We live in era where entirely too many people are focused on trolling their opponents. What used to be an annoying way to kill some time on social media has turned into a socially acceptable way to deal with criticism.
That’s especially the case when it comes to a specific subset of stand-up comedians. They do material that is racist or cruel or in some other way mean-spirited. Then when confronted with criticism, they first accuse their critics of not understanding comedy. In later performances, they do jokes that reference criticism of their material, followed up by smug smirks if the only slightly less evil jokes get a laugh from the audience.
In a better world. Louis C.K.’s career would be over. Or at the very least, he would be spending the bulk of his days performing one-nighters in a string of lonely Mongolian stand-up clubs.
Instead, he’s back on Netflix with a new comedy special, which somehow manages to be tired and smug.
To refresh your memory, a 2017 New York Times article detailed the accounts of five women who claimed the comedian had asked them to watch him pleasure himself or forced them to do so. After the article was published, other women came forward with variations of the same story, many of them confirmed by other people.
There had rumors of this behavior for years, but it wasn’t until the NY Times article that the comedian addressed the issue. He issued a statement admitting to the behavior, although he didn’t exactly issue a sincere-sounding apology.
The story ended up costing Louis C.K. a deal with FX, he lost some concert dates and his stand-up contract with Netflix.
But his so-called “cancellation” didn’t last long. Within a couple of years he was back doing live shows and releasing stand-up specials under his own label. And in his new act, he didn’t exactly express remorse for his behavior, explaining to audiences that he is very good at pleasuring himself. And anytime someone is good at something, they just want to show other people.
I mention all of his backstory because it explains a lot about the cringe-inducing hour of comedy that makes up Louis C.K.: Ridiculous. The set opens with a couple of “jokes” about AIDS, and what follows is a string of progressively creepier bits that I suppose are supposed to shock his critics.
But what I was left with – after watching him smirk his way through jokes about everything from being a pedophile to having sex with his dad – is that I just felt sorry for him.
You can tell that he wants the material to be shocking, and he smiles every time one of the ruder punchlines gets a laugh. But it’s like watching Martin Scorsese direct porn movies. I’m sure they would be well done. But it would still be a sad twist in his career.
Louis C.K. can be an extremely talented stand-up. But he still hasn’t been able to fully take responsibility for his actions and that decision has poisoned every corner of his comedy.
Some of his fans will ask “Why should he still be punished for something that happened years ago? Why can’t he return to Netflix and have a normal career again?”
My answer is pretty simple. If you’re fired from McDonald’s for repeatedly pleasuring yourself while working the drive-through window, you’re not going to be able to wait a couple of years and hope to get invited to McDonald’s University. Especially if you’re explanation of your behavior is, “hey, if they didn’t want to see it, they wouldn’t have driven up to the window.”
At some level, I think Louie C.K. knows that. And that self-awareness is expressing itself by causing him to forget the things that made him funny in the first place.
Louie C.K. : Ridiculous is a profoundly mediocre stand-up special performed by someone who has shown enough humility and regret to deserve another chance.