Louie CK

Louis C.K. might just be the funniest person alive. He is a standup comedian, actor, writer, director, producer, and cinematographer. Louis CKs been the mind behind award winning short films, television shows, films, and of course, his own hour-long comedy specials. His brand of humor seems to know no bounds; he is a master storyteller, who has the rare ability to be at one moment classically witty and magisterial, and giddily explaining his daughter’s bowel movements the next.

He was born in 1967 in Mexico, and lived there until the age of seven, when his mother, a computer engineer, and luis ck moved to the United States. After finishing high school, Louis had little interest in continuing to college, so he took on jobs here and there. He was an auto mechanic among other things. In 1984 he was living in Manhattan and decided to try standup comedy. It took him two years after his first frightening onstage appearance, but in 1986 he jumped back onto the scene with some material. He was 19, and New York City was at the epicenter of the comedy boom of the late eighties.

Louie did the club thing for a few years, and quite successfully, until the early 1990s when demand for standup started drying up. All of Louis' funny buds were being hired for shows like Saturday Night Live -- friends including Dave Attell and Chris Rock -- except Louie wasn't. Finally, he got his first break in 1993 as a writer for a new show with a host no one had yet heard of: The Conan O'brien Show. Little known fact: Louisck was also the first standup comedian appearance for Conan O'brien. This led to writing-staff stints on many other TV shows, including Late Night With David Letterman and The Dana Carvey Show. In 1999, Louis C.K. won his first Emmy Award as a writer for The Chris Rock Show. Clearly, things were looking up. His Hollywood directorial debut came the next year in 2000, when Louie wrote and directed the comedy "Pootie Tang." Since then, he's written and starred in many Hollywood films, often appearing with good friends Ricky Gervais and Chris Rock.

"Lucky Louie" was the first televised show Louis CK both created and starred in. It was on HBO for only one season (2006), but it was critically and commercially a very successful sitcom-style show. But Louie finally got all of the creative freedom he wanted when he signed to do a show with FX, simply titled "Louie." The deal he made with the channel is the envy of comedians everywhere. In a nut shell, Louie gets full freedom to create every episode with minimal oversight, while FX foots the bill. Louis the writer, director, producer, editor, and star, and most of the actors he hires he only keeps as long as he needs. It took a long time for Louis CK to build the kind of credibility to get a sweetheart deal like this, but the show is now a big success and is in its second season.

But throughout all of this TV and movie success, Louis CK never stopped touring as a stand up comedian. He did a few stand up specials throughout the nineties, but he finally threw away all of his old material that he'd been doing for almost twenty years and came up with a brand-new hour of comedy in 2007 for a stand up HBO comedy special entitled "Louis CK Shameless." It was and continues to be a massive success. Louis CK then threw out all of this material to make 2008's HBO stand up comedy special "Louis CK Chewed Up." This process of recycling every year requires a ridiculous work ethic, making Louie ck part of an elite class of funniest comedians that includes George Carlin. And most recently 2010's stand up comedy special for HBO, "Hilarious" lived up to its name -- though the title is actually a sarcastic referral to how people use exaggerative words too often -- and "Louis CK Hilarious" seen by many as Louis CKs funniest standup comedy masterpiece, thus far...

For a guy with such a flexible comedic presence, Louis CK devises ways to train for his grueling, hour-plus stand up performances like an athlete would prepare before a competition. Louis CK has said in interviews that he calculates everything he is going to do before he gets on stage, and he even takes regular boxing lessons to build his on-stage stamina. Being one of the funniest comedians on the planet takes a lot of physical work too. Who'd have known?

Louis CK has been compared by many critics to the likes of George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor as one of the best comedians of all time. He is currently one of the biggest acts in the country, and yet with the rising fame he seems to be anomalous as he has only become funnier as a stand up comedian and more creative as a show runner and comedy actor. He seems to pick up everything, while seemingly losing nothing to his newfound stardom. Louis CK is without doubt one of the funniest comedians out there today, and I highly suggest checking out more of his work when you can.

STANDUP

"Hilarious” 2010
"Chewed Up" 2008
"Shameless" 2007
"Comic Relief" 2006

TELEVISON
Louie (FX series, currently in its second season)
- Creator, Producer, Writer, Star
Lucky Louie (HBO series, 1 season)
- Creator, Executive Producer, Star
"The Chris Rock Show" (HBO Series, 4 seasons)
- Producer, writer
"The Dana Carvey Show" (Primetime series on ABC)
- Producer, Head Writer
"Late Night with Conan Obrien (Late Night show)
- Writer

MOVIES
“The Invention of Lying”
- Co-star
"I think I love my Wife"
- Writer
"Down to Earth"
- Writer
"Pootie Tang"
- Director, Writer, Producer
"Tomorrow Night"
- Director, Writer, Producer

*[All Credits Courtesy of www.LouisCK.net]