Louis C.K. Oh My God

Louis C.K. has gone from strength to strength in the last 12 years, on an escalator to the top of the pile of stand-up comedians struggling to be relevant. And Louis C.K. is arguably the most relevant of them all. By discarding his material for each tour, he gives his fans exactly what they hope for every time he steps into the limelight.

Although much of his material doesn't tread new ground, it doesn't matter - his arsenal of jokes about growing old and waving goodbye to youth with a sigh are always fresh and bleakly hilarious.

His material comes from thoughts that most people have every day but never talk about, and the audience's secret familiarity with the subject matters makes laughing at them all the more relieving.

This is the one stand-up show that comedians everywhere would work their entire lives to emulate. But it's not made for comedians. It's made for you and me to join in laughing at the misery of the average life, and be completely comfortable with it.

I might still be processing, but at the moment, I'm leaning toward thinking we should separate a great piece of art from its creator's shameful social behaviors, judging each as separate entities as best as we can. With that in mind, as a free-standing product, "Louis C.K.: Oh My God" is truly hilarious.

Throughout, "Oh My God" points out keenly-honed absurdities that sit right under our noses. It's uproarious stuff.

We need laughter. Maybe the argument is that we can find something from someone else whose character is more worthy of our collective approval. But if this is where you're inclined to look for laughs, it's truly a hysterical ride. - (Was this review of use to you? If so, let me know by clicking "Helpful". Cheers!) - WATCHED IT? THEN WATCHLIST: "George Carlin... It's Bad for Ya! (2008)," "Stadium Anthems (2018)," "Jim Norton: Contextually Inadequate (2015)."

I have no intention of going through and naming each comedy bit, that would ruin the surprise and fun of watching this new hour from Louis C.K..

The core of C.K.'s comedy is not the material itself. He is not reliant on comedy mechanics for laughs. Nothing he says ever feels like a joke in the traditional 'setup, punchline' sensibility. No, the humor is sourced in his energy and inflections, where the audience is experiencing the world through his point of view as if we were in his body, thoughts or fantasies. Sometimes it's all three.

Often I find myself laughing at his word choices and visual descriptions. At times, he's merely just stating the obvious. But the way C.K. utilizes a metaphor or simile is artful in how he can conjoin two separate ideas together, where he can wormhole the audience's minds to some unexpected grotesque places for comparisons. And then he builds on it by acting out these ridiculous thought trains. There was also one improvisational moment where he accidentally spills water and he comments on it that had me aching in laughter. The bit he did as his closer was truly the climax of this new hour.

C.K. makes a point that being older makes a more intelligent and interesting person. He is the living embodiment of his own point. We're watching a comedian who has grown into himself, and we're intrigued not just for the laughs, but because he has something to say. A voice with true gravitas that he has earned from living a life.

And for that, Louis C.K. seems eternally connected to the grotesque and the morbid, but it's all enwrapped over a positive message: appreciate life and what you have. That's how he gets away with saying very horrible things on stage. As an audience member, I rather enjoy watching him get away with it.

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Like most of the world, I love the comedy of Louis CK, even when his sitcom is difficult and not funny in the least, I am normally held by the ideas within the episodes. The third season perhaps didn't work quite as well for me as I would have liked but his standup remains consistently funny and clever and it remains so with this special/ Louis talks about aging, about living in the moment, about how great it is to simply be alive and off the food chain and several other topics. As subject they do rather fit within the subjects you would expect to hear from a standup, but Louis delivers them with a view and a conviction that leaves you in no doubt that he is speaking from his own experience and that this is more than just a funny bit.

This sense of honesty and realism helps a great deal to get into the material, because often you cannot help but agree, even when some of the things he says are pretty dark, it comes from a place of truth but not often spoken out loud. Of course this isn't enough on its own though and it helps that the things he put forward are delivered with imagination and timing, so the phrasing and delivering of the material is consistently funny. I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to the round stage but it works very well and the camera never loses Louis even though he keeps moving and engages well with the crowd – even sitting he is careful to talk over his shoulder at times. His easy delivery makes it look easy but of course it is not.

More accessible than his TV show, this special is dark, honest and very funny throughout.

The first third of this didn't seem to be as great as his other shows, but the last thirds, especially the last third, were pretty incredible and non-stop hilarious. I just have a blast hearing CK in pretty much everything he says, and this was no exception. And it's still sort of weird seeing him doing stand-up and seeing his brilliant, brilliant series, a series that is quite often melancholic and dark in its approach. Regardless, he is my favorite comedian at the moment and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Definitely a great show as expected and cannot wait to see what else he has in store for us later on in his career.