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Louis CK 2017
As usual, Louis CK had me doubled over with laughter with another brilliantly written evening of stand-up called Louis CK 2017, a live performance from Washington DC.
Louis covers a myriad of topics here, a few of which are well-worn stand-up territory and other topics I have never heard broached in stand-up. The well-worn topics have a freshness because of Louis' writing. Listening closely to the material, it's obvious that Louis is an expert wordsmith whose skill with a story begins with the composing of every story and every routine that ends up in front of an audience. Once the words are in place, it is then and only then that Louis applies his acting technique and comic timing to the words so that everything he's doing appears to be completely spontaneous.
His opening diatribe on abortion appears spontaneous because he cleverly begins the routine in the middle of a sentence. The spontaneous quality of what he's talking about easily fools the audience because he takes an edgy topic like abortion and, instead of taking sides, presents both sides of the issue evenly and equally as funny. He doesn't take a stand, he doesn't force his audience to either, and still gets the laughs that he is looking for. He also has an innate sense of when it's time to rein in one routine and move onto another.
His transitions are a little abrupt at time because he makes sure his audience is with him before he moves on. He also has a keen sense of things that he's going to say that will spark a vocal reaction from the audience or applause and, to everyone's surprise, will put a kibosh on it, because he knows that they may not like what's coming behind it. He scores here when he begins a routine about the noble profession of teaching which goes nowhere expected.
Louis is also known for taking on some forms of technology in his shows and in this one, we get a brilliant little routine about the difference between a text fight and an email fight, which was frighteningly accurate. Like most comics, Louis talks about his kids, but it leads into another unexpected story of what happened when he decided to get his kids a dog.
The strongest parts of the show were the story of an elderly couple named Richard and Rose and Louis' surprising cosmic connection to the movie Magic Mike, featuring a very funny impression of Matthew McConaughey that Louis admits to being very proud of. Another roll-on-the-floor funny evening of stand-up from one of its brightest lights.
As usual, Louis CK had me doubled over with laughter with another brilliantly written evening of stand-up called Louis CK 2017, a live performance from Washington DC.
Louis covers a myriad of topics here, a few of which are well-worn stand-up territory and other topics I have never heard broached in stand-up. The well-worn topics have a freshness because of Louis' writing. Listening closely to the material, it's obvious that Louis is an expert wordsmith whose skill with a story begins with the composing of every story and every routine that ends up in front of an audience. Once the words are in place, it is then and only then that Louis applies his acting technique and comic timing to the words so that everything he's doing appears to be completely spontaneous.
His opening diatribe on abortion appears spontaneous because he cleverly begins the routine in the middle of a sentence. The spontaneous quality of what he's talking about easily fools the audience because he takes an edgy topic like abortion and, instead of taking sides, presents both sides of the issue evenly and equally as funny. He doesn't take a stand, he doesn't force his audience to either, and still gets the laughs that he is looking for. He also has an innate sense of when it's time to rein in one routine and move onto another.
His transitions are a little abrupt at time because he makes sure his audience is with him before he moves on. He also has a keen sense of things that he's going to say that will spark a vocal reaction from the audience or applause and, to everyone's surprise, will put a kibosh on it, because he knows that they may not like what's coming behind it. He scores here when he begins a routine about the noble profession of teaching which goes nowhere expected.
Louis is also known for taking on some forms of technology in his shows and in this one, we get a brilliant little routine about the difference between a text fight and an email fight, which was frighteningly accurate. Like most comics, Louis talks about his kids, but it leads into another unexpected story of what happened when he decided to get his kids a dog.
The strongest parts of the show were the story of an elderly couple named Richard and Rose and Louis' surprising cosmic connection to the movie Magic Mike, featuring a very funny impression of Matthew McConaughey that Louis admits to being very proud of. Another roll-on-the-floor funny evening of stand-up from one of its brightest lights.