Sunday, November 12, 2017

Louie CK was always a jerk off



I am a big time comedy fan. I enjoy stand up and I love to listen to it on the radio. Much more so than TV as you can multi-task and listen while doing something else. The radio is where I was introduced to Louie CK when he would visit the Opie and Anthony show and interact with other comics like Jim Norton a cohost, Patrice O'Neil, Bob Kelly and Rich Vos. The interplay and savage joking was a lot of fun. Louie CK was just another loud mouth asshole.

But that all changed as he got more successful.

Then he started getting pretentious. I still followed him for a while but was getting increaingly wary of his liberal bullshit. I enjoyed his first HBO show "Lucky Louie" because he consciously followed the script of one of the first classic sitcoms "The Honeymooners." His comedy was spot on and I paticularly remember one sequence that was prophetic in retrospect. Pamela Adlon who was a co writer and plays his wife or girlfriend in most of his work. When Jim Norton who played his creepy neighbor made a remark to her she confronted him and said "What you think you are a big shot. Whip it out and I will suck it right here. Com'on take it out." It was pretty funny and makes you think right? Did he have this problem then and was he trying to express it in jokes? Was he indulging in his fantasy on HBO? Interesting in light of what we know now.

Anyway I also started to watch his FX show. The first season was pretty good when he stayed with pure comedy. There was one sequence with garbage men banging cans in the morning that was pretty funny. Real New York if you know what I mean. But then he started going Woody Allen. Everybody knows you can't go full Woody Allen. Then you become a pretentious liberal twit. Which his new movie is the ultimate manifestation of since it is a rip off of "Manhattan" with the old guy leching on a young girl. Plus he had his tweets about Sarah Palin and his rants about Trump that just put him in the moron ultra liberal celebrity box like Chelsea Handler and Rosie O'Donnell. So I just started ignored him and changed the channel if he came on as if he was an NFL game.

A couple of months ago the subject of him jerking off came up on the Jim Norton and Sam Roberts show as a bunch of people called up and blasted Norton the worm for not talking about it. This comic named Tig Notaro who got a big break from Louie CK came out with it and it was the subject of gossip on the podcasts and the radio for months.  This was out there a long time ago. So it wasn't a surprise. He just got screwed when the social justice warriors turned on one of their own. They savaged him and tanked his movie. Dumb fuck. You don't make friends with alligators because they think they will eat you last. He had a solid working class white guy following and he threw it away to be a social justice warrior. Just the way the NFL is doing. They trashed their fans who pay the freight to appeal to people who will never support him.

Comedy has changed. I was never big on comedy clubs but enjoyed hearing bits on the radio. Now podcasts are the thing. There are a bunch of really good ones available on Youtube. They try to monetize it by offering premium memberships for a few bucks a month on an app but you can get most of it for free. Satellite radio is dying and soon it will all be for free on I-tunes with special content only if you want it. If you want to spend some time listening to something while doing something else I want to give my top ten podcasts.

1. The A&A show with Anthony Cumia and Artie Lange on Compound Media. Anthony was the funny part of Opie and Anthony started his own company after he got fired by tweeting out what regular white guys think about black people. They can't handle the truth. Lately he has been joined by Artie Lange who was fired for heroin abuse by Howard Stern. This is an off the cuff dirty and racist podcast that is only available in spurts on Youtube. They are doing well on subscription but you can catch some of it for free. Two old warhorses who have seen it and done it all. I can't wait to hear what Anthony has to say about Roy Moore. He is infamous for dating teenagers. I remember when he went to one of his girlfriend's High School Prom. It is going to be a laugh riot I tells ya!

2. You Know What Dude with Bob Kelly is a comedian round table and can be pretty good. It is hit or miss because if Bobbie isn't there then it is in the toilet. But when he has his old crew of regulars like Dan Soder and Luis J Gomez it is lots of fun. He does have a perponderence of social justice warrior comics so the political  correctness can get a little thick. But generally it is pretty funny.

3. The Church of Whats Happening Now with Joey Diaz. This dude is hilarious. He is my age and from New York and talks about a lot of things I remember. The only thing is he was a criminal and a drug dealer and his stories about those days are hilarious. Listen to the cut about how he used to sell drugs to Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. What is hilarious about his show is that they consume marijuana edibles during the show and his guests eventually freak out and get so high they don't know what they are doing or saying. It is hilarious. The thing is when I hear him talk it is like I am sitting on my stoop bullshitting with my friends. He talks almost exactly the way I do in real life when I am not censoring myself as I have to do and not get arrested. It is a great show.

4. The Joe Rogan show is more intellectual but still can be fun. It depends on the guest. He is big on MMA and weird science conspiracy stuff so it can be off putting but still you should check him out. He was the guy from Fear Factor and does stand up. He digs into a subject and asks intelligent questions. The thinking man's comedy podcast.

5. Adam Carrolla  is also very good. He is more Hollywood but comes from a common sense conservative perspective. He also has interesting guests. He was a cohost with Jimmy Kimmel on "The Man Show" and is what Kimmel would have been if he didn't sell out and go full social justice warrior.

6. Jay Mohr used to be good so I recommend his early stuff. However since his divorce he has really gone off the rails and his stuff is much more spotty. Check out the stuff from two years ago and ignore the new stuff. Any podcast  where he is talking to a comedian and doing voices is really funny.

7. "Tim Dillion Is Going to Hell" is a pretty good podcast. He is the as close to a conservative as you can get in the New York Comedy scene even though he is a homo and still spouts off the liberal line to keep his gigs. He at least understands where the working class guy is coming from as he is an Irish guy from Long Island. His stuff is interesting and different. He records it in his apartment in Astoria Queens in between cake deliveries from the bakery. A funny fat fuck. You can never have too many of those.

8. "The Kevin Pollack Chat Show" is pure Hollywood. He does get a lot of primo guests that you wouldn't expect. For instance he had a couple of shows with Titus Welliver who plays Harry Bosch on Amazon TV. It was very interesting as many of his shows are as he is an entertainer and a great impressionist. He has a bunch of character actors and industry pros so if you are interested in Hollywood as  a business you get a glimpse of it on his show. You can pick out several good episodes on Youtube.

9. "The Legion of Skanks" is a group show with Luis J Gomez, Big Jay Oakerson and Mike Smith that is pretty good if a little unorganized and raunchy. They have most of the new comics currently on the scene and are the most current of the podcasts. I catch it now and then and it can be intermittently entertaining. Sometimes they beat a bit into the ground but they can be funny. I will say that Luis J Gomez is an acquired taste but you should still check it out.

10. "Keeping Joe" is another very contemporary show with comics Phil Hanley and Sam Morril and the title character Joe Machi who is half a homo and who they try to keep interested in the show as he threatens to walk out. It can be pretty funny as they often bring on good young comics and is worth a listen. The premise is kinda stupid but it works.

There are a bunch of other shows on the Riotcast Network, Gas Digitial Network and Compound Media. Most have some of their shows posted for free on Youtube so you can get the flavor without having to get a monthly subscription.

Podcasts are the future of comedy. It is what is happening now and not Louie CK. He is old news already. He should slink away and count his money. He can come back in ten years when all of this blows over. So to speak.

He can continue to be a jerk off in private.

14 comments:

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I'm not 100% sure, but, if you use his name, Louie CK, instead of "he", in the title, you may attract more attention. more eyeballs. Not a criticism, just a suggestion.

Thanks for posting.

Trooper York said...

Ok Lem. I will give it a try. Thanks.

ricpic said...

To laugh at Louis' comedy - which I've done - you have to suspend the part of you that knows what he's selling has to end in...well, for example the heroin epidemic that surrounds me here in upstate NY. Directly? No, not directly, but making the transgressive "normal," which is what all the envelope expanders like Louis push, that ends in chaos, no two ways about it.

bagoh20 said...

Of those, I listen to Joe Rogan, and Adam Carolla. Rogan has some really interesting stuff on sometimes. Lots of inside close up stuff on hunting, MMA, and the comedy world. He also gets high and drinks while doing it. I often get entrenched in his podcast for hours. He thinks Trump was a crazy mistake, but I bet that changes with the results.

Despite having very un-PC opinions, I have yet to find anything I disagree with Corolla on, which makes him a very exceptional human.

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is very thorough, well researched, entertaining and great if you have a longer attention span.

Podcasts are my new goto entertainment and education form. I listen all day long, and they make my drives between L.A. and Vegas go by effortlessly. I'm listening right now to a 5 hour long history of Cesar fighting the Celts on Hardcore History. Great for doing chores, cutting the grass, and fixing shit around the house.

I also listen to "Things You Should Know" (eclectic and self-explanatory), and "Sword and Scale", which is in-depth exploration of modern murders, and pretty gory stuff.

Amartel said...

Thanks for the podcast suggestions. I was never thrilled with CK either. He reeked of self-loathing. (Probably from all that ostentatious self-loving.) The self-loathing gave him an edge and authenticity. Really good, authentic comedy addresses the absurdity of the honest truths that we can't admit to in daily life. But he pulled back because his truth was pretty grim. Then he made up the difference with bland virtue signally lefty political bullshit. Feh. Riddance!
BTW, he may not have any money left since he self-financed this Daddy movie that just got pulled from theaters. Wonder if that will change his perspective on lefty virtue signally bullshit. (one of us, one of us, one of us ...)

ricpic said...

Corolla is brilliant and IMO spot on. You should try his youtube podcasts with Dennis Prager -- great back and forth. And funny as hell, which doesn't hurt.

Leland said...

If I may recommend: Cowboy Bill Martin

Leland said...

Not comedy, but a damn good podcast that is reminiscent of Paul Harvey's The rest of the story: Mike Rowe's That's the way I heard it

Trooper York said...

I agree with you bags. I listen to podcasts while working all the time. When you are doing mindless stuff it gives you a laugh.

I really recommend you check out Joey Diaz. He is a frequent guest on Joe Rogan and they often work the road together. Some of their podcasts together are classics.

Joey Coco Diaz is one funny bastard.

edutcher said...

Pamela Adlon has a new show on cable and guess who's a big part, apparently.

Wonder what happens to that.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

Lem, you are probably right about page views. Good point.

Trooper York said...

I listen to a couple of history podcasts but they are kind of dry to tell you the truth.

The comedy keeps me interested even when I am pissed off at the social justice element.

I often listen as I am dozing off at night. It can put me right out.

ndspinelli said...

Good list. I know some, but some are new. I'll check them out. He's an acquired taste, but Norm MacDonald Live is good. He puts conservative celebs on his show like Billy Bob Thornton, Tim Allen.

Methadras said...

Look, I love Louise CK because I think he's a funny guy. I never knew what was going on in his life other than the fact that he may use it for comedy fodder, but he's one of the most efficient comics I've ever seen at delivering a joke in a clear and succinct way. It's not just that, but I relate to his comedy because I lived in NYC for a time when these guys were up and comers and to hear him relate stuff brought me back to those times. Not fun for me at the time, but it was still my experience.

Okay, so he used his position as Louis CK to get women to sleep with him or check out his junk and this rises (no pun intended) to the level of sexual harassment now? I mean at this point what the fuck is the point in interacting with women at all when you are just painting a fucking target on your forehead if you say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, see the wrong thing, think the wrong thing, but not you, but to them. The whole thing is a horseshit minefield of that I just say I'm not walking into it. It's a trap and I'm not going to willingly put myself in that trap. Love or hate the guy, that's fine, but he came out with his confession that he did something bad, the issue is, does it rise to the level of criminality or was it just creepy? I don't know.