I’m not a huge Louie C.K fan. I find him practical but not nearly as funny as other people. I’ve attempted to watch Lucky Louie on HBO and also Louie on FX and can’t get into them. That aside, I read his entire interview in the Rolling Stone and it’s obvious he’s a pretty down to Earth guy. I also heard him on Howard a few weeks ago and he was a great guest. My general take on Louie (and the thumbs ups on the video) is how real he is. Another noteworthy point about him is that he doesn’t repeat his material and is constantly coming up with new thoughts which I think separates him from other comedians out there. Here are a few excerpts from the Rolling Stone interview that I want to give my thoughts on.
Q. In general, do you hold on to grudges or do you forgive people?
A. No, I don’t hold grudges. I don’t have a grudge in my life. I forgive people. I just don’t believe that you owe anybody in your life a relationship. It’s healthy and fair to opt in or out, and it’s actually more fair to do that than to hold people’s feet to the fire for everything they’ve ever done.
I liked that comment because I feel some people hold onto a thought or idea and never let it go. It’s a stereotypical thought that allows no room for growth.
Q. Did you get the idea of how to be a father from your mother, then?
A. Yeah, “because I’m your father” is just a cheap cop out, and it robs the kid of an opportunity to understand something. I engage them. A lot of parents don’t talk to their kids. I learned that from my mom. I provide for them but also let them experience their disappointments and their difficulties. You’re not going to keep your kids from harm, not in a million years. All their life is going to be is harm. It’s narcissistic to try to give your kids a utopian life – when they leave your house, they’re going to be in a world of shit. The only thing you can give your kids that’s going to be of any use is a mechanism for dealing with all the awful shit that’s coming. Then it won’t be that awful. As a matter of fact, it will be great.
I thought of Sam when I read this because our mom was none too pleased about his recent incident. Know that your not alone in this world of shit. Getting through it makes it that much better.
Q. That may be where the genius part comes in.
A. I’m just studying it and figuring stuff out. The only way to learn that stuff is by failing; all this is learned by having bad times. You have to be willing to have a bad time. People that need to feel like a star and like they’re succeeding every time will not ever get better. But if you are willing to feel bad, do badly, have a stale, boring version of yourself out in front of everybody, you can find this stuff in the muck that’s very useful. What I just told you about comes from having gotten really stale and having written a joke an having it stay thin and shitty until it wasn’t getting laughs anymore.
Q. A lot of people dream of overnight success, rather than sloggin it out for 20 years and gradually improving a craft.
A. It’s understandable for people to want all their favorite things to happen, but the crazy thing is to think that they can avoid all of the hard things. To want everything that you ever dreamed of, to the exclusion of anything hard, that feels common to me now in a way that is hurting people. They’re ignoring how much good there is in being present for the hardest parts of your life. I wouldn’t trade those years for anything. I loved all that time; it was hard and I suffered. Times where you’re like, “I think it’s over, and I’m in too deep to start anything else.” There are really scary moments in a showbiz career, but it’s so great that they got to happen. It’s a very unforgiving field; it doesn’t say goodbye nicely and there’s no one there to keep you going – it’s all you. But if you survived that time, that’s always there.
Leave a Reply