Comic Subversion

Comic Subversion

Sure, he works “blue,” but Louis C.K.’s sad-sack vulnerability and lacerating honesty put him a cut above your typical Friar’s Club emcee. In fact, if you include his artful slice-of-life FX TV series “Louie,” his oeuvre evokes comparisons to Woody Allen or even Charlie Chaplin, rather than roasters like Jeffrey Ross. Now that the third season of “Louie” has drawn its critical raves and the self-produced video of his Beacon Theatre show grossed more than a cool million (at $5 a pop), Louis is taking his show on the road. And he’s thwarting the system again, avoiding ticket agencies by…

Sure, he works “blue,” but Louis C.K.’s sad-sack vulnerability and lacerating honesty put him a cut above your typical Friar’s Club emcee. In fact, if you include his artful slice-of-life FX TV series “Louie,” his oeuvre evokes comparisons to Woody Allen or even Charlie Chaplin, rather than roasters like Jeffrey Ross. Now that the third season of “Louie” has drawn its critical raves and the self-produced video of his Beacon Theatre show grossed more than a cool million (at $5 a pop), Louis is taking his show on the road. And he’s thwarting the system again, avoiding ticket agencies by managing the sales for all shows through his own website. 

Louis C.K. (Oct. 10-11). Riverside Theater. 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., 414-286-3663, riversidetheater.org. 

Paul Kosidowski is a freelance writer and critic who contributes regularly to Milwaukee Magazine, WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio and national arts magazines. He writes weekly reviews and previews for the Culture Club column. He was literary director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater from 1999-2006. In 2007, he was a fellow with the NEA Theater and Musical Theater Criticism Institute at the University of Southern California. His writing has also appeared in American Theatre magazine, Backstage, The Boston Globe, Theatre Topics, and Isthmus (Madison, Wis.). He has taught theater history, arts criticism and magazine writing at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.