Monday, October 16, 2017

'Louis C.K. 2017' Tackles Abortion and 'Magic Mike' and Other Stuff in Between

Louis C.K. is one of the smartest, most cynical standup comics today.  His jokes, usually dark, are not only hilarious – which they are – but quite thought-provoking.  There’s almost as much insight to be had as laughs.  Though I don’t necessarily agree with all of his ideas – like most celebrities, he lies on the Left side of the spectrum – I nonetheless appreciate the consistency of thoughtfulness and meticulousness in his presentation.  That’s why whenever he gets vulgar, it’s not at all just for the sake of being vulgar and drawing cheap laughs.  There’s always purposefulness behind his premise, his execution, his choice of words, his structure, his phrasing.  The intention is always uproarious, intellectual comedy, and such is what Louis C.K. achieves in his act, both in parts and in whole.

In his latest Netflix special, simply titled Louis C.K. 2017, he starts his set without any preamble – something he’s done in past specials as well – and immediately talks about abortion.  In that glorious ten minutes or so – in which suicide is also touched upon – he presents a brilliant thesis, basically a pro-life stance in the guise of sarcastic pro-choice delivery, which liberals will be too dumb or too morally bankrupt to acknowledge as a very valid point.

Later, he ends the set as unceremoniously as he started it, but not before presenting a hilarious musing about Magic Mike and the likelihood that he’s gay, which includes some side-splitting miming.

The starting and finishing topics are the two highest points of this set.  But there’s some other notable, laugh-inducing bits between them as well, including his daughter mishearing “9/11 deniers” as “nine 11 deniers”, Christianity, giving drugs to dogs, the pitiful state of public school teachers, Achilles, and a former schoolmate who stole his date.

Overall, Louis C.K. 2017 is everything you could hope for in a Louis C.K. standup special and then some.

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