I almost don’t want to “review” this. First of all: I’m an artist, and I don’t really believe in reviews of anything. So much of what writers deem important enough to include in a review boils down to just….personal opinion. And who gives a shit about that? If there’s anything I’ve learned from a few of my heroes over the years, it’s the fact that none of them really care about what reviewers have to say. The joy of an art form comes from the doing, not the accolades (although those are nice of course). Being an artist (a serious one anyway) is not about what other people have to say, being famous, or having a million dollars. The latter two things would be nice, but they’re just by-products of the actual work. Whenever someone is begging you to check out their work or constantly promoting themselves, chances are it’s not very good work. Because if it was any good, it would probably speak for itself.
That brings me to Louis CK, a guy that has always enjoyed releasing his art quietly into the world. His latest special, “Sincerely, Louis CK,” was no different: it was only announced through an e-mail to his mailing list on the day of. A lot of reviewers (and annoying people on Twitter) seemed to enjoy making the same stupid, hack joke ad nauseum: How appropriate! Louis is releasing a special and forcing us to watch it at a time when no one can leave the room!! That is a goofy attempt at referencing his misconduct: Louis never “forced” anyone to do anything, and no one is being “forced” to watch the special now. It’s a hell of a reach. People have also said idiotic things like, “Anyone that buys this is supporting sexual violence against women.” As if a person who enters their credit card information on a website and makes a meaningless purchase is somehow responsible for every single thing that happens with that money. If you give a vagrant change and he buys a bottle of liquor is that supporting alcoholism? Of course not….
That is partly why I’m writing about the special: if some of these people that claim to be progressive would give it a chance, they might see how ridiculous they sound. It’s a great special that shows growth for Louis as an artist, and nobody seems to be interested in assessing it on those terms. Some people are so desperate to paint him as an evil dude who should be banished forever, but by doing so a huge area of discussion is lost. There have been headlines like, “We Watched the New Louis CK Special so You Don’t Have to!” like that’s a mature response to the whole thing. It’s a little confusing about what the point of “#MeToo” was supposed to be: are we not supposed to be learning as a society? Don’t you want to hear what one of the most famous people to get axed has to say in response?
Here are a few noteworthy things worth talking about.
1. What he learned.
He “talks about it.” And while it’s not the pathetic Aziz Ansari grovelling approach some might have been hoping for, it’s still a huge learning lesson: men must “check in often” because women can do a great job of appearing to be “okay.” (This is probably partly a reference to the most notable incident - the stuff that happened in Aspen). Louis asked the women who seemed to be interested in him for permission, they didn’t say yes but stayed anyway, and he went for it. His material on this is pretty revealing: he’s saying he basically thought what he was doing was okay, which is not nothing. That’s a pretty huge deal. If you’re a dude, women are in your room, and things seem to be going well for you, Louis is saying you still need to, “check in often.” The incidents have been reported as “sexual assault,” but when you hear Louis CK speak about it in his own words it’s essentially more a failure of communication than an actual malicious assault.
2. His family history & the loss of his mother.
This is another big deal. As a comedian he’s never really talked about his background this much before, and it’s a fascinating story. Without spoiling it: he talks about his ancestors dodging the Holocaust, and how his whole life is kind of a small miracle that should’ve never really happened.
And even though he has the classic dark humour about it, the material on the loss of his mother is another highlight of this special. Some reviewers seem to be upset that he didn’t dig deeper, and go as far as he possibly could. The Rolling Stone said it seemed like he was brushing stuff “under the rug.” But that is arguably what is one of the enjoyable aspects of this special: topics like his mother’s death do not take up more than like 5% of the special. He merely says what he has to, shares some observations about it, and moves on. There is no agenda at work here other than making people laugh, and he accomplishes that tenfold.
3. The absence of material.
In 2018 when a fan recorded his set and leaked it online, many people were angry that he made jokes about school shooting survivors. People called it “sickening” etc etc etc. None of that material is repeated here, and he does not address that. And of course, he doesn’t have to at all. As he has mentioned in the past: “No matter how bad life gets, it's still fucking funny.”
There are people who understand comedy, and there are people who just don’t. It’s that simple. In his e-mail to fans he referenced this and stated his position clearly, “I feel like there are two kinds of people in this world. One kind needs to laugh when things get shitty. In fact, the shittier things get, the more serious, the more dark the more terrifying, the more dangerous and dire anything is, the more important it is to laugh in the midst of it and often directly in its face."
4. The audience.
Contrary to what the internet would have you believe: the audience for Louis CK is not just a bunch of dumb fat white guys. His audience is pretty diverse, and there are also women in attendance. (And as a side note: when I saw him perform in Toronto last October it was a pretty colourful crowd).
5. Spelling errors
This one pissed me off a little bit because I’m a writer: in the ending credits there are a couple spelling mistakes of names thanked. Most people are stupid and don’t read anyway, and this isn’t a big deal. But this is the only sign of evidence I could see when people talk about his “fall from grace.” However, as an artist I can relate: maybe it’s just because he was so excited to get the damn work out there finally, he just didn’t give a shit about spelling names like “Ari Shaffir” correctly.
Anyway, pay the fucking money to buy this special. There have been a few comedians on Twitter urging people to pirate it, and I think that kind of behaviour is truly a lot more sickening than anything Louis was accused of. He sets the record straight here, and these clowns are begging people to steal from their fellow artist. Fuck all of them.
