“Canceled” comedian Louis C.K. surprised his fans on Saturday by releasing a new comedy special titled “Sincerely,” which can be streamed for $8 on his website.
C.K. — whose career got derailed in 2017 after it was revealed that he was a chronic public serial masturbator -- has been trying to mount a comeback by performing stand-up shows on a sellout tour of small comedy clubs. C.K. was accused of masturbating in front of fellow female comedians backstage before and after shows. Despite the backlash, fellow comedians such as Rob Schneider, Janeane Garofalo, and Sarah Silverman have vehemently defended C.K's right to perform at clubs the last few years.
Unscathed by the social media hounds that want him to shut up and go back to his censored dark corner, “Sincerely” is C.K.’s first filmed special in over three years. After the accusations surfaced three years ago, C.K. promised in 2017 to “step back and take a long time to listen,” but that hiatus was short-lived as he returned to stand-up comedy at the end of 2018 and made headlines with routines which openly mocked transgender people, Parkland shooting survivors, and even his own controversial actions towards women.
In a statement announcing the comedy special on Saturday, C.K. said he felt it was important to make people laugh during this pandemic:
'One kind needs to laugh when things get sh***y. In fact, the sh***ier things get, the more serious, the more dark the more terrifying, the more dangerous and dire anything is, the more important it is to laugh in the midst of it and often directly in its face,' he wrote.
He continued: 'The other kind of people feel that it's important to put aside laughter in times of difficulty and give serious And painful things the respect and the silence due to them.”
'I don't think that either one of these kinds of people is right over the other. I can only say that I belong to the first group,' he said in conclusion, before adding that he hopes this new special can help 'those who need to laugh' and that 'for those of you that can't laugh right now I just wish you all the peace you can grab in this sh***y sh***y time.'
Media outlets such as The Daily Beast and Vanity Fair have already openly condemned “Sincerely,” with the Stazi-like mindset that he should have already been put in a corner, gagged, never to pop back out in the spotlight. That is clearly not going to happen and we’re all the better for it because of that.
I will be watching “Sincerely” tonight and posting my review tomorrow.
The guy behind "Oculus," "Midnight Mass" and "Hush" (still his best) used to do his own thing. Now? "Carrie" is streaming, "The Exorcist: Martyrs" has a trailer, and two more King adaptations are on the way.