Louis C.K.

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Louis C.K.
Born September 12, 1967 (1967-09-12) (age 40)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Medium Stand-up, Television, Film
Nationality American
Years active 1985 - Present
Genres Observational comedy, Black comedy, Surreal humor
Subject(s) everyday life, self-deprecation, marriage, parenting
Influences Richard Pryor, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, Lenny Bruce, Steve Sweeney[1]
Influenced Patton Oswalt,
Spouse Alix Bailey (divorced, 2 children)
Notable works and roles Director, Writer of Pootie Tang
Louie in Lucky Louie
Website LouisCK.com
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program
1999 The Chris Rock Show

Louis C.K. (born Louis Szekely on September 12, 1967 in Washington, D.C.) is an Emmy Award-winning American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, producer and director.

Contents

[edit] Early life

C.K. was born in Washington, D.C.[2] to an economist of Mexican Catholic and Hungarian-Jewish descent, and a Harvard-educated mother of Irish Catholic descent. After four years in Mexico City, he grew up in Massachusetts—first Framingham and then, mostly, Newton. His family pronounces their surname, Hungarian-origin Szekely, roughly as [se'-ke], and in his grade-school years he resorted to "C.K." as an easy way to get his name pronounced almost correctly as [si' ke].[3]

[edit] Career

[edit] Writing

His credits as a writer include Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Dana Carvey Show and the Chris Rock Show. His work for the Chris Rock Show was nominated for an Emmy Award three times, including winning "Best Writing in a Variety or Comedy Series" in 1999. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award for his work writing Late Night with Conan O'Brien. However, the feature film born from the Chris Rock sketches, Pootie Tang, received largely negative reviews.

In 2001, C.K. co-wrote the Chris Rock film Down to Earth.

In 2007 he co-wrote the movie I Think I Love My Wife with Chris Rock. As of late August, C.K. has confirmed he's shopping around a collection of short stories titled, Touching Turkeys Tastefully. To date, he has not found a suitable publisher.

[edit] Filmmaking

He has also directed and written several short films and feature-length movies. His short films include: "Caesar's Salad," "The Legend of Willie Brown," a jazz mockumentary, "Ice Cream," and six short films on a Showtime sketch comedy show called "Sunny Skies." The feature films that he wrote and directed include: Tomorrow Night, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival among other festivals, and received rave reviews from the L.A. Times, Variety, and New Times L.A. which called it "the best film of the year 2000.[4]. However, he is probably best known for directing and writing the feature-length film Pootie Tang, starring a character that he created for The Chris Rock Show.

[edit] Stand-up

He has performed his stand-up frequently on shows like Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. In August 2005, C.K. starred in a half-hour HBO special as part of the stand-up series One Night Stand. Most recently his subject matter reflected his frustrations and anxieties from raising his four-year-old daughter. He was ranked #98 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. There was a small controversy about his placement. When '80s prop comic Gallagher was ranked #100 on the list, he angrily remarked "I don't even know who Louis C.K. is!"

In 2007, C.K. starred in his own hour-long HBO special titled Shameless.

On March 1st 2008, Louis recorded his new stand up special Chewed Up.

[edit] Acting

In June 2006, he began starring in Lucky Louie, a sitcom he created with executive producer Mike Royce. The series premiered on HBO. The show was filmed in front of a live studio audience; it was HBO's first series in that format. Lucky Louie is described as a bluntly realistic portrayal of family life. However, HBO cancelled the series after its first season.

[edit] Voice acting

As a voice actor he portrayed Brendon's estranged father, Andrew Small, in Home Movies, and appeared numerous times on Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.

[edit] Other work

Louis is a frequent guest on the Opie and Anthony radio show, which also stars his Lucky Louie co-star Jim Norton, and he was a part of Opie and Anthony's Traveling Virus Comedy Tour with other comedians in 2007.

Louis is also an occasional guest on the Bob and Tom radio show which is a popular showcase for comedians.

Louis frequently works with Robert Smigel on TV Funhouse shorts exclusively to Saturday Night Live, ranging from politics to surrealism. Louis also frequently works with Aaron Augenblick, of Wonder Showzen fame.

Louis started his own YouTube channel, featuring sketches and productions that were part of an HBO presentation that was ultimately rejected.

Currently, C.K. is set to appear in the upcoming films The Better Man, Diminished Capacity and This Side of the Truth.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Interview with Louis C.K.. One Night Stand. HBO (2005). Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  2. ^ Knutzen, Eirik. Louis C.K.. Copley News Service. Retrieved on 2007-05-26.
  3. ^ Swidey, Neil. "Family !@%$#%' Ties", The Boston Globe, December 27, 2005. Retrieved on 2005-12-01. 
  4. ^ Louis CK Bio, http://www.louisck.com/bio.htm

[edit] External links

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