Neddy Merrill Louis C.K. has been having a cultural moment for quite a while largely because stand-up comedy has hit a doldrums with audiences souring on Dane Cook and Carlos Mencina and not really bonding well with Kevin Hart. "Louie" gets called "The Comedians' Comedian" more often than contenders such as Marc Maron. While no direct translation exists in regular English, the phrase is roughly the kindest, most polite way to point out that someone is not actually, conventionally, funny. At his best, however, Louie does make you think in the way history's best comedian George Carlin's more heady philosophical moments would make you stop and take note. However, largely Louie spends his time telling scatologically or sexually- themed anecdotes from his life. He has more than made his investment back on his two daughters whose foibles account for much of his material with his physical condition and bedroom habits largely making up the rest. In short, while you won't walk away quoting good lines, you might pick up some interesting insights.

diac228 I am not a fan of Louie. I think the show is rather slow, bloated, lifeless, charmless, and utterly pretentious. It doesn't have a consistent pace of any sort, and doesn't really maintain my interest. I think part of its exposure is that Louie does so much of the work in the show, straight to the editing. I don't think any of it is well-deserved. Hilarious by Louie C.K. however, is stand-up art. His routine, which doesn't translate as well on television, works perfectly here as he engages with the audience, shocks the audience, and leaves them consistently laughing throughout the entire movie. There isn't much of a rhythm and flow to Louie C.K.'s comedy unlike that of Gabriel Iglesias and even Kevin Hart. His topics jump from one end of the spectrum to the next, and that is what makes his comedy appealing—the unpredictability of it all. There will be physical humor in the form of an elongated sequence in which he---well, you'll see; and then there will be excellent real-world observations like America's inability to accept that the evolving technology is nothing short of amazing. He observes the real world, talks about his family, and discusses his private life as well. But within these typical stand-up topics you'll get plenty of angry raunchy humor that is inches away from just being purely anarchic. Louis C.K. is a new-age George Carlin, one that uses exaggeratory words, phrases, and statements to make his point—and will not be afraid of an abundance of strong words to help deliver the message. The beauty of Hilarious is that you can step in at any given point in the movie and never truly feel lost. His stage is very simple, the camera work is very simple, and it's just Louis C.K. running the show and absorbing all the attention. Even his wardrobe is extremely simple: t-shirt and jeans. It adds to his comedy—he looks like a simple middle-aged man that can spark interesting topics while throw in some toilet humor just in case you get bored. Louis C.K.'s best comedy mainly and solely comes from his stand-up as opposed to his extracurricular activities----just like Kevin Hart. And Hilarious is easily one of his best works, and never veers you away from the stage. It is pessimistic, crude, rude, exaggerated, and quietly out-of-control. And it works in every possible level. The ultimate joke is that Louis C.K. is a very intelligent man, but he will never pass off as that with his persona, his choice of words, and uncaring attitude. While his show is nowhere near to be decent, you can't argue against his stage presence in the least bit—he is among the best in the business.

Red_Identity I actually had high expectations, but from what I've seen of his, this is by far his weakest. Something just didn't lick as much as his others and the material to me wasn't as funny. Saying that though, it's still decent enough. Chewed Up, which came before it, is showing him at his best though and there seems to be a definite change of tone. Still, there are enough decent moments and there's some pretty spot-on commentary as to the world we live in and the type of people we've become as a whole, together with ongoing technology advancements. So if you want to see all of his stand-ups, still recommended, and you can expect some true goodness.

Ted Louis C.K.'s latest comedy concert film is Hilarious, the first ever stand-up documentary to be accepted at Sundance. The film is economically produced--C.K. does his own direction and editing--and spends much of its time in a mid shot of C.K.'s face; content is everything here.Whatever its personal implications, C.K.'s recent divorce is a great development for his comedy: it allows him to take his trademark pessimism on dates, to the gym, and even to the club. He pares incredulous contempt for beautiful people with his own healthy self-loathing--but because this is Louis C.K, he absolutely never pities himself. In fact, many of his best barbs are aimed at the entitled and ungrateful among us: among other great jabs, this film contains his now-famous "chair in the sky" airplane routine.Much of his best and most human material is derived from life as a father; he invokes his daughters with a disarming love and respect, while realistically explicating the more disgusting elements of parenthood. This too benefits from his recent divorce, as it serves to alienate him even further from contemporary dating.There is also a fair number of shock laughs, of course--at one point C.K tellingly acknowledges that upsetting people makes him laugh. And that in itself is the great appeal of Louis C.K.'s comedy, that we can bond over the idea that nothing good will ever happen to anyone and then find humor in it. Hilarious is all about finding laughs in pessimism, and it demonstrates what a hilarious performer C.K. is. -TK 9/22/10