Louis C.K. Monologue - SNL
Video Statistics and Information
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Channel: Saturday Night Live
Views: 7,956,497
Rating: 4.8220658 out of 5
Keywords: riri, louis ck, monologue, rihanna, host, musical guest, bitch better have my money, live from new york, snl, saturday night live, season finale, season 40, finale, comedy, laugh, new york, funny, improv, louis, episode 21
Id: yzh7RtIJKZk
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 9min 28sec (568 seconds)
Published: Sat May 16 2015
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Alternative link, as the OP link is blocked in some countries
Louie CK has been working on this molestation joke for years and years.
Here is more of the same joke and its development.
I couldn't help but cringe at your unnecessary addition to the title. Yeah, Louie's one of the greats, but can we please stop ballwashing him needlessly?
can we calm down with the "the GOD" ... lol.
his material is great, don't need the clickbait
He made the best child molester joke I've ever heard.
I wanted to point out a few reasons why I think this routine is comedy genius.
First, CK has a standup persona with an unmatched ability to approach the line of propriety. Not only can he approach the line, he can stand on the line, and sometimes go beyond it and not see the resistance other standups would get for doing the same material. I think this partly has to do with his unassuming persona, it is an everyman type of observational persona, very similar to other comedians like Seinfeld. The everyman persona makes him appear blameless on sensitive subjects.
CK also has this very logical delivery. CK applies simple logic between two stories. How can an everyman be blamed for using logic? For example, in this video CK suggests that molesting children must be more enjoyable than eating Mounds candy bars because a reasonable person would stop eating Mounds bars if they were made illegal, perfectly logical.
Also, notice how he introduced his bit about molestation by talking about racism and then about the Middle East. Here I think CK was basically priming the audience, he was asking them to laugh about a few generally uncomfortable subjects as a preparation for talking about molestation. CK did not immediately launch into a bit about molestation. CK was building trust with his audience.
Notice that his bit about molestation was genuinely funny. If a comedian must talk about a very sensitive subject, almost a taboo subject, then make it funny, not serious. I think this is partly what tripped up Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld) when he bombed a few years ago with his racist tirade. What Michael Richards was saying on the stage was just not funny, and Michael Richards paid a heavy price for the performance. Being very funny actually gives a comedian a pass when talking about sensitive subjects. If the bit is not funny, then people just think you are being mean, and they will judge harshly with all the energy that talking about a taboo subject will bring.
And last, notice what CK said when he was nearly done with the bit. CK breaks character and says, "this might be my last joke" and then something like, "there, we did it". Here CK takes on a third-person perspective and empathizes with his audience. He acknowledges the taboo subject matter, almost apologizes for it, and then ends his routine. I do not know if he did this on purpose, my opinion is that CK did not really have to break character because his routine was so well done. But clearly CK used this technique as an additional safeguard against criticism and to tell the audience that he too was challenged by the subject matter and that we all finished the routine together as a group.
Great routine about how shits all relative to who you are.
On a diff note, for some reason every time I watch these monologues I get hung up watching the people in the band (the background) while watching it. Specifically watching https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Genus because his laughter is a bit infectious (he's in the dark on the bottom left) with the bass.
Oh he's such a silly billy!
whats this "the GOD" shit, he's good he's not that good