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Louis C.K. - TONIGHT at Werner Theater
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A picture with a built-in caption! Man my
job gets easier every day...
I usually hesitate to write an article about one single upcoming performance or event unless, like ESL's Reggae Night, it is an ongoing event, or like Robert Earl Keen's show at the 930 club last week, the artist's work is special to me, and they deserve the extra press. Louis C.K. falls into the latter category.
The first time I heard of Louis C.K., he had gotten his own episode of one of the Comedy Central stand-up shows that, for some reason, insist on keeping Lisa Lampanelli and Jeff Dunham on air. I didn't watch the episode, because of two reasons:
1. His last "name": Like ee cummings before him, I assumed that abbreviating his last name to C.K. was just a gimmick. There's usually a reason comedians use gimmicks - because they are bad comedians (See Louis Black and the classic "shouting" gimmick. Or almost all of Andrew "Dice" Clay's career). It's the same way with perverse vulgarity (see Lisa Lampanelli, above). Of course, some good comedians have made their shows worse by using two much of the two together (see Sam Kinison), which proves that gimmicks suck. And if your gimmick is your name, especially on a Comedy Central Stand-up show that often only asks that its stars have the ability to "stand up", well, you took geometry. Use the transitive property.
2. He looks like an older version of the "Cable Company" worker on the Verizon FiOs commercials (you know, the guy whose hair and full beard are alarmingly orange), even though I am pretty sure I saw that guy perform at Black Cat as part of something called "The Wierd Show" during the DC Comedy Fest and he was an excellent commedian in his own right, though his set is actually really, really wierd and so he probably won't be getting a show at the Werner just yet, but it would be great if he did: The most famous red-haired comedian is Carrot Top. So...Red hair + Gimmicky name = I'm watching HBO.
Watching Louis C.K. on Letterman (or Conan?) made me realize that changing the channel on him was a poor choice. His chat with Dave revolved almost exclusively on describing why his infant daughter isn't really a person yet, and his four-year old daughter is "an a**h***". Not exactly Ray Romano. His delivery is clever, witty, sharp, and brilliantly studied. I loved his work so much, I even put up with his sub-par HBO series (called "Louis' Life" or "Louis All Around" or "C-K you later!") for a season. There is something there for everyone to take away ("If I were as rich as Bill Gates I wouldn't even be able to stop myself from doing things to f*** with people...").
Ardent fans of standup are already excited about this show and probably already have bought their tickets. Fans with a passing interest, this guy is the real thing. If you don't come away with a hernia, well, I hear Gary Unmarried is still on the air.
Louis C.K. is at the Werner Theater (513 13th St. NW in DC, between E and F streets. Metro Center metro) tonight, November 21. Show starts at 8 pm, tickets are $30-$35.
Werner Theater
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