Everybody’s screwed up, Louis C.K. is sure of it
The Show: Louis C.K. 2017 The Moment: The hard truth
Onstage, Louis C.K. talks about relationships. “You’re either alone or you’re in a s---ty thing,” he says. “That covers 100 per cent of human beings. I can see there are young couples here, and you’re like, ‘No, we’re in a good one.’ Who do you think you are? It just didn’t get s---ty yet. It’s so arrogant, ‘We figured it out.’ Yeah, you’re the first ones.
“Of course it’s going to get s---ty,” C.K. says. “That’s the way it works: love plus time minus distance equals hate. I’m not saying don’t do it. You should do it. It’s the best part of life, love is. But don’t be greedy and expect it to last. It’s a little thing you get to catch, and then it rots and dies. That’s just the way it goes.”
This is the genius of C.K. He talks about more risqué things in this standup special (abortion) and more esoteric ones. (He proves that “Christianity won the world” by asking, “What year is it?”) He highlights the weirdness in everyday life: “Who will I teach?” asks a new teacher. The answer: “The kids who live near this building.”
But whatever else he’s doing, he’s always doing one thing, which we see in the bit above: he’s insisting that everyone suffers. Everyone is screwed up. Our biggest folly is the fear that we’re the only one not getting it right. “Not only are we not alone in our pain,” he suggests, offering himself as an example, “it’s the main thing we have in common.” Louis C.K. 2017 is streaming on Netflix. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.