Monday, December 31, 2018
Louis C.K. Enjoys a New Degree of Creative Freedom
"Listen: Fuck it. What, are you gonna take away my birthday? My life is over and I don't give a shit."
Outraged headlines samples:
CNN: "Louis CK mocks Parkland shooting survivors"
OUT: "Louis C.K. Is Just Fully Doing Transphobic Comedy Now"
The Daily Beast: "Louis C.K.’s Leaked Comedy Set Panders to the Alt-Right"
My opinion:
Great set. His best? I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's rock-solid stand-up. It's funny, and funny is what matters in comedy.
Mocking "the Parkland survivors" wouldn't have been funny if they hadn't tried to set themselves up as moral authorities just because they got shot at. But they did set themselves up that way, and part of the price tag on doing that is that someone's going to mock you.
His bit on gender identity wasn't even remotely "transphobic." He made fun of the habit of demanding that others use one's chosen pronouns. To the extent that that is in fact often uttered as a demand, it is, again, something that deserves to be made fun of.
His set was no more "alt-right" than any given bit from Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor, et al. But in bringing him low, the puritanical proggies freed him to say whatever the hell he feels like -- and to be as funny as he's ever been.
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