http://www.louisck.net/ en Copyright 2008 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:29:44 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification the Guardian. So I have just started a one month tour of the United Kingdom. Home of the original white people who spread disease to every dark continent and enslaved the majority of the world's population for centuries but are now a relatively benign and decent folk with very strong currency. I've started my tour in Dublin, Ireland, as part of the Carlsberg Comedy Carnival. Carlsberg is a kind of beer. So there's that. After this weekend, I go to the Soho Theater in London for two weeks, then I am in Edinbourgh for the Fringe festival, then back in London for another week at the Soho. So this is a lot of not being in America, and instead being in places that aren't America. I have been getting a decent ammount of press. There's this piece in the London Times, another piece in the Irish Independant, and something that I wrote for the Guardian. That's a lot of attention. Also a lot of pressure. I've been anticipating this trip for many months and have been excited about it. I'm in the middle of putting together my next Hour Special for next year and I figured that a long stint in Europe would be a great way to get out of my element and change things up. I've been extremely lucky that Ricky Gervais has been supporting me and helping sell some tickets. So now it started, here in Dublin. So far I have done one show, last night. And I pretty much ate it. I mean I fucking really bombed horrrrribly. I mean it was the worst set I've had in years. Years and years again. I mean holy nigger tits did they hate me. I did half an hour. Fifteen minutes in people were just chatting like I wasn't there. I opened weak and closed weaker and in between I sweated about four me's onto the floor. I can't believe I'm still alive. Toward the end, a very vicious man, yelled out simply "You're a loser!" and I said back to him, "Yes, sir. I am." and then more silence. I took a breath and continued. Rare, rare moments of deep, hot, sweaty, shave a few days off the end of your life failure. How do I feel about it? Last night I felt awful. That's part of bombing. I walked away with my head spinning. "This is a nightmare. They're going to hate me in London too. I'm over here for a fucking month!" But today I'm okay with it. I'm owning it. So much that I'm unneccicarily spreading the word through my own website about how bad it went. How stupid is that? I have to say that, for bombing, I bombed well. For the first ten minutes or so, I lost my composure, I gave them my timing and had salt in my eyes and throat. But then I slowly pulled back on the stick and righted things. I got back into the pocket, to where I know what I'm doing and I know I'm doing it well. I got my timing back to where I wanted it. I felt lucid and honest, which is how I need to feel on stage. But the show didn't get better. It was a very strange sensation that I have NEVER experienced. Usually, bombing is sort of chicken and egg. It's a spiral. They don't like you, so you lose confidence so you start sputtering and doing badly so they don't like you so you lose confidence and down and down and down. But this was different. Because I recovered, I pulled out of the spiral, which is something that I can do just from sheer experience. I've been there a million times. But every time I"ve pulled out of the spiral, I've been able to take the audience with me. In this case, I came out of it, felt great, and yet they still hated me. It was strange. I did the rest of the show that way and then said goodnight. I think someone clapped at the end. He might have been beaten to death. As I walked away, hands shaking, I looked at my phone and saw that Ricky Gervais had called me. I am always so happy to hear from him and it cheered me up. But when I called him back, he said he was calling to ask me to stop pocket-calling him. Apparently my phone kept ringing him during the show. He said that, from inside my pocket, it sounded like I was doing great. I told him, in detail, how awful it was and he cackled and screamed in delight. What a pal. He told me I should film my next special with a camera that fits in my pocket. I would like to mention that the Irish comedians here, besides being very funny, are very nice people. They all told me afterward that it was a unique situation. I was given a million excuses. "They were a bunch of cunts out there tonight. It wasn't you." "It started raining as soon as you got on stage and it was making a terrible noise on the roof. so they were distracted." Very nice of them. But I avail myself of none of their excuses. It's always your fault. you can NEVER blame the crowd. Moreover, I don't want any pity when I bomb. To me, bombing is a pure positive. Because it's a rare experience and it's a great education. Every great show, when you kill, is pretty much like any other great show. But every time you bomb, it is completely unique. I've never bombed the same way twice. And they stay with you, the bad sets, like Lyme disease or herpes. So I thank the people of Dublin for that. In any case, I have two more shows here. Tonight, I do another half an hour and then it all culminates in my own solo hour show on Sunday night. If things don't get better, that is going to be, for me, a historical evening of pain. I am torn in terms of what to wish for. I would love to have a great set tonight and to call last night an anomaly and to go into Sunday with great confidence and leave Dublin a happy man, taking that momentum to London on Tuesday. But there's part of me that wants to go 0 for 3. To be able to just leave here saying "Dublin hates me." We'll see. I'll let you know how it goes. LCK ]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/07/ck-in-the-uk.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/07/ck-in-the-uk.html Misc Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:29:44 -0500 Stardome in Birmingham Alabama. Here's an article about me in a Birmingham Weekly paper. And here's a very shitty commercial I did for that show on youtube... Next week I'm in Nashville, TN at Zanie's Comedy Club. I played Zanies last year and for those of you who saw me there, keep in mind that I am not doing any of the same material. I shot all that material as "Chewed UP" My special this past March, which airs on Showtime in October. Now I am building a brand new hour. Two weeks in the south in the heat should put a terrific stink on it. ALSO Those of you that have XM Sattlelite radio subscriptions can hear me this Saturday at 8PM on channel 150, on a show called "XM Unmasked" It's an hour long interview of me by a very funny guy named Ron Bennington. We taped it about a week ago in front of a live audience in New York City. So if you would like to hear me running off my stupid mouth about my fat self, tune in during these times on these channels... Premieres: Sat, 7/12 at 8PM ET | XM Comedy - XM 150 Encores: Sun, 7/13 at 2PM ET | The Virus - XM 202 Sun, 7/13 from 6PM ET - Midnight ET (cont. loop) | XM Comedy - 150 Mon, 7/14 at 7AM ET & 7PM ET | Laugh Attack - XM 153 Tues, 7/15 at 5AM ET & 5PM ET | Laugh Attack - XM 153 Weds, 7/16 at 11AM ET & 11PM ET | Laugh Attack - XM 153 Thurs, 7/17 at 10AM ET & 10PM ET | Laugh Attack - XM 153 Fri, 7/18 at Noon ET & Mid. ET | Laugh Attack - XM 153 Ok that's it. Thank you. Love Louie]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/07/xm-unmasked-alabama-tenesee.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/07/xm-unmasked-alabama-tenesee.html Misc Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:08:01 -0500 This one is of Ricky with me dressed as a caveman... The next couple of pictures were taken by me at Bonaroo, from the stage during Chris Rock's performance. He did an entire hour of standup, opening for Metallica in front of about 65,000 people. It was raining. It was incredible. Here are those pictures... Anyway, those are that. Please enjoy. I can't make you enjoy, but please do. Here's one more of Ricky. I love pictures of Ricky. He's so handsome I just want to jizz all over his British fucking face... LCK]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/07/photos-of-bonaroo-and-gervais.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/07/photos-of-bonaroo-and-gervais.html Misc Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:46:49 -0500 I loved George since I was a kid. I first used to hear him on a radio show called "Doctor Demento" which I listened to religiously and always featured lots of Carlin clips. As soon as I had my own money I bought a cassette tape of a Carlin album (I don't remember which one) and I wore it out. Jesus, he was just so good. To me, the timeless titans of comedy have always been George Carlin, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor. But George was more than funny to me. He had a huge influence on me in regards to being prolific, honest and working hard at being a comedian, something that a lot of comedians, even funny ones, just don't do. Let's start with honest. Please watch this clip. Just watch the first joke, then come back here for the point I'm making... George walks straight off of the street onto the stage. A crowd of 3200 people is going apeshit. A LOT of comedians would take that in, stand there looking proud and get every last clap and holler on tape before saying "Thank you. Thanks. Alright. How we doin? This is great!" But George is SO eager to get his first thought out, he's trying to make them shut up so that he can do the bravest, boldest opening joke ever. "Why is it the people who are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to fuck in the first place." Whoa. What a brushback pitch. Amazing. Any comedian with a joke like that would bury it inside of an act full of goodwill so that they wouldn't lose the audience. George is DYING to tell it to a primo special taping audience. He OPENS with it. This was a great man. An honest man. I loved him. His courage inspires me forever. It was from him that I learned to just say what is on my mind on stage and to stop worrying about who might not like it. As long as it's true and it comes from a real place, you have to say it and not mince words. I got that from him. Prolific, hard working... This is the way I would say George has had the most direct influence on me personally as a comedian. The guy did about seventeen full hour standup specials. Very generously, he explained how he pulled this off in a terrific interview that is available on a cd called Carlin on Carlin. He talks about spending every year on the road, working specifically on the next special. Every show has a goal, to hone the specific set he is expecting to shoot at the end of the year. Like writing a book. When he shoots the special, it's over. That material goes away and he starts again. I listened to that interview one night, in my car, while coming from a show where I had just done my regular, stump speech hour that took me fifteen years to perfect, at a Chinese restaurant in Saugus Massachusettes. The show had gone well. And I didn't care that it went well. It was solid material. It had been working for years. I'd been doing comedy for almost twenty. So what? Then I heard George explaining his process and I was terrified and inspired. What balls, to just chuck out perfectly good material and start again. My first hour of material took fifteen years to write and I did it for another five. My second hour took one year. I shot it as a special called "Shameless" and never performed that material again. After a hard year of touring I shot "Chewed Up" and now that material is gone and I'm working on another hour now, from scratch. This is something I never dreamed I'd be able to do, let alone learn to do this late in my life and career. It has given me a new lease on life as a comedian and as a person. It's made me better, more honest and has made every single show of the last three years mean more than any shows in the previous 20. All of that is due to George. His example, and his words in that interview, were an absolute revolution in my life. I owe him EVERYTHING. I only got to meet George once. It was about 1999, I think. Chris Rock and I were both in LA and he invited me to go see George at the Comedy Store on Sunset blvd. George was working on material for his next special and it was a rare opportunity to see him do a solid hour in a club. Chris and I sat in a booth with Janine Garafolo and a very famous actor who I completely forget because who cares? George came out and just blew me away. I mean, I already loved him, had grown up with him, but never got to sit and watch him perform for an audience that I was part of. you can't really know a comedian until you are in their live audience. Espeically a guy like George because you get the very distinct feeling that he did that show for you. It is an awesome connection. I watched him and I learned. I still tell myself things that hatched in my head that night. Sometimes I'm on stage really trying hard and pushing and "Performing" the "Jokes" and I remember the authenticity of George that night and I tell myself "Just talk to the people. Just talk to them." AFter the show at the Store, Chris took me back stage and introduced me to George. I was afraid to meet him because that sort of thing is always dissapointing. Chris was very gracious (as always) and gave me a real introduction, telling George I was a really good comic. I shook his hand and told him in as few words as possible that he made me want to be a comic and that I owed him a lot. I'll never forget his response, because it was just plainly polite and decent. He shook my hand and said "Aw, that's nice. Thanks. I'll try to check out your stuff sometime." I knew he probably wouldn't. We were on different plains, different time lines. But he was just nice about it and allowed me to feel less than stupid. Back in March I shot my last special (Chewed up) in Boston. The weekend before, I spent in California, working the set out for the last time at the Hermosa Beach Comedy and Magic Club. It happens to be really the perfect place to run an hour before you shoot it on tape. I was there for two nights and I saw on the schedule that the very next night, and for the following entire week, George would be there doing the same thing for his special. He shot his special (It's Bad for ya) on the very same night that I was shooting mine. March 1st, 2008. We were on stage, shooting our specials that we had worked on all year in the same way, all the way down to working on it in the same last stage, at the very same moment. I don't think that makes me special. But I knew it was going on and I thought about it the very second before I walked out on that stage to do that special. In my mind I thanked George for showing me the way and giving me the courage to say what I wanted on stage and to keep getting better and doing more. And I remember thinking that I was honored to shoot mine on his night. And that even though I never got to know him and I'll never know if he ever maybe caught me on TV and if I ever made him smirk or laugh. But even from a distance it was, and is, an honor to know that I run in the same circle and do the same thing as that great man did. I am intensely sad that he is gone. I owe him a huge debt for the rest of my life. Thanks George. And goodbye. ]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/goodbye-george-carlin.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/goodbye-george-carlin.html Misc Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:49:54 -0500 Hello. Here are the things that I have to say. Are you ready for them? They haven't started yet... Okay, here come the words I logged on to type... This very weekend, the weekend that is about to happen, June 19th through June 22nd, (Thursday thru Sunday) I will be headlining at Carolines Comedy Club in New York City. Shows are at 8pm, and on Friday and Saturday there are late shows at 10:30. For those of you that have seen me in New York City in recent days, such as the show I did at Town Hall in November, please know that I am working on a fresh hour of material. You may see a few bits that I did last time, but most of it, if not all, will be new. All else I would like to say is that the Celtics just won the Finals and I am very very happy. Other than that, I just came back from the Bonaroo Festival. I had a very good time. Metallica put on a great show. Jack White told me a crazily great story and I have to pass it on... He said "Hey, first of all I love Pootie Tang. It's a great movie. I was working once with Jim Jaramush and I aksed him "Hey, did you ever see Pootie Tang?" and he said "That's so weird that you said that because Tom Waits just came up to me and said "Hey man, you gotta see this movie Pootie Tang! It's great!" Also Lars, the drummer from Metallica, told me that he loved my sad Handjob bit from Shameless. Yes, I'm bragging. So what? These things don't happen to me! Anyway, that's it. Please come to Carolines. It will be good. LCK ps. here is beard progress... ]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/carolines-this-weekend-hooray.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/carolines-this-weekend-hooray.html Misc Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:31:33 -0500 ALSO!! This Wednesday, June 11th, I'm appearing on Late Night with Conan Obrien. I'll be on second after Mark Wahlberg. So everyone on the planet should watch. Another thing... It is official that my newest standup special "Louis CK Chewed Up" will be on SHOWTIME this October. I don't yet have a specific airdate. The otherwise thing is that I have booked a full year tour and I"m going to be performing live in cities all over America and Great Britain. For any of you thinking of coming to see me, who saw me last year, please know that I have a brand new hour of material and you will not be seeing the same show. I just did my first club weekend since shooting the last special, in denver, and the new set went really well, so I'm ready for the rest of America. Between now and November I'll be in a giant ammount of cities. Please click on the left where it says "See All Dates" to get all the details. Also in addition: I wrapped up the Ricky Gervais movie "This Side of the Truth". I had an amazing, amazing time. Ricky, and his directing partner Matt Robinson, are making a unique and hilarious movie. I am very very very lucky that I got to be in it. If you want to see a video of me being a big pussy on a small plane with Ricky go here. So that's what's happening with my big smelly ass. Thanks for reading this. hello. Louis]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/conan-on-wednesday-other-news.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/conan-on-wednesday-other-news.html Misc Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:21:39 -0500
Okay I never talk about poitics because I am zero funny when I do it and being funny is my job and sworn duty. But I'm excited, so I'm going to risk unfunniness and talk about it. Besides, this isn't really about "politics" to me. This is about history. See? I told you it wasn't funny. Very seriously, (and not funny) though, I am so excited and glad about Barack Obama's nomination for president. I feel like I've been holding my breath all year, hoping this would happen. Look, I'm not going to get into it in detail. I just think that this is a very good man. I guess I believe him and I look at him and he looks untethered and honest to me. He actually seems like he's not all smelled up by the scum and ooze that covers even the best of them in Washington. But he also seems actually able to cope with people like that, to bring out the best in them. Personally, I don't think that folks in Washington are bad people. I just think they are covered with a thick layer of deception, self and outward, and they are so twisted up, having worked so hard to justify the wrongs that they've done, that they don't have a clear path anymore from their hearts to the good in life. It must be miserable. I think a guy like Barack can actually help them. Give them an out from the trap they're living in.
I like Barack Obama. Just like the lady in this picture does. He's clearly a patient man. He's an inspiring man. I have high hope for him. MCcain, by the way, in my view, is a good man also. I think this is going to be a great election. I really believe it. That's all. I'm excited. Oh, also he's black. LCK]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/barack-obama-hooray.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/barack-obama-hooray.html Misc Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:16:30 -0500
We had a dog named Loona. She was an airdale/german shepard. She was 70 pounds. She was extremely intelligent, hilarious, loyal and sweet. She was a great protector of my two daughters. She was the best of all friends.
Loona died today at the age of 9. She was chasing a deer across the street and was hit by a truck. She died almost instantly.
Loona and I were very close. She and I drove across the country together six times. On three of those trips, I kept a blog with stories and pictures of our travels. you can find them here: trip one, trip two, trip three. I did love that dog and I am sorry that she is gone. That is all. Thanks. LCK]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/05/rip-loona-a-very-good-dog.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/05/rip-loona-a-very-good-dog.html Misc Sat, 31 May 2008 21:00:26 -0500 I mean, jesus shit. Could anyone look worse than that? is it even possible. The good news is that this is a very good movie. It's funny as hell and I'm lucky to be in it. Ricky, by the way, is keeping a blog about the filming of the movie and he sometimes mentions me. By the way, I am coming to the UK this summer to do a live Standup tour. I'll be at the Soho theater in London for the first two weeks of August, then I'll be in Edinbourgh for the Fringe Festival for two nights at a place called "Pleasance one" and then back to the SOHO for another week. I will give ticket information here once it exists. Okay, that's all. Hello. Goodbye. I'm fat and bald. LCK]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/this-side-of-the-truth-england.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/this-side-of-the-truth-england.html Misc Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:40:23 -0500 Here is the story.]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/cbs-news.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/cbs-news.html Misc Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:21:51 -0500 ]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/first-days-of-this-side-of-the.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/first-days-of-this-side-of-the.html Misc Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:16:54 -0500
Okay folks. I've been told about 7812 times that my website is horrible. So David Tristman and I finally sat down and re-did it. This is the new louisck.com. It's also louisck.net. You can still visit the old louisck.com if you want to. The new site is kind of bare-bones for now, but soon all of my tourdates, all of my videos, photos, everything, will be up here. Already, my video library and image gallery from the other site have been transferred here and I'll be adding more video and pics soon. Don't you just want to shit into a box and send it to your grandmother? The biggest difference between this and the old site, is that this, as you can see, is based on a blog-type thing bucket sandwich construction whatever thingy. The idea is that I will write here every day (or so) and keep you updated. And I'll be able to post photos and videos and give you whatever news. As long as I am doing this, I'll give you a basic update... On Saturday, March 1st of this year, I taped my next Standup special in Boston, Mass, my hometown. It went really, really great. I did two shows. I am now in the process of editing the special and getting just right. I did well over an hour on both shows, so there is some trimming to do. This special includes all the material I've been performing this year. I have been on tour all year, all over the country, writing and devleoping this material which is all new since "Shameless" This special will probably air some time this spring or summer, after which that material will then be retired, and I'll start all over again. Here are two still photos of me taken during the special taping.
Here are some stills from the special itself, which I've just finished editing...
All else that is going on right now, is that I'm in a movie with Ricky Gervais. It's called This Side of the Truth. Ricky wrote it and is directing it with a guy named Matthew. I play his best friend. It is a far bigger part than I am at all qualified to do, and I pray that I don't ruin that movie, because I think Ricky Gervais is just the goddamn greatest. Okay, so that's it. Here's the new site. You can comment on this entry and others in the future. But if people's comments are stupid, I will erase them. Because I am hateful. thanks. I love America except for the shitty people/parts/areas. Louis. ]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/welcome-to-the-new-louisckcom.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/welcome-to-the-new-louisckcom.html Misc Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:32:08 -0500 The Daily Show... And the tonight show... ]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/some-tv-appearances-by-big-fat.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/some-tv-appearances-by-big-fat.html Videos Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:29:56 -0500 No Press items at this time but they will be added eventually. http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/press-items-to-come.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/04/press-items-to-come.html Press Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:34:04 -0500 ]]> http://www.louisck.net/2008/02/yet-another-video.html http://www.louisck.net/2008/02/yet-another-video.html Videos Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:09:20 -0500