I Love Louis

A (smart) relative told me years ago that I’d love Louis C. K.

She was wrong at the time. I hated him.

At her suggestion, I checked out his TV special called “Hilarious” on Netflix, which was supposed to be pretty good. Hilarious, in fact.  It started out with a pudgier, red-haired guy ranting about the word “faggot”. When he was younger it didn’t mean what it means today. Why is it such an insult now? “Faggot” had nothing to do with a judgement of one’s sexual orientation; it meant your social behavior was annoying and you were being, well, a “faggot”.  And he went on like that.

Already I feel like apologizing for this ugly word, and I’m just quoting someone else.  I got tired of hearing that word pretty quickly then, too, and turned off the TV. I wouldn’t blame you if you already clicked off this post. You didn’t, did you? Still here? Well you did better than me. At the time, I completely missed the point in his opening bit: Though societal factors affect their connotation, words have only the power that we give them. I know, deep, right? I still turned it off. I just didn’t hear the message over voice expressing it; swearing like a sailor. Or a crabby, balding, 8th grade boy.

I recently gave him another chance when he came up on a comedy radio channel on Spotify (more about this addiction another day). I was driving through several states to see my sister, and there was Louis. He was explaining both sides of the spanking issue. Kids are tiny, barely-formed people who trust wholeheartedly and whose behavior is mostly our fault, and we’re BIGGER than them, yet we hit them as punishment…but on the other hand, parenting is a high pressure job that sucks you dry and he can completely understand life’s stressors contributing to someone lashing out – because he’s wanted to a billion times. Me too, buddy. Me too.

I switched off of radio and onto his albums. I was cackling so much on the George Washington Bridge that I got several “look-at-that-crazy-lady” glances – in New York!  Now, I don’t mean to assert that everything that comes out of the guy’s (filthy) mouth is golden. But that time, so much of his material resonated with me. He talked philosophy, socioeconomic issues, education, health and fitness, ethics, and more. “More” being every bit of foul language and sex joke imaginable. It all combined artfully into a little stew of screwed-up wisdom.

Why does some random comedian warrant a post at this illustrious blog? Because it seems to me that most of stand-up comedy today is about grossing you out, shocking you, or both.  This is very good fun and should never, ever stop. However, I feel like I’ve found in Louis a performer who is also using the stand-up mic to ask you to think, and challenge you to change. His content is of a higher quality.  And then he drops F bomb. Because that is also quite funny. The colorful tone of his communication may alienate people, and that’s unfortunate. But because he forever earned my respect when he used an interview with Letterman as a platform to talk about the needlessness of standardized testing.

In an article in the New York Post, he is quoted as saying, “My kids used to love math. Now it makes them cry. Thanks, standardized testing and Common Core!” Love!

Ok, I know: This post reads like fan mail. Comedians have taken up social issues for years. It’s very stylish. It just so happens that I agree wholeheartedly. Plus, I’m highly biased. The guy looks (and thinks) like he could be related to my sister and I.  That’s not a good endorsement of our pretty faces, is it? Whatever, we know we’re hot. Deal with it. I mentioned this when I got to sis’s house after laughing all the way to Massachusetts. After a little further study and discussion (Netflix and Oreos were our research assistants, I believe), she and I concurred with enough of his content that we (I?) decided that Louis C. K. is our unofficial long-lost older brother*. This theory can probably be attributed to her new-mom lack of sleep and my Oreo + whiskey diet that weekend. Also, when I was younger I wished for an older brother to drive me around, be funny, and help me hang up my NKOTB posters.

*Author note: We later discovered that Louis C. K. is older than he looks, and is closer in age to our dad. He resembles Dad, too.  So hey, Louis, if you ever want to come to one of our non-existent family reunions where we order take-out, drink, and talk shit, contact me.  You are of our ilk.

Here’s a smattering of what the guy has to say, in pretty little quote graphics.  I can’t agree more without committing copyright infringement:

I can’t improve on that, except to buy posters of this quote to hang in every room in my house, including my own.

In our family we pretend that our standard, polite word for passing gas is “toot”.  In reality, it is not.  When we’re down to the four of us, it’s called a FART, and it is FUNNY. Because we are raising well-bred little ladies over here.

This is a great start to a great post for another day when I feel like alienating half the people I know via blogging. But I’m good for today. 

Zen master. 

Pretty much, in every way I can think of, except I still need be able to beat them at board games.

 Spread a little comment love so everybody else can laugh: 

Who else do you like in the comedy world?