Louis CK began his latest standup act by joking directly and unapologetically about the sexual misconduct scandal that derailed his career.
CK, who admitted in November 2017 to masturbation in front of several women without their consent, opened his routine at a San Jose comedy club Wednesday by saying, “I like to jerk off, and I don’t like being alone,” according to The Daily Beast.
CK also joked about the backlash over a joke last month about the teenage survivors of the Parkland school shooting.
“If you ever need people to forget that you jerked off, what you do is you make a joke about kids that got shot,” CK said. The Daily Beast noted that CK’s set did not include his previous jokes about Parkland.
The Daily Beast added that attendees at CK’s show were required to place their phones into sealed cases that could only be unlocked in the lobby as a security measure to prevent audio or video recording.
The Daily Beast said several people protested outside the show, including Ann Horner, 62, who held a sign that read: “Keep it in your pants.” The site quoted one attendee who said she was not familiar with CK’s admission of misconduct, and a man who said CK deserved a path to redemption.
Onstage, CK assumed most people knew about his history.
“You’ve read the worst possible things you could read about a person, about me, and you’re here,” he said.
He also defended jokes that might offend people: “The whole point of comedy is to say things that you shouldn’t say. That’s the entire point.”
The Daily Beast said that the early part of CK’s routine got many laughs, but his audience’s attention seemed to flag when he made a joke about 9/11.
“I got on a plane once. And this couple comes up to me as we’re boarding. There’s an empty seat next to me, and this woman says to me, ‘Would you mind moving so my husband and I can sit together?’ And he’s behind her and he’s like [motions – no]. I didn’t know what to do. I don’t wanna upset him. But I don’t wanna sit with his f—ing wife. So I just got off the plane,” CK said, according to The Daily Beast. “And then the plane took off. And it hit the World Trade Center.”
Read The Daily Beast’s full account of CK’s performance here.