I went to see Louis CK last night in Atlantic City, NJ. It was in the Trump Taj Mahal Casino. I really like him as a comedian and I went for my birthday. It was in a large hall for about 4,000 people and we were in the nose bleed section. You would normally think this is ok, since it is not a show where you need to be up close, but with having to watch most of it on a large screen, I felt like I could have been home watching him on TV. The warm up comedian wasn’t really even warm, in my opinion. He was supposed to have been on Letterman a number of times, but I’ve never seen him. He seemed nervous in front of such a large crowd. His voice was extremely monotone and I didn’t find him funny at all. Some people laughed a little.
What a difference when Louis came on. So relaxed and had the crowd’s attention from the beginning. Ok, so they were there to see him. He was on stage for about an hour. I think most, if not all of the stuff was new material. I didn’t like some of the things he said, especially when he tries to make things funny that are so obviously not. I have heard him talk about this before and he likes to see if he can push the bounds of what people will laugh at, but for me and some people around me, it just makes you uncomfortable (is that the point?). For example making shooting people legal, especially coming so close to the theater shootings in Colorado, really made me squirm.
His tv show has been so over the top this season, most of the time you can’t even follow it. He seems to be meeting very unconventional people and having wild experiences with them. One does tend to remember them though, if that is the point. The last episode of the season was on recently and I think it was the only one that you could follow a story line from the beginning to the end of it, but it too was memorable.
I would say that if you absolutely must see him, then go. Otherwise I would only go if you can actually “see” him for yourself and not through a set up screen. You might want to try his tv series, but don’t start with this season.