Louis C. K. has Israeli audiences rolling in the aisles
The controversial comedian was not greeted without protest. Beside the entrance stood a small group of women, holding signs such as "I do not want to see your d*ck."
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERILouis C. K. in Tel Aviv, Nov. 2019(photo credit: LIOR KETER)
Louis C. K. is known, first and foremost, for avoiding political correctness at every opportunity. Perhaps that is why the Israeli audience seemed particularly fond of the red-headed, fiery comedian upon his most recent visit and round of performances in the country, as his two performances sold out within minutes.The world-famous gingie did not disappoint, opening his show with a joke about Israeli food: "I sh*t myself three times since arriving in Tel Aviv."He explained that the local food is delicious "going in," but going out is a different story.What Israeli audiences perhaps did not expect is the widespread recognition C. K. gave to his Jewish family history. Although the comedian is a self-proclaimed atheist, a large portion of his historically Jewish family was killed during the Holocaust.C. K., known for his aggressively dark humor, did not hold back at his family's past, cracking joke after joke about the Holocaust and Auschwitz, in particular, when he said that he visited in his most recent round of performances and the service was "very kind."Viewers expected that the comedian address the elephant in the hangar: the numerous accusations of sexual misconduct filed against him in 2017 which he did not deny at the time. C. K. was criticized heavily by some who believed he had not expressed sufficient remorse for his actions.Those same viewers, who have no photographs or videos to show since, the comedian prohibits cellular devices at his performances, were not let down. C. K. left no stone unturned on the matter, giving the audience the friendly advice that, if they are given consent to pleasure themselves in the presence of someone else, the act which he was accused of, "Just don't do it."The scandal in 2017 led to a temporary shut-down of the comedian's career: His television series, Louie, was canceled, and a film in which he performed will not be released.The entire show, in fact, addressed the affair in short, snide comments. For example, C. K. offhandedly mentioned that he used to love New York, but does not like it too much anymore – or performing in the US at all, for that matter.The turnout at the first performance was one for the books, with Israeli stars such as Gav Hauma host Lior Shlein, comedian Adir Miller, comedy musician Tal Tirengel of Tiras Sexual, and many more in attendance, all of whom were rolling in their seats throughout the entire performance.
The controversial comedian was not greeted without protest, however. Beside the entrance stood a small group of women, holding signs such as "I do not want to see your d*ck" and "we believe the complainers."The protesters called through a megaphone: "Do not normalize and support sexual predators. Two whole shows are sold out!"Inside, meanwhile, C. K. made sure to treat every possible group within his audience with respect by insulting every gender, race and mental illness equally.Keith Robinson opened the show, cracking jokes about his recent stroke, which left the entire right side of his body paralyzed and got several laughs from the audience.Lynne Koplitz followed up, heating up the audience very well with several in-depth jokes about her experiences with menopause.Greg Hahn was the last to open before the main event, sending zingers this way and that while bouncing hyper-actively around the stage from one end to the other.All in all, C. K. fans were not disappointed. As the hangar cleared out, many eyes was tearing from the spectacle, and every audience member was satiated with their own taste of politically-incorrect hilarity.
