Louis CK: Ridiculous review – the troubled comedian returns with a whimper

Louis CK has released a new comedy special called Ridiculous on Netflix. This is his first special with Netflix since 2017, when he admitted to sexual misconduct allegations. After the allegations, many organizations stopped working with him, and he took a break from the public eye. However, he continued to tour and release comedy specials on his own.

The new special, Ridiculous, feels like a quiet return rather than a big comeback. The comedian doesn't offer a strong defense or apology for his past actions. Instead, the special seems to suggest a general acceptance of how things are, similar to a phrase he uses about touring his father's nursing home: 'This Is What This Is'. This attitude seems to set the tone for the special itself, whether audiences are ready for it or not.

At times, the special contrasts Louis CK's attempts at self-deprecating humor with his real-life issues. For example, a funny line like, 'I can’t be held responsible for what I dream. I’m not a good guy in my dreams,' doesn't land as well because of his past actions in real life. When he talks about dating women his own age and not having much sex, it might seem like he is trying to appear harmless. It is difficult to judge his intentions when we haven't heard about the personal lives of many other comedians in the same way.

This gap between the comedian's performance and his reality contributes to the uneven quality of the special. However, there are some brilliant parts. Louis CK is still a very clever comedian. He makes a funny observation about hating to wake up on an airplane, and then expands it to say that waking up in general is terrible. His physical acting out of the annoying parts of waking up is very amusing. He also makes a humorous comment about the damp pad found in chicken packaging, similar to the observational style of Jerry Seinfeld but with a stranger, more extreme edge.

But sometimes, the special relies on easy, shocking laughs. In earlier specials, shocking jokes often came from a logical build-up, making the audience laugh at something controversial. In Ridiculous, jokes about his mother's cremation or child abuse feel more like aggressive attempts to provoke. Some jokes are less about pushing boundaries and more about expressing negativity, like a weak joke about a friend's eggs being 'scrambled' or 'rotten' when discussing fertility issues. The intended humor here seems to be simply that he is being unpleasant.

Louis CK is capable of producing better material, and Ridiculous shows moments of his skill in making relatable observations. He says, 'Every part of my body hates the part next to it,' which highlights his talent for describing the discomforts of getting older or just being alive. It's perhaps telling that his older, more philosophical jokes, like his famous routine about 'everything is amazing and nobody is happy,' seem less impactful now. The ordinary nature of some parts of this special might actually be its value. It serves as a reminder that Louis CK's weaknesses, both in his personal life and on stage, are a result of his own choices.