Before I talk about the Louis C.K. show I saw two days before my birthday, I’ll own up to continuing to patronize his shows despite his history of sexual misconduct. I like to leave it to the individual to make decisions about how they personally handle problematic artists. But if you don’t like that I still pay money to see his comedy, or even think less of me for it, that’s your call and I understand. Oh, soon after I saw him, Louis appeared at the Riyadh Comedy Festival that the Saudi Arabian government held to try to whitewash their awful reputation on human rights. Now, on to his show.
I’ve seen hours of Louis’ standup over the years, and he is likely the most savage, brutal comic I know. Don Rickles’ “it’s all for fun” insults have got nothing on this guy. Louis has delivered scathing comments about his now ex-wife, his two young girls he clearly loves, the bratty kid who picked on one (and his feckless mom), the deer he hit with his car, and so many more. He saves many of his worst put-downs for that stupid, disgusting fat fuck: Louis C.K. And the language! Not just swear words, but slurs. Louis has expounded upon the nature of the bad words we say, and in doing so, uses all the words. Yes, that one, the whole word, hard ending. That other one too. The word you only hear Jim Jefferies use. All the words.
Louis came in hot before he even took the stage. He introduced his opener over the speakers by saying he was an actual professional, not some shitty local comic. I felt bad for said shitty local but was glad they brought a hired gun, and more on him later. A month after the show, what stuck with me most was his devastating tale of putting his father in a nursing home. You know how on The Simpsons, they would show snippets of the nursing home that they pawned Grandpa off on? Speak of old Abe like he was nothing but a burden? Remember when they brought out a random woman in a wheelchair to their car, who was smiling from the thought of having a visitor and/or dementia? And even kind, decent Marge couldn’t bear to look at her? Put a bunch of those together, and you have a hint of what Louis delivered. Louis and his sisters made the decision to put their dad in a “facility” with no input from the dad, like being sent to prison without a trial. Louis would visit and see his dad just sit there and exist. He met a woman in a wheelchair in the halls who freaked him out, tried to call an orderly over to take care of it, and nothing came of it. Just dark, depressing stuff that made me wonder if both my parents being dead wasn’t the worst thing. And also really, really funny. Louis is simply a gifted comedian.
Patton Oswalt is another standup comic I’ve been enjoying for the last two decades. He might be better known by most people for his acting work, most famously voicing Remy the rat in Ratatouille. Funny that I should bring up voice acting while writing about these two comics. Louis C.K. was a main voice actor in The Secret Life of Pets, one of those animated films I kind of heard of that actually grossed over half a billion worldwide. They dumped him for the sequel because you know why, and recast his character with … Patton Oswalt. Patton is scandal-free, well, among normal people. Early in Patton’s set, he noted how QAnon tried to slander him as a child sex trafficker, along with Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks. And Patton was stoked to be included on any list with those powerful A-listers. When he was phased out in favor of the likes of Jimmy Kimmel, he demanded his agent do whatever it took to get him back on there. Oh, and I’m assuming it’s members of the QAnon cult trying to spread internet rumors he killed his first wife.
Now, much of Patton’s standup has always revolved around pop culture, and then when he started a family he worked that in as well. He even combined them in a nice bit about his daughter asking permission to watch the horror film Halloween. Patton remembered it being super scary from his childhood but agreed to watch it with her. His teen daughter did a lot of eye rolling and laughing. But Patton’s greatest strength is as a storyteller. Some of his best bits I watch repeatedly on YouTube include his “selling out” story of taking a casino gig for the big payout, and an incredible fight out in public he once witnessed. Patton ended his set with another killer story worth hearing again. It involved a forced school assembly to watch the drama club put on a musical, his bully, and lousy production values. It reminded me of other great stories I’d heard from Patton: a comedy magician pissed at getting cheated (blam!) and watching Jerry Maguire with his brother. I recommend seeing Patton for this story alone.
Taylor Tomlinson is practically a newbie compared to the first two. I’ve only been watching her standup for the past five years, while Louis and Patton were putting out specials I’ve loved since the early 2000s. But Taylor has been very busy, touring constantly (she even stopped hosting After Midnight to keep at it) and releasing three comedy specials since 2020, plus one coming soon. All are on Netflix, and I highly recommend them as well as any early stuff you find on YouTube. I was delighted to get a close seat to her show, in part because Taylor is a cute, personable, spunky young woman. Meanwhile, Louis and Patton freely admit they are often cranky and have never gotten laid because of their looks. Taylor’s comedy focuses almost entirely on herself. There is precious little talk about things like pop culture, save for Hugh Jackman’s hotness and some other blonde woman named Taylor. But Taylor is able to avoid seeming too self-absorbed because of how well she examines her feelings and experiences.
Taylor has been very open about her mental health struggles and the steps she takes to address them. Her religious upbringing, her mother dying when she was a child, how she would sabotage romantic relationships. Don’t get me wrong, Taylor is more than happy to highlight men’s bad behavior, but she’ll also admit to hers. In an early joke I love, Taylor talked about how she could get super defensive in relationships. One boyfriend called her “hard to read” and she snapped back “Well maybe you’re dyslexic!” She continued discussing her problems and triumphs with wit and warmth, and saved the best part of the (rehearsed) show for last. Taylor said that she started out performing in churches, but they stopped booking her when she wouldn’t conform to their expectations. But she noted that if her career turns south, she could always make a comeback. All she has to do is denounce her “devilish” ways and lie that she’s born again, and megachurch congregations would just eat that shit up. But why tell us about this, when Taylor can just show us. And so she did, and it was a fantastic ending to a really good show. That wasn’t over yet.
Oh, yeah, I saw Lorde too. I had bought tickets for Patton and Taylor months in advance, but for the Friday between those two, tickets for Lorde became available. So I ended up going to shows three nights in a row, which I don’t think I’ve ever done, even in Vegas. I got a Uecker seat at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, right next door to the Miller High Life Theatre where I saw both Louis and Taylor. I walked about half a mile to all these shows by the way, I love living downtown. But an usher waved a bunch of us down to closer seats before the headliner. Lorde performed enthusiastically while tossing her gorgeous hair yadda yadda she beautifully sang both beloved early songs and killer new cuts yadda she passed close by me on the way to crooning amidst her fans and then brought the house down on a second stage in back with her classic song Ribs yadda her fans have been gushing online about it being a life-changing experience. You know, the usual. Go see her. Go see any of these performers if you like their stuff.
Openers and other thoughts:
- Louis brought in Jim Norton to be his opener. Jim reminds me of Bill Burr, in that he looks and sounds like he could easily be the type of aggrieved white man who makes up MAGA, but then surprises you. In Jim’s case, he spoke earnestly about his support of trans people, and his marriage to a trans woman. He also brought up meeting Donald Trump at a UFC fight, and I have a couple problems with what he said. First, Jim said Trump was really a funny guy. Now, I’m funny-splaining to a pro comic here, but while I’m sure Trump can say some funny things, he clearly can’t take jokes at his expense, and thus can’t really be a funny person. Second, Jim said he doesn’t think Trump is actually anti-trans. But even if that were true, given how his administration has vilified trans people and taken discriminatory actions against them, Trump’s personal feelings don’t matter anymore. The damage is done.
- Patton’s show opened with some guy, but then I was happy to see Sheng Wang come onstage. Now, I’ve never gotten around to watching him on Netflix or YouTube, but I’ve heard good things. I was surprised how lyrically poetic some of his material got. And he had a super-chill demeanor that reminded me, and quite a few others, of Mitch Hedburg. I’ll have to check him out.
- I don’t remember the name of Taylor’s opener, although I liked her set. But when I thought the show was over, a sofa was brought out, and Taylor and her friend sat down and riffed on audience feedback. Now, Taylor had done some light crowd work, but admitted she had trouble hearing the audience unless they were in the first few rows. She solved this by showing questions on a screen before the show (weirdest reason for a fight, what hill are you ready to die on) and encouraging people to text their answers. Taylor and her friend then had a delightful time talking about the answers they got. It felt like a nice, free bonus of extra show.
- I screwed up when I bought my ticket to see Patton. I got one on the highest balcony in the front row. As I walked to my seat, I was keenly aware of the relatively short railing that separated me from the depths below. I knew there was no chance of me falling over, but it’s not called a rational fear of heights now, is it. The Pabst Theater is beautiful, with a large chandelier that hovered seemingly very close to me and beautiful statue work high above the stage. None of which I could look at for long without becoming very aware of how high up I was. I felt better when the lights went down and the show started. But when they went back up, I exited the same way I entered: crouch-walking while leaning towards the seats, arm out to keep the railing at bay.
- For both Patton and Taylor’s shows, my Brewers were fighting for their baseball lives against the Cubs (booooo!) I turned on my phone when Patton was done to see they were down and would later lose Game 6. Taylor’s show coincided with Game 7, and this time I was waiting in line at the merch table when I dared to check my phone. Brewers up 2-1! Now 3-1! I saw them clinch it through the window of Major Goolsby’s. Bring on the Dodgers, I thought. It would have to take something ridiculous like three home runs and ten strikeouts from Ohtani to stop this team! Oh, about that merch table…
- Once I was watching Taylor’s monologue for After Midnight, and she was joking about an Uber-like app where you could order a bodyguard and even choose their outfit. She snarked that it would be the only way she could get a straight guy to wear her merch, then showed a photoshop of a tough bro with his arms crossed over a T-shirt with Taylor as Andy Warhol pop art. I immediately thought I’m a straight guy who wants that shirt right now. But her online store only offers it as a tote bag! I almost never buy concert merch, but I had to stop by the table to look for it. Nope, still just tote bag. I considered a black tour T-shirt that I could wear under my work uniform after it attracted a bunch of cat hair. I finally decided on this white one instead. Now, Taylor has a wholesome, girl-next-door appeal, but this shirt shows she can really turn up the babe factor whenever she wants. And if you’re a lady who likes what she sees, I’ve got good news! She’s recently came out as bi.
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