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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