Louis C.K.’s comeback tour: a post-#MeToo performance that is not looking for redemption
- Two years after admitting to sexual misconduct with female comedians and associates, Louis C.K. is back on tour, with dates in the US and overseas
- The American comedian is sticking to his abrasive style, while appealing to an audience that’s exhausted with public shaming
On a brisk November night, a solitary man wandered around the plaza outside the Duke Energy Centre for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles. He had just flown alone from New York to see his favourite comic, Louis C.K., and he had an extra ticket. He could not find anyone to join him.
Soon before the show started, you could have picked up a pair of US$49.50 orchestra seats for US$9 a pop online. After hitting the bar of a nearby hotel and asking numerous people outside the box office if they needed a ticket, the man went in by himself.
“I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to see him after what he did,” he says. “I love him, but I don’t want to get in any trouble.”
The dates are the first official foray of a comeback that C.K. began in comedy clubs nine months after confirming that he masturbated in front of female comedians and associates, issuing a statement saying: “I have spent my long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen.”