Louis C.K.: Hilarious (2010)

Written, Edited, and Directed by Louis C.K.

Louie, Louie, Louie, Lou-aaa, you might be the best damn comedian alive. Some make me laugh harder, or longer, or I like the direction of their material more, but as a hard working comedian, Louie has done it all. So when it comes down to his latest stand up film, Hilarious, I've been excited since I missed the one weekend theatrical showing in Glendale. It was the week after the one-week theatrical run of Cemetary Junction.

Anyway, the way in which Louis approaches comedy is what makes him the best at it. It's not that he's constantly thinking of jokes, it's the fact that everything IS a joke to him, just not everyone sees it the way he does. The genius of his comedy is bringing these simple little facts to light, and examining them under a microscope so we can see the ridiculousness. A lot of his jokes stem from being a parent, but not corny "oh no I'm a parent!" jokes, rather, how the strange behavior of small, unkempt and uneducated humans can be some of the laugh out loud hilarious stuff you'll ever hear, if you hear it right.

He also touches on the nature of comedy, and how people perceive it, hence the sarcastic title "Hilarious". As Louis says, people overuse the word hilarious, it now describes anything extremely odd or unexpected, not what it actual means, which is "to cause a state of hilarity" with "hilarity" meaning the causing of actual temporary insanity because something is so damn funny.

And at times, Louis is hilarious, for real. For me, his inconsistency has always been an issue, it's simple fact that not every joke is going to work. However, with this stand up, he has new material (Louis is heralded as a comedy god by other comedians for his ability to have new material basically every single night) that just kills, and half of the really funny parts come from the reactions to his bits. Most of his best jokes are made directly at the audience, for the way they react to something, and then Louis tears them apart for showing how they react to those things like a TV audience , especially the sorrowful "awwws" when he speaks of his divorce.

9.3/10