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Live at the Comedy Store

Louis C.K.

LouisCK.com · 2014 · 66 min

A loose club set built on physical comedy and absurd premises.

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Louis C.K. scaled down for his sixth special, stepping away from the heavy, introspective material that defined his late-2000s run to focus on pure, absurd joke-telling. Live at the Comedy Store is built on physical comedy, strange noises, and darker, sillier premises. He details the logistics of bats invading his kitchen, analyzes rat reproduction, and mimes strangling an infant on an airplane before casually reprimanding the crowd for clapping at a dead baby. The set feels intentionally loose and conversational, driven by a comedian who wants to see how far he can push the mechanics of a setup before it breaks.

Recorded in late 2014 in West Hollywood, the special was self-released just as a massive blizzard forced him to cancel a sold-out run at Madison Square Garden. The contrast in scale is fitting. At a peak point in his mainstream visibility, he chose to film in a small room to capture an immediate, unpolished atmosphere. While the pivot away from brooding philosophy divided some fans, the hour stands as a document of a working professional returning to his roots and trying out weird ideas on a small stage.

The set list

5 bits

  1. A bat enters a country house where he is staying with his daughters.

    Recounts his terror, mistaking a dishwasher for a witch, and the arrival of an indifferent bat-removal expert, segueing into an act-out of a Southern housewife seducing the handler.

  2. Observing two rats mating on a subway platform.

    Acts out an anthropomorphized female rat riding her partner with exaggerated, explicit physical mime work that rides the line between humor and audience discomfort.

  3. Learning about mortality at age seven.

    Describes discovering that everyone dies and excitedly sharing the blunt revelation with fellow children, later noting how dead pets prepare kids for the death of grandparents.

  4. Why babies cry on airplanes.

    Jokes that infants cry on planes because they are upset that gay people are getting married.

  5. The acting of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.

    Deconstructs and parodies Ray Bolger Jr.'s physical acting and delivery.

How it plays

Tone
Absurdist, lewd, candid, and dark.
On stage
Loose, informal, introspective, and willing to push into absurd and grotesque clowning.
Pace
Energetic and loose, transitioning between structured stories, conversational tangents, and physical mime work.
About
aging and mortality, fatherhood and family, animals and critters, sex, race and stereotypes

What the critics said

Praised as a loose, hilarious return to form showcasing club-rooted riffing and physical comedy, though noted for being less tightly structured and theatrical than his prior specials.

In the room: Intimate club crowd responding with heavy laughter and palpable discomfort during extreme sexual mime routines.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, discogs.com, vulture.com, salon.com, pastemagazine.com, tvovermind.com, thewrap.com.

Backstory

Filmed in an intimate nightclub setting to capture the immediate feeling of comedy clubs where he developed the material in late 2014; dedicated to Mike Nichols, John Pinette, Otto Petersen, Joan Rivers, and Robin Williams, who all died in 2014.

Details

Released
Taped
The Comedy Store, West Hollywood
Runtime
66 min
Where
LouisCK.com
Director
Louis C.K.
Honors
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special (Winner)Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Nominee)
Topics
Before
Oh My God (2013)
After
Live at Madison Square Garden (2015)

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