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LOUIS C.K.
Bill Cosby he ain't
By Rob Turbovsky
del.ico.us
reddit!
For a long time, Louis C.K. was a comedian's comedian, meaning he was fucking brilliant and almost unknown. Now, thanks to TV and 20 years of persistent, fearlessly confessional comedy, that's changed. The Newton and Framingham-raised comic is coming home to shoot his special, Chewed Up. Warning: He's got a potty mouth.
Where did you start in Boston?
There was a place in Central Square called Off The Wall Cinema. I used to go there because they'd show cool movies; it was a weird theater—–you could also eat a carrot cake while you were watching the movie. They started having comedy there at midnight on Saturdays. It was run by a guy named Ron Lynch, who's my friend. I also worked at the Comedy Connection, which used to be where the Charles Playhouse is. There was Stitches on Comm. Ave., Nick's, Catch a Rising Star in Harvard Square and Play It Again Sam's on Comm. Ave. for a while. There was a shitload of clubs back then.
Now that you're more well-known, is it difficult to accurately gauge the strength of your material from crowd reaction?
People might give you the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time they pay like $35 and Ticketmaster gouges them on top of that. Then they have to get there, and people end up spending $100. It's crazy. So they're like, "This shit better be good. This shit better be new." You can't go up there, put your hand on the mic stand and say, "Anyway, what else is up?"
Is coming to Boston to tape your special ... special?
This is kind of like a homecoming for me. I might try to pick an old friend from Boston to open. That would make it nice. We were actually sweating it because we only had five weeks, and that's usually not enough time to put a show together. Originally, it was planned for the 15th. Then somebody realized that's the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. And that would've been insane. In Boston? Fucking right there? I mean, Jesus.
Do you have a sense of what makes a Louis C.K. joke?
What I like doing is going to areas that you're really not supposed to talk about. To me, comedy is always something you shouldn't have said. The more surprised people are that they're laughing at something, the happier they are. If you laugh at the same stuff all the time, it's well-worn, well-treaded ground, and it's safe. If you find yourself laughing at an area that you never have before, there's something great about that. That's what I try to do.
You had an internet message board thread where people would write you questions and you'd insult them.
I did that for about three days, and it was exhausting because everyone wanted to be insulted so badly.
So ... ?
Oh ... uh, it was nice talking to you. If I'd been at your birth, I would've seen a cunt coming out of some cunt's cunt.
LOUIS C.K.
FRI. 2.29/SAT. 3.1
BERKLEE PERFORMANCE CENTER
136 MASS AVE.
BOSTON
617.747.2261
FRI., 8PM/SAT. 8:30PM/10PM/$30
BERKLEEBPC.COM
LOUISCK.COM
