As he is wont to do, man of the people Louis C.K. just released his latest comedy special, Live At The Comedy Store, for his preferred price of $5 via his website. C.K.’s method of direct salesmanship has proved both lucrative and popular (although apparently not with people who comment on YouTube videos). The new special is a collection of material C.K. developed in comedy clubs over the past year, and the small Comedy Store setting was chosen for that more intimate vibe.
At the same time, C.K. sent out a lengthy email to the subscribers of his mailing list, where he discussed his affection for small clubs:
Nightclubs, comedy clubs, is where comedy is born and where comedy, standup comedy, truly lives. Going back to Abraham Lincoln, who was probably America’s first comedian, Americans have enjoyed gathering at night in small packed (and once smokey) rooms, drinking themselves a bit numb and listening to each other say wicked, crazy, silly, wrongful, delightful, upside-down, careless, offensive, disgusting, whimsical things. Sometimes in long-winded, red faced hyperbole, sometimes in carefully crafted circular, intentionally false and misleading argument. Sometimes in well-chiseled perfectly timed trickery of verbiage. Pun-poetry. One line, one off, half thoughts. Half truths. Non-truths. Broad and hilariously wrongful generalizations, exaggerated prejudices and criticism of nothing and everything while a couple over here shares a pitcher of sangria, this table of guys order round after round of beers. These women over here are having vodka and cranberry. This guy drinks club soda and sits alone. He actually came for the comedy. It’s a club. It’s a bar. It’s late at night. No one here is being responsible. These are the things we do when we are DONE working and being citizens. We go to a comedy club and pay a bit of money to laugh harder than we ever do anywhere else.
He also recounted a detailed history of the many rooms he worked, in an excerpt that is simply too long to quote here. (You should have signed up for his mailing list.) He also encouraged everyone to go see Boyhood (“It’s a great piece of filmmmaking and even literature”), and urged parents to “take your kids to see Into The Woods. It teaches the greatest lesson you could teach a kid: If you are paying attention, life is very confusing.”
To promote Live At The Comedy Store’s release, C.K. debuted a free, four-minute excerpt in which he manages to turn two hackneyed comedy topics—airplanes and babies—into a surreal bit of commentary. Those who don’t feel like shelling out $5 for C.K.’s one-hour special can just watch this clip 15 times instead.