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An Oxford psychologist and a fashion major discuss Louie S01E02 - Poker/Divorce

Synopsis: The conversation during a poker game becomes an intense exploration of gay culture. In the second segment, after Louie's brother depresses him about the finality of his divorce, Louie reminisces about a high school crush subsequently looking her up on Facebook. 

Kaffeemaedl: After we published the first post in this series, I realized we forgot to explain the setup here. I, Kaffeemaedl/Amanda, am a big fan of Louie and have seen all three seasons. Tetrarchangel/Tim has just started and we’re writing these as he watches. After watching Poker/Divorce, Tim emailed me his notes. I’m posting them here, interspersed with my comments on what he had to say and on the show overall.

Tetrarchangel: I watched the next episode and made some notes. This is very much an Overthinking It thing to do, just as I did watching Misfits for their delightful TFT Podcast.

The use of music in the poker scene to reflect the group emotions of the gathered comedians was striking - music in sitcoms is either not really used or used in such an unsubtle way as to not really be funny.

In that selfsame scene, the “faggot” discussion is so not sitcom - it’s a very real comedians’ discussion, with that mix of serious self-reflection and the desire to make the punchline even if it’s socially costly, and goes on past the joke, if there is one, and I admired it greatly for that.

K: I discovered Louie about 2 years ago, and I remember watching the first few episodes to find out if I liked the show or whether I’d quit after a few. After watching the poker scene I knew I’d keep watching. Rick explaning what the word “faggot” actually means is what did it. It was a very serious and emotional subject, and it was approached in such a thoughtful manner. As you said, very much not like a typical sitcom. After that I knew this was a show worth following.

T: I love Louie’s eyes. He has terrific eyes for acting. Especially in the title sequence, they capture so much in a few movements.

I wondered about the divorce life parallel - but I haven’t gone to Wikipedia and looked it up, though I heard on the very good Laughter Therapy podcast where they include an excerpt of Louis CK’s standup that he did get divorced much as the character of Louie did. I think I prefer to stick with the fictionalised for now - this IS his exploration of his divorce. The facts don’t matter.

To take that point further, the surreal elements of the show illuminate the all too real. With Tammy, this is especially the case, with Louie journeying in his mind to this bizarre experience of the alienation between teenage boys and girls, an alienation he has resumed through his divorce. 

"That’s why you’re Facebooking. Playing could’ve been." This is probably the quote of the episode, again, it’s so true to what I hear life is like at that stage, and yet so surreal at the same time, with the death themes, the memories, the fantasies, and the brilliant payoff which I won’t spoil since the scene was in that way so dramatically tense and then untense and then tense again. 

Finally, a little interesting note, Netflix bleeping the profanity in a specific and detailed routine about bestiality. Maybe there are better ways to manage content - if we can handle the routine, we can handle the words!

K: I love what you said about his eyes, and it reminded me of this.

Something Louie does as a comedian and within the show that I really appreciate is how often his jokes are about empathy or a lack thereof. He’ll make jokes about what an awful person he is, how he doesn’t give up his seat to a soldier, or sell his car, buy a cheaper one and donate the money left over, among others. And even as he’s making jokes about how selfish he is, he’s still phrasing it in a way that makes sure we see the people he’s talking about, and think about them for a second, when we otherwise wouldn’t give them any thought. Other occasions include a joke and a situation in a third season episode regarding a homeless person. He takes these subjects and people that humans in general tend to look away from or try not to think about, whether it’s because we don’t have the power to do anything about it, or because we’re comfortable and don’t want to jeopardize that in an attempt to help someone else who is obviously not. But regardless of our reasons, we do tend to act as if these situations aren’t there, and I think pointing them out, and pointing out our attitudes towards them, is important and Louie often does it.

An Oxford psychologist and a fashion major discuss Louie S01E01 - Pilot

Synopsis: Louie chaperones his daughter's field trip/Louie goes on a date

Kaffeemaedl: First episode, what are your impressions:

Tetrarchangel: I was scared of hype. Louis CK is supposed to be the best, the American Stewart Lee or whatever, so I was aware that I didn't want to be underwhelmed. But I was definitely laughing frequently by the second half, especially combined with sadly saying 'Louie' when he did something foolish. That's a real sign that I'm instantly connecting with Louie as a character, as a human I care about whether he does something that's bad for him or not. It's worth noting that I'm a total rookie - my only Louis CK exposure is a couple of tumblr image posts and his appearances on Parks and Recreation. So yes, I laughed at it, more the 'sitcom' than the 'standup' but I definitely liked it - and now I'm going to leave in an inexplicable helicopter.

K: As a non-British person, I haven't heard of Stewart Lee before. Why would you say Brits think of Louis CK as the American Stewart Lee? Can you link to a video that illustrates that?