Louis C.K. Is Going On a National Comeback Tour

If you really wanted to hear Louis C.K.’s new material, you probably have by now. As I mentioned when I first covered it, the set was mostly very funny with a few jokes that did work and that I’m sure are going to be cleaned up by the time Louis starts his comeback tour, which he’s in the process of booking.

We known that Louis is booking his tour because club owner Wende Curtis told Jezebel about how she ultimately decided not to book him.

Recently, Curtis told us, confirming what we’d heard from a tipster, she got an email from CK’s assistant, asking to book a date at her club in April. Curtis, who was about to head into a busy day of meetings, responded quickly with a list of available dates that month. Then, she says, she had second thoughts: “It wasn’t until after I had sent that back that I really realized, this is Louis CK and he wants to come in.”

I’ve been telling you for a while that Louis was going to make a comeback and that a lot of club owners would choose to book him. While Wende Curtis declined to (and that’s absolutely fine), she explained very well why a lot of clubs aren’t going to turn him down, even now.

“I was conflicted,” she tells us. “I’d love to have Louis CK and those numbers and that marquee name in my club. But for obvious reasons, I was conflicted. I wanted to dig back in to what had happened.” She told the woman via email, “I want to know from you how that would make you feel.”

I understand her deciding that what Louis did wasn’t okay and she didn’t want him at her club, and that’s her right as a club owner, she can book whoever she wants. But she basically nails the reason a lot of club are going to book him, and it’s because he’s still going to be a draw. His shows at the clubs in New York have been well-received and let’s be real, people are going to come out and buy tickets and drinks even if they just want to rubberneck.

Nothing Curtis said seemed out of the ordinary, she just felt that in the end, Louis hadn’t properly atoned for what he’d done. I did take issue with Anna Merlan, the Jezebel writer, framing that Louis’s return has gone poorly for him.

Louis CK’s fumbling attempts to return to public life haven’t gone particularly well so far: His limp appearances at the Comedy Cellar and a leaked set of truly gross new material haven’t exactly returned him to grace. Now, a tipster tells us that CK is attempting to book some kind of national tour, with dates at clubs across the U.S. That too seems to be meeting with mixed success.

You can hear people laughing at Louis’s material for almost a solid hour. The fact that the internet took offense at two minutes of it doesn’t mean anything, and one club owner refusing to book him doesn’t mean he’s having trouble booking a tour.

Now I’m not saying you have to like Louis C.K., but he’s certainly got his fans, and despite what some people think, he’s not going to go the Dennis Miller route and only play to right-wing crowds because the Democrats aren’t killing enough brown people for him.

Not that it can’t be done, look at Larry the Cable Guy; he’s super successful and not only does he play only to right-wing crowds, he’s also a terrible comedian who has never said anything funny or insightful. We can argue over Louis all we want, but he’s clearly going to continue to be successful.