Louis C.K. And The Rise Of Honest Comedy

By Shannon Cuthrell on February 27, 2014

Photo via http://gaia.adage.com

Within the mix of the comedy genre of television prevails Louis C.K.’s technique. Raised in the conflicting cities of Boston and Mexico City, he fed off of his early comedic influences: Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor and Steve Martin. He developed a sort of brilliant type of humor that remains separate from other stand-up comedy routines. His style summons a certain refreshingly honest appeal to it.

His comedy highlights on the depths of despair in our society. Focusing on the negative, he often takes the uncomfortable, unusual and sometimes nasty parts of life and twists them into words that induce multitudes of laughter.

In his television show, “Louie,” strange events and circumstances in his own life are normalized so much to the point that they are funny. This is not the kind of light chuckle funny. This is the intense belly laugh, falling off of your chair funny.

In his most recent special, “Oh My God,” Louis permeates his comedy with his classic bittersweet and realistic jokes that encourage a smile to run across the faces of the audience. One bit, for example, speaks optimistically about divorce in a joyful way, saying “divorce just gets stronger like a piece of oak.” He motivates better parenting as a result of the failure of marriage. He voices the reality of relationships and situations to the point of hilarity.

Perhaps the beauty of Louis C.K.’s humor is not his potential to invoke laughter within a crowd, but his ability to make connections that few other comedians make. The appeal is the streak of honesty that he paints with his imagery. Ahead are just a few quotes that display his take on life. And, lucky for you, they happen to be amusing, as well as thought provoking.

1. “I’ve started to kind of hate people, and it’s not because I have anything against them. It’s just, I enjoy it. It’s recreation.”

2. “You’ve got to be optimistic to be single. Stupid. You have to be stupid. That’s what optimistic means, you know? It means stupid. An optimist is somebody who goes, ‘Hey, maybe something nice will happen.’ Why the f*ck would anything nice happen?”

3. “I grew up in Boston, and in Boston, people just beat the shit out of each other for no reason. They just beat the shit out of each other. But I kinda think you need that to keep quality control ’cause in places where it doesn’t have it, they’re too free.”

4. “I used to like people more, but now I have children and that changes your life in a lot of ways. Like you spend time with people you never would have chosen to spend time with, not in a million years. I spend whole days with people, I’m like, ‘I never would have hung out with you. I didn’t choose you. Our children chose each other based on no criteria by the way. They’re the same size. They don’t care who they make me hang out with.’”