Louis CK Does Stand-Up Comedy For First Since Sexual Misconduct Allegations

The New York Times reports that Louis CK returned to stand-up comedy for the first time since he was accused of sexual misconduct ten months ago as part of the #MeToo movement. Noam Dworman, owner of the Comedy Cellar (where the Saturday night performance went down) said that he did “typical Louis C.K. stuff”, touching on racism, waitresses’ tips and parades.

He added: “It sounded just like he was trying to work out some new material, almost like any time of the last 10 years he would come in at the beginning of a new act.”

Dworman added that he got a complaint from one person in the audience who “wished he had known in advance, so he could’ve decided whether to have been there.”

He added: “I understand that some people will be upset with me. I care about my customers very much. Every complaint goes through me like a knife. And I care about doing the right thing. There can’t be a permanent life sentence on someone who does something wrong. I think we’ll be better off as a society if we stop looking to the bottlenecks of distribution — Twitter, Netflix, Facebook or comedy clubs — to filter the world for us. I didn’t think it was going to happen as soon as it did. I had thought that the first time he’d go on would be in a more controlled environment. But he decided to just rip the Band-Aid off.”

Dworman was at home and sleeping at the time, but was texted by staff and later watched a tape. He said that CK was “very relaxed.” The venue was sold out with 115 people and he got an ovation before he started.

Mo Amer, another comic, said it “was like a wow moment” and that the material was “like, classic Louis, really really good.”