Standup shows how to succeed by the letter
LOUIS C.K.: Comic’s career is going from strength to strength
To choose to be a standup comedian is risky in this economy, no? “Yes,” Louis C.K. said. “Stupid.” The comedian, also known as Louis Szekely, is the forty-something star, writer, director and occasional editor of the eponymous, double Emmy-nominated comedy, Louie, which began its second season this February on FX Canada.
Louis C.K. — he adopted the stage name because he was tired ofpeoplemispronouncinghissurname — admits there were plenty of hard times before he struck it lucky, if not rich, with Louie.
“I’ve had, what, two years? Probably five good years,” C.K. said, deadpan. “Before that, I had 20 years of uncertainty and suffering and ego destruction and poverty — all those things. That’ll always outweigh the good times. There’s no way I’ll ever catch up to the misery years with the good ones. It’s impossible, no matter how good it is now.
“And, of course, there’s a decline coming. It’s not like I’m going to keep doing well. That’s not in the cards.”
C.K. gives himself five years of good times. Eight, tops.
“If I don’t do anything dumb or don’t get a disease or something, I think it’ll be great. And then it’ll start to degenerate, like uranium.” Not that he has regrets. “I don’t regret anything,” he said. “I’m grateful for all those years. I thought about quitting, yeah. But after you do standup for, like, five years, you’re kind of screwed, because you have no other skills. You can’t get other jobs. It’s like being in prison; you’re not suitable for any other career. So I couldn’t quit, even if I wanted to.
“I like living a difficult life. It’s fun. It’s really a great thing to witness your life hitting rocks. If you can just step aside for a second and go, ‘Oh my God, I lost everything; it’s funny; it’s interesting’ — it’s more fun than living a middling, 70-per-cent kind of life, I think.”
Louie features C.K. as a semiautobiographical reflection of himself: a newly divorced father raising two young daughters alone in the big city.
Louie has touched a nerve. C.K. was nominated last summer for a pair of prime-time Emmy Awards, one for lead actor in a comedy series and one for writing. Not bad for a modestly budgeted, first-person comedy that bowed with little fanfare — C.K.’S startup budget was just $200,000 — on the upstart FX cable channel in the U.S. FX has ordered a third season, which will likely debut this summer.
C.K. attributes a recent jump in attendance at his standup shows to Louie’s success.
“I’m not really that famous, when you think about it. I mean, I’m not Brad Pitt or somebody like that. It’s still just a little show on FX. A huge [number] of people don’t even know it exists.
“I’m close to my audience, though. I think I have more tools in my box than other guys who might try it. Also, I know how to write and shoot and edit. I’m technically adept, and that helped with the website. You need a big skill set. I’ve been building one for a while.
“But there are still only, what — a million people who watch this show?”
About 1.6 million, actually. That’s how many tuned in to see
Louie’s season finale on FX. That sounds like a lot — until you consider that Two and a Half Men regularly pulls in 13 million.
Louie is the funnier and more accomplished program, though, judging from critics’ reviews and award nominations.
The second season will feature a trip to Afghanistan, in which the fictional Louie will perform for the troops, mirroring C.K.’S real-life tour with the United Service Organization in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, in 2008.
C.K. considers himself politically anti-war and a pacifist, but he admires soldiers’ sense of duty.
“I don’t know that the show changed much between the two seasons,” he said quietly. “I know I got better at everything for the second season. I was way more tired after the second season. We worked much harder. I did more. We did more far-reaching episodes, Afghanistan being a good example. I think it made the show richer. I think any show gets better over time. You hope so, anyway. If it doesn’t, you should cancel it.
“I’m terrified of Season 3 being not as good as Season 2. It keeps me up at night. I don’t sleep a lot right now. That keeps me worldweary. It’s a weird time to be an American and human.
“So, you know, there’s a lot to keep me depressed.”