11 Cool Things Louis C.K. Said On The Bill Simmons Podcast
With analysis!
I love Louis C.K., so here are some things he said to Bill Simmons on The Bill Simmons Podcast, part of the Bill Simmons Podcast Network. Bill Simmons.
Yes, this podcast released a month ago. Yes, I should have published this sooner. Yes, you are always right and I smell bad. However, transcribing audio is a gigantic pain in my fart flinger, so go ahead be grateful for this wonderful gift.
Here is the podcast in its entirety. I recommend you listen to the whole thing, but go ahead and jump ahead to the 11 spots I highlighted.
4:08 I wanted to see how a show grows with no help. I wanted to see IF it would.
C.K. unveiled Horace and Pete—a 10-episode tragicomedy set in a Brooklyn bar—at 10 a.m. on a Saturday via a text-only email to his subscribers. Pretty much the worst idea ever from a marketing perspective. But if your product is good and your audience is loyal and hungry, word of mouth will take over.
Plus, the mystery surrounding Horace and Pete plus the differentiation that came with the awful release time actually became an organic marketing campaign in itself. “Did you hear what Louis just did?” became a topic of conversation once Monday hit.
Side note: I’m a Bill Simmons fan. I dig his podcast and his eye for talent. But WOOF. Sometimes things just fly over his head. Take this exchange, for example.
C.K.: I wanted to see how a show grows without help. I wanted to see if it would. I picked the worst possible promotion time.
Simmons: It seemed like it was intentional, though!
Yes, Bill. You are correct. That is exactly what Louis just said.
6:37 There were these stories that said, “Horace and Pete lost money.” And I thought, ‘Well, that’s not…I didn’t lose money. I invested money.’
This section was fascinating. Louis was open about how TV shows make money, and the universal answer appears to be, “Not right away.” It takes time for a new creation to go from red to black. Often, this moment happens when broadcast rights are sold to other outlets.
Quick background: Horace and Pete is critically beloved and has a monster cast, including Steve Buscemi, Jessica Lange, Alan Alda and Edie Falco. C.K. sold the pilot on his website for $5, episode 2 for $2, and every remaining episode for $3. You can now purchase the entire 10-episode run for $31.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I have no doubt I will soon. Netflix and Amazon whoever else would each love to secure the rights. Apparently, Horace and Pete, which feels like a 10-act play, is unlike anything else on TV.
Louis owns every piece of Horace and Pete. As he says, outright owning great content is an enormous asset, and worthy of short-term risk. (Each episode cost him about $500,000 to produce)
9:20
Just wanted to mark this part because Simmons just said, again, that he thinks Louis quietly released Horace and Pete intentionally.
YES, BILL. VERY GOOD.
10:07 The reason I say our age is because…um, why did I mention our age…oh! Because the way TV feels to us is like it’s a thing that happened, and then it’s done happening.
The thing we haven’t wrapped our heads around is that the stuff we make sits there forever. I launched the show on a Saturday morning, but that’s meaningless now.
It’s astounding this that hilarious, portly, bald dude is better at reading the industry tea leaves than entire armies of network execs. If the content is good enough, it no longer needs to be a smash hit immediately. People will find it, talk about it, and it will grow steadily over time.
18:38 Nobody wants to click on a story that’s like, “Jury’s out on how Horace and Pete is doing so far. It’s in deficit, but sales are strong.” That’s not a clickable story. “Louis CK lost all his money on Horace and Pete” is very clickable.
He’s right. I would not click that first story. I would, however, sprain my finger because I clicked that second story too fast.
35:22 He’s a really brilliant guy and a very giving and generous guy. He listens well and he adds well.
This is Louis describing Vernon Chatman, an executive producer on Horace and Pete who also works as a writing consultant on South Park. I know people like Vernon. Their bridges are never burned. If they’re looking for work, all they have to do is ask. That’s a great kind of person to aspire to be.
36:12 Sitting on my couch while I’m writing is the biggest help anyone ever gives me. I’m writing and I look up once in a while and go, “Does this make sense?” We discuss it a little and I keep going.
Dear Louis,
GIVE ME THIS JOB. No, I have no IMDB credits. Thank you. Good day.
Reminder: do not be a lone wolf with your work. Letting people you trust take a look makes it so much better. More brains trump one brain every time.
49:15 If Horace and Pete is about one thing, it’s the tension people feel between wanting to be alone and wanting to be with people. Being alone is safe, but there’s desperate fear in being alone. Then if you’re with people, there’s comfort, but there’s danger. Because you can get hurt by people. We constantly want to be safe, but not alone. Safe, but not alone. So a bar is a place where you can sit there, and everyone will leave you alone, but you’re not alone.
Hearing this summary is like getting punched in the gut. As you might have guessed, Horace and Pete is a difficult watch. During filming, C.K. shut it down in the early afternoon each day because the cast was so emotionally spent. Comedy!
55:08 He wrote me this thing saying, “Wasting time is part of being creative.” It was something about how Einstein used to do dumb things before he went and figured everything out.
That’s something Garry Shandling sent to Louis a month before he died. I am all about procrastination justification, so “Wasting time is part of being creative” is my new motto.
59:00 What I’m really used to doing, because I do it several hundred times per night, is starting to say something and watching people tighten and get upset. I know that after they get upset, they’re going to laugh and be glad we went down that road.
This is probably what I love most about Louis C.K. He finds genuine, belly laughter comedy in subjects that we try our best never to discuss. When he brings them up, we get immediately uncomfortable. We want to escape. Suddenly, he’s guided us to our destination, and we’re cry with laughter. It’s such a rare skill to be able to pull off on a consistent basis.
59:40 [Louis’ maniacal laughter]
After Simmons brings up C.K.’s legendary SNL monologue to illustrate his love of uncomfortable subjects, listen to Louis’ laugh. Does anything in your life make you laugh with uncontrollable glee like that? Whatever it is, you should probably be doing it for a living.
1:03:43 to 1:07:07
There is a ton of profound insight here. My one sentence summary of these 3+ minutes: If you are authentically you at all times, you will always wind up where you’re supposed to be.
