over the course of multiple decades.
I saw him live multiple times and he was one of my favorite comedians prior to learning about the allegations made against him (and his response). At this point I wouldn’t see him live again. I think his apology was, at best, a tentative first step, and IMO he’d need to do a lot more to demonstrate that he’s learned from his mistakes, regrets them, fully understands why they were wrong, apologizes and makes amends to each person whose consent he violated, and pledges to donate the majority of his earnings going forward to fighting sexual assault, at a bare minimum, before I’d even consider seeing him live again.
And I’d seriously consider refraining from giving my business to any comedy club or venue that gave him their platform before he did any of these things.
But others are free to spend their entertainment dollars how they choose.
As far as I know, he self funds most of his work. I was not much of a fan before. Nor has the allegations and accusations made me change my view of his comedies.
As my small way of showing solidarity to the brave and chastened Mr C.K., I have started a charity called “Helping Hands” which assists “Up & Coming” struggling standup comedians by providing Kleenex and Vaseline to those who cannot afford them on their own.
His career was essentially stand-up, a little cable show the critics loved but wasn’t a huge hit, plus various self-published projects. He wasn’t much of a “star” in the sense of movies and television, or anything that relied on advertising or sponsors.
He doesn’t need to apologize to anyone or do anything to go do stand-up again; it’s not like there are advertisers to boycott. Either people buy tickets or they don’t. He also doesn’t need to do anything to self-publish projects, as again, no avenues for protestors to apply leverage. He won’t get his FX show back even if he apologizes, but that was always a bit of a side part of his career anyway.
So is CK too stupid to hire a PR guy to fix his BS? This should have been an easy fix for him. Hire a PR guy, get counseling, and then do an apology tour on all the talk show circuits.
You’d think he’d be smart enough to do that. Then again, you’d think he’d be smart enough not to whip it out and start playing with himself in the presence of people who don’t want to see that shit, in the first place.
Yeah, I need more public displays of penance and remorse and apology. As it is, his premature comeback makes him seem narcissistic. (Of course, he is! But he can try to avoid the appearance a little more, yah?)
But, I guess he’s just going to put himself out there, feel it out, see what comes of it.
I was (am?) a big fan, but his lack of accountability statement was pathetic. It amounted to him sayng “I’m sorry I whipped it out, oops.” Which doesn’t begin to address his actions. If he’d like to be a man and offer a proper apology and try to repair the damage he caused, I might listen. As long as he’d like to be a weasel trying to make a buck he can fuck himself. Be a man, Louis.
If he can entertain me it’s none of my business what he does in his private life - if he’s done anything illegal I believe law enforcement can handle that.
Unfortunately as noted by Fake Kavanaugh last year and evidenced by real Kavanaugh this year, being contrite simply leads to be ostracized while being aggressive in defending oneself results in survival.
Yeah. If we’ve learned anything these last few years it is that denying everything and threatening your victims wins you far more support from the public than being honest, admitting guilt and accepting responsibility.
Al Franken stepped down, Trump is still president.
The fact that CK didn’t go this route, didn’t go the route of ‘none of this happened and I’m going to destroy these women’s lives’ like so many other men did makes me want him to get some leniency. But sadly it seems like CK is getting more flak than people who threaten their victims like Moore, Kavanaugh or Trump.
That’s how those types of showcase shows work. That’s why The Comedy Cellar is the premiere club in NYC. There’s a host and a few named comics. Often there will be several unannounced other comics. You take your chances that it could be someone you hate or who offends you. There are other clubs with more traditional headliner/opener where surprise drop ins are much less likely.
