How Louie C.K. Tells a Joke
The High Art of Stand Up Comedy
The Gist
Evan Puschak, the brilliant mind behind the wonderful Youtube channel, Nerdwriter1 explores immense amount of craft underpinning one of Louis CK’s jokes.
The Gem
Evan’s exploration of the joke’s counterpoint illustrates how a seemingly random detail or two is critical to the structure overall bit while also highlighting Louie’s performing genius by fooling the audience into believing he is coming up with these items right on the spot.
Why I Chose this
I’m a big fan of creations where the observable mechanics are a subset of an underlying model that is nearly invisible to the layman. It takes an incredible amount of craft to make something look easy. Jokes, poetry, apps, movies, stories — are all things we consume without considering what is required to produce them.
Videos like this show just how much talent and energy it takes to pack so much sophistication into a simple output.
