Louis CK seems to be a guy doing what he wants and enjoying himself while he does it. His successfully show on FX gives him full creative control, and while it at times is impossible to pigeonhole as to what it is, it remains an engaging show even if at times it is free of any laughs. How he delivers his comedy specials is another reason to like and support him in what he is doing – with this very recent performance being a typical example. Self-released via his website, a friendly email invites you to download directly, with no limit on where you can go with the file you download – no time limit to watch it, no restriction on watching it only on the device you bought it on, no having to log in to watch it, and no meaningful restriction on being able to watch it – great for those of us with a couple of devices that we watch things on. To add to this, he continues to sell these hour-long shows for $5, which at the minute is £3.30 – and even without examples to illustrate how little that is, it is nothing. So as a business model, it is one I want to support so I do.
As a result I tend to not bother checking reviews of his show before I get them, because I tend to enjoy them, and also I am as much making a statement with my money as I am buying a product. Presented in a very high resolution file, the image was incredibly sharp – whether seeing individual beads of sweat on Louis' head is your thing or not, the quality is very good. The setting is also quite intimate – not quite the basement club in his show Louie, but still nicely close and with a better connection than a big theatre. The material is mostly funny, although not fantastically so – I laughed pretty frequently at most bits, with only some aspects falling a bit flat (although unfortunately the last sequence was one of these). The subjects are your standard ones of getting older, sexual material, parenting, flying, and other such things; although familiar he does bring to these well.
As a fan of the awkward observational style of his current show, I will be honest I say that, while the laughs were good, I did want to be challenged a bit more – or at least feel uncomfortable – and the show had more scope for that instead of miming sex acts quite as much as he did. As a stage presence CK is great though – an unassuming looking guy but one very comfortable in front of an audience, and that comes across on the screen too. Live at the Comedy Store may not be one of his better routines, however it is still funny, and at the very low price (without restrictions) it is more than worth paying the money to give it a go.
