‘I’D RATHER BE IN AUSCHWITZ’
Louis C.K. disses NYC in show in Israel
Disgraced comedian Louis C.K.’s comeback trail took him through Israel where he talked about how brutal the bright lights of New York City can be.
“I’d rather be in Auschwitz than New York City,” he joked. “I mean now, not when it was open.”
The audience burst into applause for the 52-year-old comic, whose paternal grandfather was Jewish. The Nazis exterminated more than a million people in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland before it was liberated in January 1945 by the Soviet Union. It has operated as a museum since 1947.
When or if C.K., born Louis Szekely, will next play New York City is unclear, though he is booked to perform a pair of sold-out shows performed in Slovakia Saturday before doing two more performances in Hungary next week, one of which still had tickets available. He returns to the States next month, where he has a string of shows booked in Detroit, Akron, Ohio, New Orleans and Houston that will keep him busy through February.
In August, C.K. showed up for a surprise performance at Greenwich Village’s Comedy Cellar, where he’s performed many times.
C.K.’s Thanksgiving night in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon also touched on the sex scandal that sent him into hiding two years ago after fans came forward accusing him of sexual misconduct that included masturbating in front of them.
The funnyman reportedly conceded in Israel that he had masturbated in front of female fans, which he admitted was wrong, and doesn’t recommend doing.
“If they say ‘yes,’ then still don’t do it, because it’s not popular,” he joked.
The skeevy self-pleasuring brought about a fast fall for the comedian, who has won six Emmy Awards and a Peabody. FX canned his TV series “Louie,” and film distributor The Orchard dropped his flick “I Love You Daddy.” Other potential projects evaporated.
One female fan who saw C.K.’s show in Holon thinks it’s time to forgive the Washington,
D.C., native, who has also called New York City home.
“As a woman who’s been very aware of everything that has happened over the #MeToo movement and all of that, I’d say that he’s probably the only celebrity who’s expressed regret over what he had done and was willing to actually address it,” Shiri Ayalon told the Associated Press.
She also said C.K. “should probably be un-boycotted.”