Louis CK to Bypass Cable Networks, Release Comedy Special Online : November 19, 2011

For his next stand up special, comedian Louis C.K. will forego the usual method of airing the show on one of the cable networks and release the film on his website, louis [...]

louis ck Biography

Louis C.K is a popular stand-up comic, an Emmy Award winning comedy writer, and just recently, also an Emmy Award nominated comedic actor. He is best known for writing sketches which have appeared in ‘The Chris Rock Show’ and ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’, among others.

Louis was born Louis Szekely in Washington D.C to an Irish-American mother and a Hungarian father on September 12, 1967. His screen name is the result of a creative contraction of the English pronunciation of his last name. He possesses dual citizenship, American and Mexican, for he lived in Mexico during the first seven years of his life as his paternal ancestors emigrated from Hungary to Mexico, as such, he can speak both English and Spanish fluently. His family then migrated to Boston, MA, where his passion for comedy and writing was ignited and began to flourish.

In 1984, fresh out of high school, Louis tried his luck for the first time in a local comedy club, but the attempt wasn’t fruitful keeping him discouraged from hitting the club scene for the next two years. He tried his luck once again, this time as an opening act for Jerry Seinfeld which led to better success and popularity in the comedy club scene, causing him to move to Manhattan, the center of it all, in 1989. From there and then on, he has appeared in several TV shows such as ‘Evening at the Improv’ and ‘Star Search’ and has had guest stints in late night talk shows including ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien’ and ‘The Chris Rock Show’, where he also worked as a writer. As one of the head writers for ‘The Chris Rock Show’, Louis earned three Emmy nods for Best Writing in a Variety or Comedy Series, winning one in 1999.

In 2006, Louis tried his hand in acting with ‘Lucky Louie’, the first sitcom for cable giant HBO which only ran for a single season. This was followed with guest spots in other sitcoms like ‘Role Models’ and ‘Parks and Recreation’. In 2009, the new comedy series ‘Louie’ premiered in the cable channel FX with Louis as the main star. The show also gave him full creative control, from the direction, to the writing and editing. The show, now on its third season, closely mirrors his life as a middle-aged divorcee, its perks and its perils. As he sarcastically puts it, "It's hard to start again after a marriage. It's hard to really, like, look at somebody and go, hey, maybe something nice will happen. ... Or you'll meet the perfect person, who you love infinitely, and you even argue well, and you grow together, and you have children, and then you get old together, and then she's going to die. That's the best-case scenario." In real life, Louis divorced his wife Alix Bailey in 2008 and together, they have two children. Thanks to ‘Louie’, he earned his first Emmy acting nod, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Louis also holds the record for being the star of ‘Hilarious’ (2009), the first recorded comedy routine film to enter the Sundance Film Festival.

Louis has also done several voice works for various shows and has also frequented the Opie and Anthony radio show, Raw Dog Comedy on Sirius XM, and the Bob and Tom radio show, a frequent stopover for both aspiring and seasoned comics. He also has his own YouTube channel where many of his rejected and earlier material are being featured.