Louis CK is back, again. It has been nearly a decade since the comedian, actor and writer-director admitted his guilt in a series of sexual misconduct allegations, resulting in severed ties with organizations and a brief exile. Since then, he has toured extensively, often to crowds that imply he was wronged, and self-released four comedy specials. His new special, Ridiculous, is backed by Netflix, a full-circle moment for a comic whose last pre-scandal hour, 2017, was also a Netflix release.
A Gradual Return Rather Than a Triumph
This is less a triumphant return than a gradual slinking back, an unspoken assumption that no one cares much about his behavior. There is no defense or apology, just a shruggy emoticon. In the special, describing a tour of his elderly father's prospective nursing home, Louis CK says: "The theme of the tour is: 'This Is What This Is'," implying grim acceptance. It feels like that is the theme of the Ridiculous tour too, whether we want it or not.
Self-Deprecation vs. Reality
Other moments place his supposedly self-deprecating presentation against his failings with a noisy clash. A genuinely funny observation like "I can't be held responsible for what I dream. I'm not a good guy in my dreams" doesn't hit squarely because we have heard extensively about him doing bad-guy stuff in real life. It is hard to avoid reading some moments intended as self-deprecating or honest, such as talking about not having sex much recently and dating women his own age, as a tacit burnishing of his regular-schlub cred. According to the review, this disconnect accounts for some of the special's uneven quality.
Brilliant Stretches Among Dull Shocks
Louis CK remains a keen comic mind, both structurally and instinctively. A bit about hating waking up on an airplane, where he backtracks to say waking up in general is terrible, and his nonverbal acting out of its horrors is laugh-out-loud funny. A sidebar about his love for the damp pad in a package of chicken breast is like a classic Seinfeld observational moment, pushed further by visceral weirdness. However, elsewhere he relies on dopey shock laughs. Jokes about cremating his mother or a callback to a child-abuse joke feel like blunt-force mischief. Some jokes lack effort, like saying his 42-year-old friend had trouble getting pregnant because her eggs were "scrambled" or "rotten."
Flashes of Writer's Flair
Louis CK is capable of more, and Ridiculous has flashes of his writer's flair for crystallizing standard comedians' laments into something vividly relatable. "Every part of my body hates the part next to it," he says, a reminder of his gift for describing physical indignities of ageing. It is telling that far from his creative peak, this material remains punchy as his supposed philosopher persona trails off. The pedestrian nature of this Netflix special makes it valuable, a reminder that Louis CK's weaknesses, on and off the stage, are ultimately his own doing.
