Louis C.K.: Oh My God (2013)

recommended

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Louis C.K. does his HBO special in Phoenix. The stage is 360. He does his highly inappropriate material as usual. He's a 45 divorced New Yorker father of two girls.His brand of observational comedy is brilliant. He is lovable. The crowd is into it. It hits all of his various hot spots. He's growing breasts. There's a lot of jerking off, getting off of the food chain, dating and so on.Comedy is always a matter of taste. No two people have the same funny bone. This is not for the easily offended. His fans will love this. It follows his many other specials.

I must preface this review by stating that I love Louis CK. I've seen him in concert, own Lucky Louie AND Louie on Blu-Ray (though I didn't care for Louie season 3, and didn't buy it.) I love all his stand up specials, save for the footage of his really old stuff, where he basically sucked.I don't want to give out spoilers, but I will say, that this is without a doubt his weakest special since he called his daughter an a**hole. Some will get that reference, some won't.He seems to be resting on his laurels. People are so willing to laugh at him at this point, that he isn't forced to sharpen his material to the caliber he is capable of.I watched this 5-6 times when it first came out and decided to take a few months, then try again. Maybe it would hit me harder or something? I'm listening right now, and still, absolutely, can't get past the fact that these jokes are half-baked, and some of them are simply effing stupid.The penguins/walrus bit is one of the dumbest, lamest jokes ever. Not sure if Louie noticed or not, but literally NO ONE was laughing at it.C'mon Louie. Don't fall off. George Carlin never fell off.

The first third of this didn't seem to be as great as his other shows, but the last thirds, especially the last third, were pretty incredible and non-stop hilarious. I just have a blast hearing CK in pretty much everything he says, and this was no exception. And it's still sort of weird seeing him doing stand-up and seeing his brilliant, brilliant series, a series that is quite often melancholic and dark in its approach. Regardless, he is my favorite comedian at the moment and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Definitely a great show as expected and cannot wait to see what else he has in store for us later on in his career.

In 1987 George Carlin filmed his special at the exact same theater. When I watched Louis CK enter the stage, I had to think about Carlin's special and it felt in a way as if a part of George was still there. They even look a little bit alike.Louis CK shows us in this amazing special that he is in every way worthy to carry on George's legacy. His jokes take you into the darkest places, and make you see the nonsense and humor behind it.Louis is probably not even aware that he himself became an idol for a new generation of directors and artists, showing us with his special that even if the most horrible things take you down during your career, someday you will stand on your former hero's stage.Thanks Louis!