Louis C.K.: Chewed Up (2008)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Absolutely the worst movie.

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Louis is performing in Boston in 2006.I love him. I love his show. And I love his takes on risky subject matters. I'm not sure how he gets his material. He must take the word fagget as a dare and he has to make it funny as a straight man. It's always fascinating how his humor also makes the audience think. It's a different way to look at the n-word. I just love the way his comedic unconventional takes on certain things. Of course, he also does the more traditional jokes about him being fat, unhealthy and old as well as jokes about his kids and his incompetent sex life especially with a cat.

The death of George Carlin has left a huge hole in the world of stand-up comedy. Carlin was one of the only comedians left who would talk about absolutely anything, give his honest opinions, and make the jokes he wanted to make without caring for a second what anyone else thought. He was completely fearless and never once considered political correctness. Louis C.K. takes the same approach as Carlin did, but adds his own spin on it. He may not be quite in the same league as Carlin yet, though after sitting through 'Chewed Up' tonight for the third time, I have a feeling he may someday get there. Topics included in this special include being fat, political correctness, race, and sex. These are all common topics among comedians, however, Louis C.K. talks about the subjects without holding back for one second, never stopping to consider if he shouldn't be saying what he is about to say. He doesn't play it safe. As a result, there is more truth in his act than one is likely to see anywhere else. The only reason I don't give the special a 10 is I saw C.K. perform some of the same material live before the initial airing so seeing it taped wasn't quite as fulfilling. 9/10

This is not just some racist and homophobic man up there talking because he wants to get away with using bad words.There is some truth to his statements. People, especially kids, do not think of certain words to actually be offensive. Saying that a comedian is not good, just because he offends you, is a little self centered and pathetic.He packs the house at every show, he is well know, and personally, I think he is doing everything right by himself.A comedian knows how to keep a crowd going, whatever crowd that is. George Carlin and Lewis Black know how to get the democrats riled up and ready to take down the Republican government as soon as they can. Jerry Seinfeld makes a joke out of everyday life and makes people realize that even the most simple things are funny.Louis C.K. simply takes the subjects that NO one else will talk about, and makes them into funny situations to get a little light on the subject. He is not a racist and a homophobic man, and he is not angry at the world. He knows what people like and what they laugh at. Therefore he makes a great stand up comedian.

I rarely expend time in my life typing up any kind of internet commentary on any subject, whether I love it or hate it. I just find that most of the things people write are useless for almost anybody else in the world aside from themselves, self-serving exercises of opinion with no real consequence. With that being said I could not sit by silent after reading 'hawaiitude's' (respectfully) ridiculous and immature critique of Louis C.K.'s newest stand-up special 'Chewed Up.' First off, before I attack someone else's rightful opinion on the subject matter I will talk about the subject matter itself: Louis C.K. I have been a big fan of Louie's for a number of years now. I thought 'Shameless' was a terrific, brutally honest AND hilarious stand-up showcase. His follow-up 'Chewed Up,' trumps his last one by miles. It is a GREAT stand-up special so refreshingly real that, expectedly, there are folks out there that would callously toss it under the category of 'offensive,' and that the performer (to paraphrase) is 'leaving his prejudices naked for all to see.' When I hear phrases like this it turns my stomach. The idea of 'brutal honesty' has gotten so watered-down, so cavalierly tossed about when it doesn't apply (Carlos Mencia, Ron White,etc, etc) that when someone comes along and TRULY EXERCISES this idea people curl up into a ball and weep about the insensitivity of it. COMEDY DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SENSITIVITY, NOR RESPECT, NOT CULTURAL AWARENESS. If a comedian chooses to worry and IS funny, more power to them, I'll laugh. But it is by no means a requisite. No means.The people that complain about this stuff claim they are not PC but in truth hide their PC-ness under a thin veil. PC doesn't only mean hyphens in between ethnic descriptions, PC is also the idea that if people use a particular set of words (i.e. 'faggot,' 'nigger,' 'cunt') that they of course, have to be, prejudiced, racist, bigoted. That kind of close-mindedness and lack of insight is the very definition of political correctness. And 'Hawaiitude,' the whole comment about the white coffeshop worker being in a place of 'servitude' is such a pile of overanalytical garbage that it belongs nowhere near comedic assessment.Louis C.K. leaves himself naked for us, that I will agree with, but in a vulgarly heroic way that brings a set of comfort to people who aren't afraid of every little aspect of the human condition, because a lot of it is ugly, even in the most righteous, virtuous souls.I recommend 'Chewed Up' for anyone who wants to laugh at someone whose acerbic, subversive, SELF-deprecating, downright profane comedy leads you into places within your own psyche that you otherwise would be afraid to face, but is nonetheless there. And it's there, because you're human.Anyway, that's my inconsequential polemic for the day (at the very least). Bye bye.