Louis C.K. is now selling tickets for what I guess you'd call a comeback tour. He'll go from North Carolina to Illinois and then to Iowa and then to Israel, then to Italy, then back to Israel, then to Slovokia, then back here to Michigan and other spots in the U.S. Some of these concerts are already sold out.
At least for the shows in this country, Yondr cases are a condition of attendance…
This event will be a phone-free experience. Use of cellphones, smart watches, smart accessories, cameras or recording devices will not be permitted in the performance space.
Upon arrival at the venue, all phones and smart watches will be secured in Yondr cases that will be opened at the end of the event. Guests maintain possession of their phones at all times, and can access their phones throughout the show at designated Phone Use Areas in the venue. All phones will be re-secured in Yondr cases before returning to the performance space.
Anyone seen using a cellphone during the performance will be escorted out of the venue. We appreciate your cooperation in creating a phone-free viewing experience.
And that's not the only rule. According to this piece in the New York Times…
…attendees will not be allowed to take notes, even on paper. "Recording of any kind, including note taking," is not permitted, the rules say. And no part of Louis C.K.'s "materials" — a.k.a. his jokes and sketches — are allowed to be "copied, translated, transmitted, displayed, distributed or reproduced verbatim," in any form. Those who violate these rules are subject to legal repercussions, it reads.
So we have two issues here, one being whether this man should be out touring and performing. I say sure. He hasn't been charged or convicted of any crime. He admitted to doing some bad things and I really don't know what the penalty should be for them, nor would I want to sit on a jury deciding that penalty. In the absence of legal proceedings, it becomes a matter of whether theaters want to book him and people want to see him…and I assume if enough people want to see him and there are no mass demonstrations or reprisals — any maybe even if they are — most theaters will be only too happy to book him.
Not all that long ago, I might have been in one of those audiences because I admired his work but even before his sex scandal, I was done with the guy. He became (to me) one of those comics who says shocking, offensive things not because he believes them but because he thinks a reputation for being shocking and offensive is very commercial…and maybe easier than writing smart, perceptive jokes. I'm not against shocking and offensive in a comedian. Jim Jefferies is one of my current favorite comics but unlike what I began hearing from Louis C.K. before his exile, Jefferies is funny and he either means what he says or does it with a kind of verbal wink that lets you know he doesn't.
So if and when Louis C.K. comes my way, I won't be buying tickets for that reason and also because of the Yondr case requirement. I already discussed those things here and came to the conclusion that they'd probably keep me away from most shows. I don't question any performer's right to require them but I don't think I want to attend most shows — maybe any — if that's a condition. Then add in the threat of litigation if I come back here and review the show on my blog and you know what you get? Well, it's not my ticket money.
I always thought of stand-up comedy as the purest form of Free Speech we have in this country. Louis C.K.'s entire career is built on this freedom and here he is trying to restrict it for others. Is he really going to sue reviewers who quote a line or two of what he does on stage? I can understand why he might want to try having it both ways — the money plus jumpstarting his career while making it harder to criticize him. It just seems to me that if you're trying to prevent people from reviewing your act, the way to achieve that is to not go out and do your act.
It reminds me of something and to tell you about it, I have to go back to a post here from 2003. Dennis Miller was on a barely-watched MSNBC show that Phil Donahue was hosting back when no one watched MSNBC. The audience for it may have been just me and Marlo…
At one point on the broadcast, Miller made a reference to having sex with sheep, complete with the "f" word, and then remembering he was on live TV, he turned to Donahue and asked, "We're on a delay, right? They're bleeping me, right?" They weren't, at least insofar as the East Coast was concerned. During the next commercial, someone informed Miller that he'd just said what he'd said on live, non-HBO TV and when they came back from the break, he muttered a slight apology and told his host that it was stupid not to have a tape delay on a show of that sort.
Now, I don't think saying that word on MSNBC is going to matter one bit in the world. It wouldn't even matter if it was uttered on a show that someone besides me was watching. But Dennis Miller was live on Saturday Night Live. Dennis Miller was live on Monday Night Football. Dennis Miller was even live on Dennis Miller Live. The man understands the concept of live television and has usually appeared on it without a tape delay. He has also spent an awful lot of airtime blasting people who don't accept personal responsibility for their actions. But apparently, it's the Donahue show's fault that he was heard saying something he said but didn't mean to have heard.
And it's also the first time I've ever seen a professional comedian complain about not being censored.
If I thought for a while, I might be able to think of another time that a professional comedian wanted to try and limit the Free Speech of others…or at least others who weren't in the audience and heckling him. Right now, only Louis C.K. comes to mind.