Louis C.K. on Writing His First Novel and Returning to Stage | 2 Bears, 1 Cave

Summary

2 Bears, 1 Cave with Tom Segura & Bert Kreischer

Episode: Louis C.K. on Writing His First Novel and Returning to Stage
Date: November 24, 2025
Guest: Louis C.K., Host: Tom Segura and Bert Kreischer (YMH Studios)

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Episode Overview

In this special New York City edition of "2 Bears, 1 Cave," Tom Segura and Bert Kreischer sit down with celebrated comedian and writer Louis C.K. They dive deep into Louis's transition from stand-up into novel writing, his experiences stepping away from—and returning to—the stage, and the emotional complexities that underpin his new book, "Ingram." The episode is rich with raw, revealing conversation about creativity, emotional vulnerability, empathy, and the realities of the comedy industry.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Getting Started: Novel Writing & Inspiration

• Louis C.K. as an Author

  • Louis discusses gifting a signed copy of "Ingram" and his new passion for writing novels (00:41–01:19).
  • "I love it so much. I love it." (Louis C.K., 01:23)
  • Writing has been a lifelong dream for Louis; he romanticized Russian literature as a child (01:32–01:46).
  • “I would open the windows in the winter of my bedroom to feel Russian.” (Louis C.K., 01:46)

• Influences & Humor

  • Russian and Eastern European humor: finding laughter in darkness, bleakness, and “how awful something is” (02:01–02:20).

The Joy & Struggles of Writing vs. Performing (03:58–06:28)

• Creativity and Process

  • Louis struggled to enjoy television and movie writing due to distraction and ADHD.
  • He took a year and a half off from stand-up to focus on calming his spirit, which allowed him to write fiction with renewed focus.
  • "It created this space... I wrote that morning. So the whole day feels great." (Louis C.K., 08:34–08:43)

• Writing Rituals

  • Louis shares his daily writing rituals—meditation, French press coffee, revisiting yesterday’s pages—to gently ease into writing (07:20–08:05).

On the Structure and Evolution of a Novel (09:00–11:00)

• Organic Storytelling over Outlines

  • "I just started writing a description of his life in his voice... He felt living to me… so I just kept following him chapter by chapter." (Louis C.K., 09:12–10:39)
  • Louis treats his characters as autonomous, allowing the narrative to unfold naturally, sometimes to his own surprise and concern.
  • He describes the emotional investment in his lead character, emphasizing an almost parental worry and devotion.

• New (Unpublished) Book

  • Louis describes his upcoming book as “really fucked up,” with scenes designed to provoke discomfort and strong reactions—even disgust (11:00–11:31).
  • “I wish I could help you. I wish I could thank you for writing it.” (Louis C.K. quoting reader feedback, 11:02)

Emotional Impact and Reader Response (17:00–22:00)

• Bert’s Personal Connection

  • Bert deeply relates to "Ingram," projecting his own son onto the protagonist, highlighting the emotional resonance and parental anxiety the novel inspires (17:17–18:15).
  • Louis reflects on how worry and empathy grow from that emotional investment.

• Empathy, Worry, and Growth

  • Deep dive into how empathy manifests as worry and how literature amplifies emotional experiences: “Worry is empathy.” (Louis C.K., 20:52)
  • Discussion on the transition from childhood to adulthood and societal responsibility: “When do we become responsible for someone?” (Louis C.K., 19:44)

Hardship, Loneliness, and the Limits of Empathy (23:09–32:44)

• Childhood Hardship as Artistic Material

  • Louis draws from his own experiences with poverty and isolation growing up, contributing to his ability to empathize and write complex child protagonists.

• Loneliness as an Unseen Epidemic

  • Extended conversation on the unacknowledged epidemic of loneliness, how society reacts with emotional withdrawal to overwhelming need—particularly among children and the homeless (31:09–32:44).
  • “If I get to be your friend, you’re going to swallow me whole… because you got nothing.” (Louis C.K., 31:46)

The Return to Stand-Up: Motivation and Method (40:36–48:57)

• Stepping Back Onto Stage

  • Louis candidly shares about not missing stand-up at first, but feeling an irrepressible urge to return after a year, likening it to needing to pee (41:11–41:21).
  • A surprise guest spot at the Comedy Cellar reignites his love for performing.

• Evolution in Stage Presence

  • Observes how, post-hiatus, he engages with audiences with more emotional neutrality and willingness to “play” with the energy and uncomfortable silences.
  • “No laugh doesn't mean nothing happened. Something happened.” (Louis C.K., 44:17)
  • “If you piss them off or confuse them… you’ve got a new chemical, a new gas in the room.” (Louis C.K., 45:10)

The Changing Nature of Comedy: Rules, Edginess & the Role of Being "a Dick" (55:32–60:44)

• Challenging Comedy ‘Rules’

  • Louis and Bert push against the notion that comedy should “never punch down.”
  • “Punching down is horrible and funny. Hysterically funny.” (Louis C.K., 57:58)
  • Discussing spite and anger as genuine, fruitful comedic emotions, and the value of being unapologetically “a dick” for the sake of laughter.

• Articulating the Universal

  • Tom credits Louis’s unique gift for giving voice to thoughts everyone has but nobody articulates: "Every hour you have this capacity to say things that are like... a universal. ...I can't believe no one's ever said it." (Tom Segura, 52:26–52:39)

Life, Touring, and the Future (61:15–67:40)

• Tour Fatigue & Aging in Comedy

  • Louis confesses the physical and mental toll of constant touring, expressing a desire to scale back live performances.
  • “What it takes for me to be is... a lot of repetition and pushing... I don’t think I could do that anymore. ...I love writing novels.” (Louis C.K., 61:55–62:07)

• Money, Projects, and Motivation

  • Louis explains the economics of his life—making art at his own expense, depleting his finances, and needing to tour again: “I had that moment twice... First time it was good news. Second time, it was bad news.” (Louis C.K., 67:27)
  • Hints at new creative projects, possibly returning to filmmaking.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Writing Fiction:
  • “I just started writing a description of his life in his voice... and I just kept following him chapter by chapter.” (Louis C.K., 09:12–10:39)
• On Returning to Stage:
  • “I started thinking of jokes and it felt like I had to pee… I had to get rid of these or I gotta just do them once.” (Louis C.K., 41:11–41:21)
  • “No laugh doesn’t mean nothing happened. Something happened.” (Louis C.K., 44:17)
• On Comedy’s Taboo:
  • “Comedy’s not supposed to be fair… The whole point of comedy to me is what you’re not supposed to do.” (Louis C.K., 59:25–59:32)
• On the Physical Cost of Performing:
  • “I know I did a good show now is if I need to get in a bathtub of salt” (Louis C.K., 61:53)

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Timestamps to Key Segments

| Topic | Timestamp | |-------|-----------| | Introduction to Louis’s novel writing | 00:41–03:18 | | Louis on writing rituals/process | 07:20–08:43 | | Character development in "Ingram" | 09:12–10:39 | | Bert’s emotional reaction to the novel | 17:17–18:15 | | Discussion on empathy, worry, and growth | 20:52–22:27 | | Louis’s reflections on loneliness | 31:09–32:44 | | Louis returns to stand-up | 41:11–44:17 | | Comedy and uncomfortable moments | 44:17–46:44 | | Challenging the “don’t punch down” rule | 55:32–57:58 | | Touring, money, and future plans | 61:15–67:40 |

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Tone & Style

The conversation is candid, philosophical, self-reflective, and interspersed with characteristic humor—equal parts earnest and irreverent. Louis’s introspection is deeply felt, while the comedians riff off each other fluidly, blending vulnerability with sharp comedic timing.

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a rich, honest exploration of creative process, emotional authenticity, and the ever-evolving nature of comedy. Louis C.K. lays bare the private joys and struggles of creation, the tension between public performance and private fulfillment, and the value of provoking strong emotional reactions—be they laughter or discomfort. For fans of comedy, literature, or simply human insight, this is a standout listening experience.

Transcript

[Tom Segura]

Alabama and South Carolina. What's up? This December, I'll be bringing my Come Together tour to Huntsville on the 4th. And on Friday, December 5th, I'll be performing at the Alabama Theater in Birmingham. After that, on Saturday, December 6th, I'll be in Columbia, South Carolina, at the township Auditorium. I can't wait to see you there. Get your Tickets [e-mail] tour 100%.

[Bert Kreischer]

Welcome to a special episode of Two Bears One Cave Live. Not Live, recorded from New York City with our special guest, Louis CK who has a new book called Ingram Lewis. Yes. Welcome to the program.

[Louis C.K.]

Thank you. Oh, by the way, I have another. I have another copy of that to give you because I signed it.

[Bert Kreischer]

Oh, yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So that one's for you.

[Bert Kreischer]

Oh, thank you.

[Louis C.K.]

Dedicated to.

[Bert Kreischer]

Thank you so much.

[Louis C.K.]

That copy is not the book itself.

[Tom Segura]

Okay, great.

[Bert Kreischer]

Appreciate this very much. Yeah, I very much enjoyed reading this. I actually visited you and I was in your office.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

And you. I think you had already written this. It was going to be. It was like coming out soon or. Yeah. Several months later. And you were working on a different book.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah, I have another novel. I just finished a draft of a draft of. Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

And you've. You are loving being a novel writer.

[Louis C.K.]

I love it so much. I love it.

[Bert Kreischer]

Writing every day.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah, every day.

[Bert Kreischer]

And that. What did this. You had aspirations of this, right? Like, did you always want to write?

[Louis C.K.]

When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a writer. Like, that was a dream to me.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Like, it was like being an athlete or something. Like, I wanted to be a novelist.

[Bert Kreischer]

Did you romanticize the smoking and the drink? Yeah, yeah, of course.

[Louis C.K.]

Because I got into Russian literature when I was a kid, like, kind of young, you know, and I would put. I would open the windows in the winter of my bedroom to feel Russian.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I just love the. Being able to write how horrible things could be. And it was. And somehow it was sweet to read that it was awful. Do you know what I mean?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah, sure. And the Russians are really good at that.

[Louis C.K.]

Yes. And they're funny. They're funny. So they're not. And they're not trying to be funny at all. They just say how awful something is and you laugh. That's where I kind of. I learned that.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. I had. I think I had a joke about it where I was in some Eastern European country and I was. I always ask, like, about, you know, I like to say, please. Thank you. Greetings. Yeah. I try to learn in different languages. I've Always just enjoyed it. And in one of them I was like, what's the whatever greeting here? And they told me that it translates to hopefully today is our last. And that was a straight faced.

[Louis C.K.]

I wonder where that was.

[Bert Kreischer]

I was like, huh, well, yeah, I.

[Louis C.K.]

Mean, the best shows, to me, the best shows that I ever, ever had have been in Eastern Europe, really. And Bucharest, Romania. Sophia. Yeah, Romania and Bulgaria.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And Bratislava, one place I played that was torn down like a week after I played it. There's some Soviet feelings theater, but they really get into comedy there and there. I've been to Russia and haven't been to Russia. It's really crazy. This book, the new book actually takes place in Russia.

[Tom Segura]

Oh, really?

[Louis C.K.]

And I kind of went back to that, romanticizing that. Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

When I did Budapest last, you know, my wife's. Both of her parents are Hungarian.

[Louis C.K.]

I'm Hungarian, my dad's side.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah, on your dad's side. And so I've, I've picked up phrases from all these years together and I, I in Hungarian said this the only bad part, this is to the audience, the only part of this city that sucks. And I said in Hungarian were the rotten gypsies. And it was like a minute long. Applause break.

[Louis C.K.]

Oh yeah, they hate their gypsies.

[Bert Kreischer]

They're like, this is fan. This is a good guy. We like you.

[Louis C.K.]

He gets us.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Budapest is pretty gnarly place. My grandfather lived there when he was whatever, he grew up there. But. But yeah. And I also just love. I used to really struggle with writing because I always felt like I was in trouble with it. Like I haven't done enough or I'm not, you know what I mean? And writing television and movies, it was always really hard to generate the scripts because work habits and ADHD or whatever just like being constantly distracted and wanting to eat all the time and other stuff that's not really helpful and, and just hard to get my ass in the seat and to look at the fucking thing, you know? And so that kept me from really enjoying writing. And I would write to make TV or movies. Like write something just so you can produce it.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So the actual writing wasn't that fun. And then I got into fiction, right. Like writing short stories again. And also I had a big change in my life of getting rid of a lot of distraction and kind of calming my spirit down, which actually worked. And then I took like a year and a half off of stand up between the last.

[Bert Kreischer]

Fascinating point for comedians.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Is that like, I don't know if everyone understands that There's a general kind of feeling amongst comics.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Is like a couple weeks away from the stage. You. You kind of got to get your sea legs back again.

[Louis C.K.]

Oh, yeah. You're out.

[Bert Kreischer]

You're out. And you're like, I don't. You know, I remember, like, taking vacations and then coming back and doing it.

[Louis C.K.]

Actually being scared to go back on stage.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. It really is like being a ballerina or something. Like, it's that level of discipline, like, to really be that good at it. I remember talking to Greg Fitzsimmons, who I always think of as just such a. He's got such a great work ethic, and I love his comedy.

[Bert Kreischer]

He's so funny.

[Louis C.K.]

He is great. Is hilarious. Been a friend of mine for, you know, eons, but we were talking about a common friend. We have a comedian. And I was like, what? Where has he been? And he said, well, he. His wife was ill and he took a year off. And he said. Then he. And then he. He got out of line. He stepped out of line.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

It's like you're waiting for your order your coffee and you step out of line. He had to get. So he's having a hard time getting back on the road. And there's always that fear because of how many years it took.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

That I can't fuck around like that. But the reason I was able to do it was because I decided I wasn't going to do comedy anymore. I just decided I was going to quit.

[Bert Kreischer]

You really?

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. Like, I'm done. It wasn't a decision like this. It was a letting go. I don't have to do this anymore. And so every day felt great because I wasn't, like, counting the days to coming back. I was just like, fuck it. Fuck all of that. I did it enough. And every time I would remember being a comedian and it felt great, I would say, yeah, that's why you did it for so long. But it wasn't drawing me back.

[Bert Kreischer]

Right.

[Louis C.K.]

And so during that time, I took, like, sculpture classes and painting classes, and I just sort of let my life unravel.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And it created this space. And I started writing Ingram and I. How I found out. It felt like being a guy that come off of Tommy John surgery, that all of a sudden you have new capabilities. Like, I was able to sit down every morning and really focus and feel like I'm just here with this book and write every single day.

[Bert Kreischer]

How many hours would you make yourself write?

[Louis C.K.]

It doesn't matter the time. As long as I sit down And I start. I have certain tricks in terms of trying to get in when I don't feel in. I have very basic ritual every morning of, like, wake up, I have a little spiritual moment, and then I meditate. And then I make coffee. It's the greatest thing in the world to me. And my French press put makes two good cups. The first cup, I read the newspaper and stuff.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Second cup, I take it to my desk and I sit down. And if I'm not in it, I go look back at the last couple of pages I wrote. And I just read them and make little tweaks. And then I'm working.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And then I keep going, and I go until I don't want to. It's like a very gentle thing. I go until some moment I look up and I go like, you know, be nice just to go do something else or whatever, or. I feel hungry.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

A trick I had. When I'm upstate, I have a machine that makes my oatmeal. It's a rice maker, but it makes oatmeal for me. I set it to, like, two hours. So the smell of oatmeal, you kind of go. I go, let's go eat.

[Bert Kreischer]

Let's go eat.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And then me and the dog go eat, and then we go walk. And the day I'm done, I wrote that morning. So the whole day feels great.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's great.

[Louis C.K.]

I love it. I love it. Makes my whole life better.

[Bert Kreischer]

When you write Ingram or this other book, do you do the. Because there's different, Obviously, approaches to writing. Different people have. Do you do an outline and know what you're doing, or do you just kind of see where the writing takes you?

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah, not so far. I mean, Ingram was supposed to be. I thought it was a short story. I thought it might even just be a paragraph. I just got this voice in my head of this kind of, like, American kid.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And I just started writing a description of his life in his voice.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I just wanted to see what it would feel like. And he felt living to me.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So once I started describing his life, I just thought I would have him describe in the first chapter. And it might make the first chapter a little funny because it wasn't supposed to be the first chapter of a book. It wasn't like, how do I get people into this book? It was just like, here's this kid talking, so he's describing his life, and I feel like I'm just hearing it and taking it down. I'm helping him say it. And then he starts telling a story. He says, and then my father left.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And I'm like, oh, so you're telling me what, something that happened? And then his mother tells him to leave because she can't take care of him anymore.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And I got really emotional. I was like, what the fuck's going to happen to him? And I sort of felt this sense of mission to take care of him. So every day I would sit down and go, like, what's going on with you? And I got scared for him. And the only thing that was making me feel okay about it all is that it was in the past tense. It's just the way it happened. And I was like, well, at least I know he's alive.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So I just kept following him through a really hard. I couldn't make his life easier. I didn't feel like I was deciding what would happen to him in terms of, like, how do I want his life to go? That's what an outline would have been like.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

What do I want to happen? So I just followed him chapter by chapter.

[Bert Kreischer]

And did your new book have the same kind of thing?

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah, similar. This. That one is really fucked up. It's really crazy. And it's more closer to my other work in terms of that. It gets really. It's disgusting in some places.

[Bert Kreischer]

Oh, nice.

[Louis C.K.]

And. Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

And it's so I'll really consume this book.

[Louis C.K.]

Oh, it's really up. I don't know if one person has read it. And he said it made him laugh out loud sometimes. And he said there's a few times he wanted to throw it across the room. And I said to him, he's not a guy I know well. But I got him to read it. I said, thanks for reading it. And he said, I wish I could help you. I wish I could thank you for writing it. That's great. Yeah, that's what he said.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's great.

[Louis C.K.]

And it made me happy. It made me feel like it made his face hot.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So it's good.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's great.

[Louis C.K.]

It's good. Bad, doesn't matter. It's something.

[Bert Kreischer]

It's something that has. Makes you. You react.

[Louis C.K.]

That's all I care about is you hit is some kind of spike. And.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And every day I would write that book, I'd be like, you know, there's these two characters meeting.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

That I had done. So I worked so hard on that book. It's like 450 pages. Jesus. And it's on a type. I wrote it on a typewriter. So I was on the road and I was bringing this Italian typewriter with me everywhere and typing the inevitable is inevitable.

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[Louis C.K.]

And when I'm traveling with the pages, I get anxious because they're, you know. Yeah, I could lose them and. But I would be. There's one two characters and they meet in the woods and I work so hard and I'm not even sure I'm gonna keep any of it. Like, some of it. I'm like, this does. This is not good.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

But keep writing it. Because the great thing about writing fiction is that no one ever. No one might read that book.

[Bert Kreischer]

Right.

[Louis C.K.]

Besides that one guy. I don't know.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

But I get to these two characters, and then I was like, oh, they're gonna fuck. I don't. That's crazy. They're gonna fuck. But that's what it is.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's what happens.

[Louis C.K.]

So I described their sex and the jizz and everything, like, extremely as. As literarily as I could. Like, with as much I put a. As much into that as I would into, like, describing a woman dying with her son.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Crying next to her or something. You know?

[Bert Kreischer]

So. I can't wait to read this.

[Louis C.K.]

I think you'll like that one.

[Bert Kreischer]

I really enjoy. I'll tell. Okay. So I'll tell you.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

What, man? So I was. It's in right away. Like, I'M reading it and. And just, like, following the story. But when you read. I think when you read literature or a script, your mind has a. Has a tendency to cast, you know, you cast.

[Louis C.K.]

Sure.

[Bert Kreischer]

Right. And so sometimes when you read something, your mind conjures up kind of a fictional face and a person. Sometimes you read something and you. For some reason, you cast, like, an actor. Like, you. Somebody comes in, you. You go. That's how you imagine it.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

And then in some cases, you put, like, a real person in it. And, man, I. I couldn't help. As I'm reading this, I just was. I cast it with my eldest son.

[Louis C.K.]

Oh, my God. Wow.

[Bert Kreischer]

And that was. It made it, like, wow. I mean, I cried reading it because I was. I was like, picturing my. For some reason, like, you know, once that happened, you can't get it out of your. Like, I couldn't shift it to another person.

[Louis C.K.]

Whoa. And he's.

[Bert Kreischer]

He's nine, and he's lanky and sweet and, like.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

And I just was like, man, every time something was happening to him, especially, like, being a, you know, a band, like, mother, tell him to leave.

[Tom Segura]

And.

[Bert Kreischer]

Oh. And like, alone and sleeping in these places and, like, you know, you just. You're like, he hasn't eaten it. Like, it would me up. It was really hard. But also, like, every time he had some triumph or somebody takes him in and. And you'd be like. And I just thinking of my boy the whole time. So it. It was very.

[Louis C.K.]

I had an experience like that writing it because I really got to love the kid and because when he was met with hard things, he analyzed them, and he'd have different feelings about them. He'd feel pain, but he'd also, like, learn from it. And not in a wisdom way, but just like, I guess that's what that's like.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And. Yeah. I mean, a lot of feedback I get about Ingram is. Is, like, mothers really like the book, and they really connect with the kid. They really. And they worry about. It's a. It's a. Yeah, of course. It's a book that just makes you worry.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And that. I don't know, there's something. I guess there's something about worrying about a. About a character, and it makes you see them more clearly.

[Bert Kreischer]

It makes you see them, and you. You worry is the right thing. And then there's, you know, something about worrying about a child is different.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

You know, it's different than worrying about an adult.

[Louis C.K.]

It is. There's, like, this question, and I sort of Is the second book is asked. Asks this question. Is like, when does somebody go from being our responsibility as humans to being on the em. You know what I mean?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Like, when someone. A kid is born. People are so invested in the rights of a child or the social responsibility for a child.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Is a big deal all the way back to. We want to make sure we know when they become. You know, with the abortion debate will go on forever and ever. Because everybody's wondering, when does it become important?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

When do we become responsible for someone?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

When does that responsibility start? When does it stop being just their parents and become. When do they become a protectorate or I guess somebody to be protected? But then where is that second line? When do they. Them. When. When can we actually kill them?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

When can. When. When is it okay to kill them because they're one of us or they're on this side of that line.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And a boy is a really. Is a very tender part.

[Tom Segura]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Of that spectrum. A boy. Because boys start to flex their bodies a little bit more and boys can wreak havoc, you know.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Oh, for sure.

[Louis C.K.]

But also that they're. They're tender and they're vulnerable. So it's a problem for everybody.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. And it's. No, it definitely. There's an emotional connection reading this book. I think anyone. You don't have to have a kid to feel it. I think anybody just has empathy in them. Feels.

[Tom Segura]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Worry is empathy. So if you, you know, it's like there's a super version of every feeling. Do you know what I mean? Like. Like anger, if you don't work through it and maybe express it and deal with it, becomes resentment. Resentment, to me is like anger that didn't get addressed.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So it kind of caught. It not codifies. It cauterizes like a. You know, it gets.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Scuzzy.

[Bert Kreischer]

And then it, like, sits in the person.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. That's resentment.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Sadness becomes like, depression. Like, sadness that doesn't get, like, okay, I'm gonna feel this set. You know what I mean?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And then there probably. There's something about.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

If.

[Louis C.K.]

If you're dealing with happy feelings, they become like a. A mania. Do you know what I mean? Like, there's just these big versions. Big versions of the feelings of the feelings that. And so worry is like, empathy that just. You know what I mean? And I think a lot of literature, movies and stuff is we. We amp up. You know, you take love and you make it romance. You know, you take pain, you make it torture.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And so you. You Take empathy, you make it worry. It would have been interesting to write a book about a kid who nothing special happens to. It's just that life is really hard by itself. If you write a book about a kid who goes to school and he has some friends.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And his parents are both home, he's still gonna have a really hard time.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And you could really empathize with that.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's true.

[Louis C.K.]

So this. I always get a little suspicious of drama. Like, and then there was a tornado. But that's what I wrote.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. I do think too, one of the things you think about when you're Ingram is you can't help but go, like, man, that era, that's not that long ago.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Was tough to live in. You know what I mean? Like, that was just like, like when there's. When they're. He's running into people and they're like, you know, where are your folks? Like, and he's like, I don't know. And part of you goes like, yeah, this is a book that you wrote. You also go, oh, that happened for sure all the time. Of course, it. There's just kids around and people be like, I don't know.

[Louis C.K.]

I don't know. And when you hear from anybody, like, I don't have anybody taking care of me.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Your inner feeling or mine is I'll just cop to it myself. I go like, okay.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Like, when you see a homeless person.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

You might give them money and try to go like this, but you want to keep them away from you.

[Bert Kreischer]

Right.

[Louis C.K.]

Because they're, they need too much. And that's scary. It's too much. I'm going to get dragged into that. It's going to drag me out of my ego is going to drag me out of my day.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And a kid even more so. It's like I, I mean, if you go to another. Like, I remember going to being in Mexico City once in the Zocalo. The, the. The. It's a big plaza where the government buildings are and a lot of tourists go there. So children come there to get money from them. They're kids that are just like street kids.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And one of the things they do is they blow fire. So what they do is they have these torches and they have like a milk gallon container filled with gasoline and they just take a mouthful of gasoline and they blow on the. And they blow fire and they just do it. And you just see that there's like this bad stain of dead flesh around their lips.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And whatever is going. I mean, imagine all day doing this trick. They're blowing mouthfuls of gasoline onto a. And you see it lick back onto them a little bit. And also, whatever's happening, their mouths. I bet their teeth aren't great.

[Tom Segura]

No.

[Louis C.K.]

And. And they're wearing, you know.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Right.

[Louis C.K.]

Whatever. Sometimes it's like a. A T shirt, like Philadelphia Phillies or something. You know what I mean?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And, you know, whatever. Not them people. Adults just sort of watch, and they might throw them some dirty pesos or something. You know what I mean?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

But they don't go, like, let me get you to somebody who can help you. They don't like.

[Bert Kreischer]

Well, the.

[Louis C.K.]

The get involved.

[Bert Kreischer]

The volume of kids in that situation there is, like, so much more extreme that it's like stray dogs or something. You know, you just go, whatever, whatever, man.

[Louis C.K.]

But every one of those kids is a whole profound experience.

[Bert Kreischer]

Of course.

[Louis C.K.]

They are a whole human being. Equal to you.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And so I wanted to get in the head of a kid who's dealing with this kind of. And the. The experience I had with it. And when I was a kid, I was raised by a single mom, and she worked all day, so I was alone a lot. And we lived right near the Massachusetts Turnpike. And I just walked next to it a lot. And I walked a lot, like, along this fence for hours that had like. Like dirt. I used to pick up can. Like, broken cans. And I don't know, I had a weird childhood. And we had times where, like, I remember saying to my mom that I'm hungry, and she'd say, drink a lot of water. Like, there were times where there wasn't, like, a lot around. So we touched that. And I certainly wasn't like this. And there's a trillion kids that have been poorer than me, but I remember that feeling of, like, you know, there's not a lot.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And I'm on my own. And I was okay. You know, you didn't. You didn't go like, what's going on here? You just went like, okay, what do I do now? And sometimes we're better than others. And my mom worked really hard, and we went to a good school. You know, we. We lived that way so that we could live near a good school, good public school. But I remember seeing this documentary about kids riding the rails. I think it's called Riding the Rails. It was during the Depression. A ton of families told their kids to leave.

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[Louis C.K.]

Usually they choose one. Like, somebody has five kids, and they go, we can't feed five. And this one guy in the documentary tells the story. He says, my parents told me my brothers and sisters are. He was the strongest one. So you go, get out. Good luck. And so he just hit the road. But they found in those times, other kids.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

There was like gangs of kids, and they'd camp together and they'd live on trains. And the. The train companies weren't like, oh, come. They were like. They beat the shit out of them.

[Tom Segura]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

So.

[Louis C.K.]

So this guy. He did. But this guy telling the story. This is part of what got me to this book. He didn't talk about the violence or starving. He said, well, I guess the hardest part, he's just telling, like, this. I guess the hardest part was, like, sometimes when it'd just be me in a train car for hours and hours. And then he said, I got so lonely. And then he covered his mouth and he couldn't talk anymore. And he's like, 90 now. Like, it still hurts, the loneliness, how lonely he got. And that. That's the level I think of. That's a threshold a lot of people can't handle.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Is if you're alone in it.

[Bert Kreischer]

I think the loneliness epidemic.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Is one that's not discussed a lot.

[Louis C.K.]

No doubt.

[Bert Kreischer]

Like, and sometimes, you know, you meet people in life.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

And you. You. You kind of discover through knowing them that you're meeting someone who is lonely, who doesn't have a lot of friends, doesn't have romance. And it. I think it. It's had an impact on me when I've, like, befriended someone. And then it occurs to me. Or I'm like, oh, I think I might be this person's.

[Louis C.K.]

Yes.

[Bert Kreischer]

Only friend.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yes.

[Bert Kreischer]

You know, and it really affects you, I think, emotionally.

[Louis C.K.]

It does. And it can sometimes have the effect that it does to see a kid who's. Or a homeless person who needs so much that you can't even handle it.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

That can be like that emotionally. Like, if I get to be your friend, you're going to swallow me whole.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Because you got nothing. And Ingram keeps meeting people that feel bad for him, but they just have a limit on how much they can do. They give him a minute. They might give him a bed for the night.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

But at some point, they go, I can't do this, dude.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And, I mean, I've experienced that in life with different parts of My life where I'm really lonely, where I feel really isolated, and where I realize that I'm a problem for other people, where I realize that, yes, I'm the.

[Bert Kreischer]

I'm the needy.

[Louis C.K.]

I'm too much in need for a lot of people. And I see people that are good people turn and go, like, I can't. That's too much now. And. Because how much you need.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

They need to do less.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And I. And I get it. And I've done it myself.

[Bert Kreischer]

Sure.

[Louis C.K.]

So. So he.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

He.

[Louis C.K.]

He sees that a lot. And luckily he's. A good thing about a kid is that they're malleable and they can grow, they adapt and. Yeah. Unless they're being like, literally starved.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Which is like. There is no. There is. You know, this. All the things that we say to each other, like, everything that my. Nothing that kills you makes you stronger.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. But also it can give you, like, diseases and it can break your spine.

[Bert Kreischer]

It can really you up. Yeah. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Life is not as a zero sum game for some people.

[Bert Kreischer]

That is so. Dude, I remember garbage. When you're talking about Mexico that it hit. I just. The memory flashback that I used to spend a lot of time in Lima, Peru.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Right.

[Bert Kreischer]

Growing for my summers and the. When I was like a teenager. It's very eye opening to see that the levels of poverty in, like, Latin American countries and other parts of the world too, where you're like, it's not like the poverty we see here.

[Louis C.K.]

No.

[Bert Kreischer]

And I was out at some place in Lima somewhere with a cousin, and I'm probably like 12, 13, and one of the street kids comes up, tattered, ripped clothes, filthy. And it's like a little girl, you know, she's maybe like 5 or 6, and she's like, like, you know, puts her hands out and I was like, oh, my God, like, what do we do? And, yeah, and so I had like, French fries we had ordered, and I just give them to her. And I have like, some cash. And then my cousin, who's Peruvian sitting across from me, he's like, oh. He's like, good. Very proud of you. And then he goes, george Bush would be so proud of you. I go, what? He's like. I go, we gotta help. He's like. And he's like, turns and he shows me, like, this hillside of like, you know, tin roof shanty town. He's like, dude, there's 2 million of them here.

[Tom Segura]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Like, he had no reaction to it, you know?

[Louis C.K.]

No.

[Bert Kreischer]

And he was like, yeah, you just got here. I Get it? Like, you're shaken by this.

[Louis C.K.]

Right.

[Bert Kreischer]

Like, this is normal. You know, it's so weird.

[Louis C.K.]

What are you supposed to do? Are you supposed to not give a shit?

[Bert Kreischer]

Are you supposed to. They. They. You know, it's. It kind of changes between men and women. I think the men kind of go, like, yeah, this is what it is. The women are, you know, have a little more, like, warmth to it. But it is like, what are you supposed to do if you see it every day? Like, how do you react? I remember seeing this, like, 60 Minutes piece on, I think, like, the homicide problem in Louisiana might have been in, like, New Orleans or something. And how this really, you know, young and sincere prosecutor. I think it was a prosecutor was talking about, like, how the first case comes and how much you feel and how you're going to do. And then she's like. Then they just start rolling.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. Okay.

[Bert Kreischer]

They're like, yeah, another murder.

[Louis C.K.]

And then.

[Bert Kreischer]

And then they go like, yeah, A year later, I was like, yeah, murders happen. Like, I just. It's just what I do.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. I was thinking once about how life is about, like, seashores. Different things in life. Like, that's where we feel the most.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Is, you know, the ocean is. This is unthinkably massive.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And when you're in the middle of it, you're just in it. Like, if you're on a boat or if you're on land, you're just living your life. But when you're on a seashore, you get this wild sense of this massive thing because you're touching the lip of the thing.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And you're seeing that you're not in the ocean and that there it is. And it even can give you a sense of how big it is where. Where you live. Or if you look at stars and stuff like that. So it's like these borders. So if you're, like, fully in. I live here. I see these people every day. And if you're fully out, you're like, I didn't know. But if you touch. If you. When you have those. Those junctures, you freak out and your body shivers. I mean, what you're supposed to do, I don't think is supposed to be based on how you feel. You're not supposed to just react to your sudden empathy.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

By giving.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

It's supposed to be something else. And I don't really know what it is.

[Bert Kreischer]

I don't know either.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. If there's always a part of me that thinks that if I was really a moral person, I'd change absolutely everything about the way I live and then it wouldn't make any difference.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Right.

[Louis C.K.]

You know what I mean?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I'd just be doing it as a big vanity.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So I don't know. I mean, what I try to do is be sort of handle myself well with people around me. That's all I can do. I mean, I think that's with the society I've. I'm part of.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. That's kind of the best thing that I think most people can do. If you're trying, if everyone's trying to do that, it's a pretty good world.

[Louis C.K.]

That it's, it is, it's like a retail version of.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yes.

[Louis C.K.]

The big picture of like what we're supposed to do is countries or whatever. Who, who, who knows?

[Bert Kreischer]

I mean, it's, it feels overwhelming in that whatever change someone tries to make doesn't really have. It doesn't feel like anything really changes.

[Louis C.K.]

No, not that much. But there is a funny thing about seeing that like when there's a bunch of people suffering, you can just go like, well, that's the way it is.

[Bert Kreischer]

The way it is.

[Louis C.K.]

You don't boil it down to like, well, that person's in a ton of pain.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And what if it was you? I mean, there's no qualitative difference between my grandmother and an old lady in Gaza or an old lady in Ukraine. There's none. There's no difference.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

They all have the same value. But I can look at it. I can just be sort of have CNN on and see like people hurting and I can go, and if it's my grandmother, they're both dead. But if it was one of my grandmothers. Yeah, get the fuck on a plane, go there, fucking rally the troops, let's get going, let's do something about this.

[Bert Kreischer]

Well, I always think about like how war is so unnatural for a human being to experience and how much that skews your whole emotional landscape for the rest of your, like once you're a part of like atrocities and you survive. Yeah. I mean you're, everything shifts for you. I don't think you're ever able to react to those things the same way.

[Louis C.K.]

No, I don't think so. You mean if you're in one. If you're in.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Who knows? Yeah, I don't know. I never experienced it.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

No.

[Bert Kreischer]

Just like being like, my dad was a Vietnam vet.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

And like a very well adjusted guy. And, and one of the guys who like you like you in Vietnam. He'd be like, yeah, like, what do you want? He tells stories. You know, he's in combat. And then when he was like 72, one day we were just talking and he goes, you know, this is the first time you ever said this. He goes, you know, I think the war really affected me.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Huh.

[Bert Kreischer]

I was like, yeah. He was like, yeah, I think about those guys every day. And I was like, every day? Every day. He goes, every day I think about the guys I lost and stuff. And I'm like, are you just. Like, you're just realizing this right now? He was like, yeah, I never really thought about it. I was like, yeah, that's you. You've been traumatized, but it took you 50 years to process it.

[Louis C.K.]

That's what trauma is that. He says, I think about this every day, and I never really ever thought about that.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

It's just this thing that you just live with and it's. You're constant.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

All of a sudden you go, oh, this has been. Been here. Because you get. I don't know what. What made him. I wonder what made him.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Realize it.

[Bert Kreischer]

Maybe because he was dying. So he started to think about things.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Like that. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. But he died.

[Bert Kreischer]

He died. Yeah, he died.

[Louis C.K.]

Sorry.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Well, it's the way it goes. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I wish mine would.

[Bert Kreischer]

He's still kicking, huh?

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. He's in the hospital right now, so I shouldn't say that, but your wish.

[Bert Kreischer]

Is going to come true.

[Louis C.K.]

Yes, it will.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

At some point.

[Louis C.K.]

It's the one thing you can count on.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

For sure.

[Bert Kreischer]

Now, the. By the way, I saw your new hour, which is fantastic.

[Louis C.K.]

Thanks.

[Bert Kreischer]

It's so good, man.

[Louis C.K.]

Thanks. It's been a really fun one to do.

[Bert Kreischer]

You. I wanted to ask you this because when we initially started talking, you were like. When I stepped away from stand up to. Right. You're like year and a half and you weren't counting the days. You're like, I'm done with that. So how. What made you go back on stage?

[Louis C.K.]

So I was really, I think when I passed, a year. Like some. About a year, because it contains all the routines of your life, all the holidays and birthdays and everything. I did a whole year without it. And then when I started doing a second year, I started to smell a little rot. You know what I mean?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And I started coming up with jokes. It just was like I started thinking of jokes and it felt like I had to pee afterwards, like, filling up. You know what I mean?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Like, I had to get rid of these or I gotta just do them once?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And so I went to the comedy seller one night, and I hadn't been on stage in, like, I don't know, a year and three, four months, something like that. And I just went to have a steak and hang out with some friends, and they. Somebody didn't show up. They're like, do you want to go on? So I said, yeah, it. It doesn't mean I'm coming back to stand up. I just want to go on.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And so I got a waitress give me her pad. Her. Her pad. And I just wrote a list of the jokes I had in my head. It was like five or six jokes. And I went on and I started doing them and it was so fun. And I felt like I was sitting at a piano.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And just going like this. And I was like, I'm good at this. Like, I'm good at it. And like, the pleasure of knowing that, like, if I leave, if I say something and there's a laugh there, and I know the next thing, and I just know right when to come back in. You know what I mean? Like, that. Those skills of being able to, like, here's the thing, look at them. Here's the next boom. Like, I know how to do that.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And they were so pleased, and I really looked at them. It's something that hasn't gone away in this whole tour. I. For some reason, for the first time, I really. There's always been a bit of a cage up with the audience, but I was just, like, really looking at them and watching them, enjoying it. Like, seeing really specific faces laughing and. And the bits were really kind of either really dumb or very audacious. So people were kind of going like, what?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And I was really enjoying that face.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

This face going like, what are you talking about?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And so I came back, I did a set, like, a couple of nights later. I thought, I'm just doing it for fun. But all the audience I was facing were pretty good. I came in one night and it was really bad crowd. And because I just have. No, I'm not. I hadn't. Hadn't been doing it for so long. I didn't know Chops. Yeah, I had a really rough set and I realized this is not a. This is a dangerous hobby.

[Bert Kreischer]

You gotta go in or out.

[Louis C.K.]

In or out was the.

[Bert Kreischer]

The.

[Louis C.K.]

Was the thought. So I. I didn't do it for, like a month. I mean, because everything slowed down for me in my whole life. I was like, I could take a Month and think about this. And I took a month just to think about it. And then I went, let's. Let's get into routine. Started doing three or four sets a night. Started seeing, what is this? What are these jokes? What are they? What's the new feeling? And I felt a new thing, kind of like what I was saying with writing the book that, like, I had a new ability, which is that I don't get emotionally involved with my own person. In other words, I'm not. I don't take it personally if they like the joke or not or how they feel about the joke. And I'm okay with any outcome. And what that kind of gives me is the ability to do a joke that we always think binary as comedians.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Laugh, no laugh. But no laugh. Doesn't mean nothing happened.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Right.

[Louis C.K.]

Something happened.

[Bert Kreischer]

So when you. When you're in that space.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Because I think you have a, like, one of the best at like, perspective on these things is like, if it doesn't get a laugh, which is like, you know, the goal, let's say, of obviously doing jokes is to get a laugh. Well, you won't abandon this.

[Louis C.K.]

No.

[Bert Kreischer]

You'll just. Well, you'd go, like, I need to hone it more or just. It is this.

[Louis C.K.]

Sometimes it's just sticking with it. Like, I think I have. I wrote rules this time for the. No, I didn't bring my notebook. I wrote this rule on my notebook that said don't bail if it's not working, you know?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. That's one of the toughest things to do.

[Louis C.K.]

Yes. If you do something and the crowd goes.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

You just created a new feeling in the room. The thing is that we go in a circle on stage with stand up. We tell a joke and it gets a laugh and it leaves the room feeling pretty much exactly the way you. You found it. And then you tell another joke. You just. You're. They're laughing and they just laughed and they just. And they're laughing again and they. But if you piss them off or confuse them, you got a new stir in the room. You've got a new chemical, a new gas. And then when you light the next match, the flame's a different color.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And now you're off in a new path. And now.

[Bert Kreischer]

Which is exciting.

[Louis C.K.]

It's very exciting. People will laugh at a joke that they're kept at a neutral. Like, this guy's good. Is the feeling we want to give them all the time.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And they, like me, is sort of important to us. But I'm Having a good time. We want them to think they're having a good time. But if. But. But people that are pissed off laugh differently.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And for different reasons. So you just created a new spectrum of. It's like finding another. It's like carving out another key on the piano that's not black or white.

[Bert Kreischer]

It's a new thing. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And they go like, what? And you go like, huh. Well, now I'll just play you a song, a Beatles song.

[Bert Kreischer]

Right, right.

[Louis C.K.]

Oh, God, that song sounds so good. It's not just about relieving them, but it's like. I just think that laughs are one thing. They're one thing, but there's a lot of things and. And you. The laughs are the backstop and they're the. They're the. They're the clay there where you're.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Where you're.

[Louis C.K.]

What you're really working in. It's important. But there's so much. If you just. I'm talking about fraction of a. It's terrifying to not be getting a laugh for 3.8 seconds is too long. Like, if you go like. Like, let's go five. This five. You tell a joke, it doesn't get a laugh for five seconds. Starting now. That's dead. I'll put a gun in my mouth.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

But if you're able to have it, it's not that long. I know you're able to have it. And then. And you're okay with it. You're not going like this. You're just going, all right. You guys are really tense. But it's okay. I know it's okay. Because I control the future.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I'm on. I'm the one on stage.

[Bert Kreischer]

I love the feeling of upsetting an audience and then. And then getting to a joke that they can't help but laugh at.

[Louis C.K.]

That's great.

[Bert Kreischer]

It's the best feeling.

[Louis C.K.]

Yes.

[Tom Segura]

Yes.

[Louis C.K.]

Well, I was at the seller because I was working. So I've been working on this set. Anyway, whatever. I. I got back into it, and then I was just like, I'm in.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So I started to do more sets per night and do the usual process I did of. You know, but trying to keep in mind this ide. That there is more. More room to play and also to just be. I called the show ridiculous because I just wanted to be just ridiculous. And I'm not. I don't want to make any points. I. I think that I've done. I'm really tired of certain things I've done for a long Time. And this thing I got in my head when I quit before, which was like, you don't have to do this anymore. I just said, I'm going to keep that idea. I don't know. There's a bunch of things I don't have to do anymore. Rants like, where I'm like, duh. You see how this is? You know, like I had a big bit in the set that was the center of the set because it was killing so hard about how people talk on the news and use certain buzzwords. It was a little. It wasn't like anti PC, but it was like, you know, like dissecting the speech. Hypocrisy.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

It's enough with that. Like, so bored with that. But it was killing. And it was fucking with my set because everything around it was kind of ethereal and pointless.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And so when I was in Omaha, Nebraska, I remember one night I was like, what if I just don't do the bit at all? It's like a 15 minute chunk. I was like, what if I just leave it out? And I never did it again. The show. I left it out. Everything else kind of rose and got better.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And then I decided the integrity is in keeping that stuff being important to me. Like the stuff that means nothing.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

But I think it means something.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And being really convinced of this dumb idea, you know, and believing in it.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And I see guys going, like, why are you on this right now? But they're enjoying it. It's exciting to them. It's so much more fun than like, Right. And them going, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yes.

[Louis C.K.]

And also, that's the most traded commodity in comedy right now.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. And I also hate that type of. That way of like in movie making, when a film is like a film about, like, this is just. The things should be like, smoking is bad. And then it's a movie about. You're like, yeah, I already know. Like, there's no. I don't like this ride.

[Louis C.K.]

This is. No, it's no fun.

[Bert Kreischer]

It's no fun.

[Louis C.K.]

No. The best to me, the things I enjoy the most, movies and stuff are things that confuse me, that make me go like. But I thought this. And now I don't know. Or just like. Or, you know, so. So I'm not making any points on stage. And that's been the fun, fun thing. But so I started doing the bigger theaters, like 2500 seats, the ones that we. We do a lot.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And the bits. The set started to feel like it was Sagging because I can't really see them anymore. And I missed the clubs where I would do this thing. I'd say something really convinced in my voice about this stupid thing. And then I'd stop talking. And they're. And I feel that all their heads go like this. And then one guy would go and he'd laugh and then everybody would look at him and I would look at him and then somebody else would laugh and I'd look at them and then I'd play in that area and say something. That's how the whole set was created.

[Bert Kreischer]

Really?

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. Was just like really seeing them. And there's one joke in the set that's like my favorite one. And when I do it, there's always one person that's dying harder than everybody. And I always look at them and I nod at them and I want to say to them, that's my favorite.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I don't want to say that because it's not a great thing to say. And 30 minutes into a set.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

This is as good as.

[Bert Kreischer]

This is the best.

[Louis C.K.]

The rest is.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

But that I'd lost that when I was doing the 2500 seat theaters. So during the last couple of weeks of the. Or, like, month of the tour, I started going back to the Cellar and around and just doing jokes that aren't in the set and doing. Just being reckless.

[Tom Segura]

Really.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. And I started doing tons of sets. And then I went back up to Poughkeepsie and did the laugh. Laugh it up. This club in the. It's upstairs of a pub.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I love it in there.

[Bert Kreischer]

Really?

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. And just going up there with a notebook and just trashing through an hour there. You know, I went down to Side Splitters in Tampa.

[Bert Kreischer]

Oh, yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

On my way to a big gig in Puerto Rico. And in Puerto Rico, I did a local club there. Like, I was just doing local.

[Bert Kreischer]

I want to do Puerto Rico. I really want to go.

[Louis C.K.]

I love it.

[Bert Kreischer]

I would really want to go do that.

[Louis C.K.]

You'll love it.

[Tom Segura]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

I was telling some. We were talking about stand up and about. Like, you know, certain comics have certain gifts. Like, you go, like, this guy is so good at this economy of words. Like, he just knows how to get. And I was saying. I was like, you know, I think one of Louie's gifts as a comic is that every hour you have this capacity to say things that are like, I feel like it's a. People go, like, it's a universal. Like, I feel like I've had this thought, but for Some reason I've never heard it articulated. And I don't know how you do it over and over. I'm always like, God damn it. Like, I know this thought, and I can't believe no one's ever said it. I've never heard someone say it. And it feels like. I don't know. That to me, is like one of your communicate.

[Louis C.K.]

Thanks.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

It's a good. My mom told me that I could do that. My mom said that I could take simple things and explain them.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

It didn't seem complicated, but that's true. My favorite compliment I ever got is I'm going to repeat a compliment I got.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Was from Chris Rock. And he said to me that I'm. I'm like Thor. Because what I'm doing is not. It's not mysterious. I've got a huge hammer and I'm just destroying.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

But nobody else can pick up that hammer.

[Tom Segura]

That's.

[Louis C.K.]

I'm the only guy who it'll do it for.

[Bert Kreischer]

That feels like a good one.

[Louis C.K.]

I liked. I like thinking that about. I like to take that compliment and.

[Bert Kreischer]

Just bathe in it. Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Just like.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Because I was trying to tell somebody this, too, about as a comedian. They were like, you know, how do you feel about, like, yourself as a comedian? And I go, well, it's not this. You don't. It's not. I feel this way all the time.

[Louis C.K.]

Right.

[Bert Kreischer]

I get off stage sometimes and I go, I'm pretty good at this, I think. And then it goes.

[Louis C.K.]

That's right.

[Bert Kreischer]

Up and down.

[Louis C.K.]

I think a thing that you do that's great is that you take your. Your harder feelings, like anger, and you wear them very comfortably and you give them a really great voice because you're not. I mean, what I've seen of you.

[Bert Kreischer]

You'Re not like, no ranting.

[Louis C.K.]

And you're just saying, I hate this.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And there's something about that that's very powerful because that's interesting. People have a hard time with feelings like anger and st. Spite. Yeah, spite. Which is not even an emotion. It's just like that.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Yeah. Is.

[Louis C.K.]

You can have guilt about that.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's true.

[Louis C.K.]

But it's real. And, you know, going back to Russian literature, a lot of it is just like, people are shit.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And it's not a moral judgment.

[Bert Kreischer]

It's just.

[Louis C.K.]

It's a form of love. Is like, how much do we hate people in this way?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yes.

[Louis C.K.]

I love people at their worst. It's my favorite part of people.

[Bert Kreischer]

That feels like a very Louis statement.

[Louis C.K.]

I love people at their worst. Yeah, I do. That's. That's what I love about them is when they, They're. When they're useless, when they have no control. It would have no self awareness.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

You gotta love somebody like that. When you really meet a Buddha, you're like, I could spend four minutes with you. That's about it. Otherwise you really stink. As a person to hang out with.

[Bert Kreischer]

I wanted to meet a mess.

[Louis C.K.]

Like, I want to meet somebody who's just a. My best friends are. I just sit there and I go, man. Yeah, but they're interesting, though. Yes, they are. But there's something about, like. My favorite joke of yours is the. And I'll just. Even though. You know what, I'll tell it the way I remember it, which is that you're in a movie theater and there's a baby. A couple has a baby.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yes.

[Louis C.K.]

I'll do it in the first person behind me who's. And the baby's making these horrible screaming noises.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yes.

[Louis C.K.]

And so I turned to the couple, I said, are you stabbing your baby? And the woman said, no. And I said, well, could you?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah, that's true. That's good, man.

[Louis C.K.]

That's.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's fun.

[Louis C.K.]

It's a great joke.

[Bert Kreischer]

Oh, thanks, man.

[Louis C.K.]

And it's told calmly, but you can feel it's a. It's a really heavy spite.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yes.

[Louis C.K.]

And it's justified. You know, bring your baby at the same time. It's like they have. No. They can't go to movies without their baby.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's true.

[Louis C.K.]

They got no money.

[Bert Kreischer]

So it's like, what do we do?

[Louis C.K.]

But it sucks for you.

[Bert Kreischer]

It sucks for me in that situation.

[Louis C.K.]

It doesn't not suck for you.

[Bert Kreischer]

But.

[Louis C.K.]

So, you know, like, the thing that's great about comedy is breaking those rules, like, not being fair. Comedy's not supposed to be fair.

[Bert Kreischer]

Right.

[Louis C.K.]

So I remember back when people were saying this thing a lot that comedy should never punch down.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So everyone just said, comedy should never punch down. So you did it wrong. Well, no, no, that's not true. That it shouldn't put. Never punch down.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

You don't like comedy or you're pretending you don't like comedy.

[Bert Kreischer]

Exactly. Yes.

[Louis C.K.]

Down this. But it's the funniest. So I was explaining this to somebody once who didn't understand what it meant, and I said, well, the idea with don't punch down with comedy is this. If you have a maid or like, you know, a cleaning lady in an office building who has like five jobs and she sees the Boss walk by who's a billionaire, and she says, you know that guy? You're like, yeah, but if a billionaire goes up to a little cleaning lady and like spills coffee on her head and goes, haha. I. I was like, I was telling this person, that's not funny. Yeah, but of course it's a trillion times funnier.

[Bert Kreischer]

So much fun.

[Louis C.K.]

It's way funnier, of course, than somebody punching up is. Is crusading and it's. Yeah, punching down is horrible and funny. Hysterically funny.

[Bert Kreischer]

This is like, I've had this exact conversation with someone who one time we were like, they were talking about my. A special that had come out and then they would go, you know, you did this, you do that. But ultimately it's like he goes, you know, as far as like kind of like going over like the rules of comedy, he's like, but like, don't be a dick, right? And I go, no, are you nuts? I go, what do you mean?

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

And he's like, well, you know, it was like, basically, don't punch down. And I go, but being a dick can be the funniest thing. Like, yes, of course are funny.

[Louis C.K.]

Yes.

[Bert Kreischer]

And. And saying something smarmy and shitty to someone might be the funniest thing. Yes. It's not polite and it's not nice, but it's still funny.

[Louis C.K.]

Of course it is. What's his name? Chance Langton. He's a guy from Boston. When I started, Chance was one of the big comics in Boston. And his whole act, he had a, like a theme, which was, because that's the way I am.

[Bert Kreischer]

Huh.

[Louis C.K.]

And so you just say an awful thing about himself and then.

[Bert Kreischer]

Because that's the way I am.

[Louis C.K.]

And one of them was whenever I see a pay toilet, back when they used. I don't think I've seen that in years. But it used to be in some public places, the stall would have a coin thing in it to get in.

[Bert Kreischer]

Huh.

[Louis C.K.]

He said, every time I see a pay toilet, I crawl underneath and I on the floor, because that's the way I am. And you know, someone says someone is the clean as.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And that's the funniest thing in the world.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah, it's the funniest part of that.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah. No, it's. It's the whole point of comedy to me is what you're not supposed to do. Yes. You know?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yes.

[Louis C.K.]

It's not real. You're not really doing something.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

You're making jokes. Shut up. You know?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. It's like someone getting mad at a Tweet. You're like, well, it's not real.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah, well, they used to be. That was the thing, I think Twitter, kind of with the line.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Because some comedians would tweet a joke and then they tweet an opinion.

[Bert Kreischer]

Oh, so they're going, like.

[Louis C.K.]

So then people would say, well, that's an opinion. They go, no, you as a joke. Well, well, which.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's true.

[Louis C.K.]

One is.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Which.

[Louis C.K.]

If you want to be taken seriously.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

What do you want to be taken seriously?

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Please don't listen. That. I mean, that's.

[Louis C.K.]

That's in terms of what I enjoy and what I like out of life, I think. So people can do whatever they want.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Right.

[Bert Kreischer]

But I know the moral crusading comedians are exhausting.

[Louis C.K.]

And they probably got something that's cool about what they do that I'm not seeing. I. I like a certain thing. Other people like other things. Whenever there's a movement that I find really annoying. Yeah. It usually will stray into something really cool, like they'll make something I wouldn't have made. The whole point of the reason I like the way I do comedy and the kind of comedy that you do that I like, which is saying things you shouldn't say, is you go, you're finding shit other people weren't looking for.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Some of it. It's a value, some of it isn't. Hopefully it's all funny.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

But so what they're doing of like, let's keep it fair. I mean, that'll find something that comedy hasn't looked for. Do you know what I mean?

[Bert Kreischer]

Of course.

[Louis C.K.]

Because it does get to be all one thing too much. So I. I'm not. It's not the kind of thing I do. I'm not. I'm like. I'm a blues guy. They're electronic dance music, whatever it is. But they're going to find some. They probably have. I don't watch that enough to.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah, that's probably good to judge it. Yeah.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

So will you. You're on this massive tour right now. Do you think you're going to hang it up again when you're done with this tour?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yep.

[Bert Kreischer]

At least a year and a half off.

[Louis C.K.]

Well, the thing I didn't know was going to happen is that, you know, it's just like the God of such a slob. I'm just seeing myself that. That. The denial of age, you know, in the years going by, it's like, it's fucking hard to be on the road. And I know I did it the only way I know I did a good show. Now is if I'm in a lot, I need to get in a bathtub of salt.

[Bert Kreischer]

Because your body hurts.

[Louis C.K.]

Hurt too much.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And it's not because I'm particularly physical, but because I'm pushing, I'm really trying.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And what it takes for me to be is like, it takes a lot of repetition and pushing to be the kind of comic I think I'm supposed to be. And I don't think I could do that anymore. I don't think I can do it physically. And also I really enjoy life off stage. I really, I learned to love it. And I love writing novels. Like, that's. I didn't know I would love that so much. And so. And maybe three people will read that where 300,000 used to come to the shows.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And I'm okay with that. I really don't need the attention. I don't that much. I'm not interested in it. It's nice. It's nice to have your work seen, but I don't like being paid attention to anymore. I like being private. And I have a. I feel good in my life, so that's great. But I still love to create. I think what I probably do after this is not do a full scale tour anymore. I don't want to tell. I don't want to book a year of shows.

[Bert Kreischer]

I'm in the same, like, world as you. Like, every time I finish a tour.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

I call my agent, I go, hey, so for this next one.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Let's rethink how we do this.

[Louis C.K.]

Yes.

[Bert Kreischer]

And as this one's about to end, I shot a special over the weekend. It comes out Christmas Eve on Netflix. And I'm already like, hey, when I do my next tour, which is not going to be for a while.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

I'm like, let's like reimagine how we do. And I'm basically, all I'm doing is like, hey, let's pair this stuff down.

[Louis C.K.]

I think it's a good idea. I think it's a good idea artistically. I think it's a good idea for your head. You know, I think about comedians like Stephen Wright, you know, who's one of my favorites of all time. Yeah. And Stephen, he goes, I mean, I want to tell his life, but he goes off and he'll do a couple of like, couple of theaters.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And come home. And then two weeks, months go by. He goes, does.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Never does more than like two nights in a row. And his. The markets that he plays at are still fresh. He's been doing this. He's been big since 1980. Like 85.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And it's 40 years later, as long as I've been doing comedy. And he's still got a really healthy following, and he gets. And he loves doing it.

[Bert Kreischer]

So I think that's the move. And the other thing is, like, we talked about is, like, you don't have to announce this crazy. You can just do the thing where you go up with dates. Yeah. Like, here's some dates. And then time goes by. You can go up with some more.

[Louis C.K.]

Dates, go up with some more. You could just, like, go, hey, can I do. What's the next open date at Town hall in New York or something? And just do it and then. And then really work on this stuff in a different kind of like.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I was, like, looking out the window the other day and thinking about this, and I saw this crazy flock of. There is a flock of pigeons that live in Washington Square Park. And once in a while, you see them, and they just create these. This. These tornadoes of bird, and they. They land behind these buildings that I look out onto. So I see those pigeons all the time. And I was watching them do this thing, and I thought I wanted to. My work to be like that. Like, just like this. Instead of like, let's get through this almost fucking military campaign.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

It's very muscular. It's very economic. It's very. About the economy.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

The whole thing of how we structure this shit, the fact that we do a full hour all the time is just so that we can sell tickets to a theater audience. Everything's about money and career and all this nonsense. So I think when this one's over, I'll just like. I'll probably take a good year off or longer without performing.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

And then when I get back to it, I'll just. Just let it feel like this a little more.

[Bert Kreischer]

It feels like it's, like, so aggressive.

[Louis C.K.]

Yes.

[Bert Kreischer]

And like, I. I already feel the difference. I'm 46 now. Of, like, when I was touring really hard five, six years ago. I feel a huge difference on the toll it takes. And I'm healthier now.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

And like, you know, eating better and working out more. But it still wears you the down.

[Louis C.K.]

It does. And I had a sense of it when I started this one. And it's kind of a contrary action. I did the opposite of what. What I wanted for that. I decided I'm gonna make as much of this tour as I can because I'm not gonna do this again. Like, I kind of knew it right away.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

So I packed in a trillion shows and I put in. I'm going to India, I'm going to China. I'm going to Japan. I've always wanted to perform in these places, and I'm doing them all now because I know I'll never do this again. I'll never do this scale ever again. So I'm doing everywhere. And I'm also trying to make as much money as I can so that you don't have. So that I can cool it for as long as I can. The last time I did that, it lasted a year and a half. Another big reason I came back to it.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I ran out of money.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

I was out.

[Bert Kreischer]

I was out.

[Tom Segura]

Ouch.

[Bert Kreischer]

I mean, this is, like, a fair thing to say. People don't consider that, too. Like, it costs money to do. Like, you. You can run out of money.

[Louis C.K.]

You can. And also, I did, like, I. Even though I didn't have. I stopped having the income I used to have. I kept making projects with my own money. Yeah. I made a whole movie with my own money. Nobody really saw it. And so I started to deplete. And then I got, like. A friend of mine told me, a friend of mine who was on his way up, he said. He said, I had that a big moment today. I looked in the mirror and I said, I have a million dollars. First time in his life, he said, I'm a millionaire. I have a million dollars. That was a big moment. And I said to him, I had that moment twice. First time, it was good news. Second time, it was bad news.

[Bert Kreischer]

That's very funny.

[Louis C.K.]

They were about 10 years apart. First time I was like, I have a million dollars. Then I was like, I have a million dollars. I need to get back to work. But this tour hopefully will get me at least a few more years.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Louis C.K.]

Without, you know.

[Bert Kreischer]

And at the end, when you've done all these shows and you have this money, I hope you're gonna get, like, a huge diamond chain with a medallion.

[Louis C.K.]

Oh, yeah.

[Bert Kreischer]

Lck.

[Louis C.K.]

That's what I'm working on.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah, dude. I have a good guy for you.

[Louis C.K.]

It's good.

[Bert Kreischer]

Hook you up good. And it'll give you a good price. Probably like 150 grand. It's tight.

[Louis C.K.]

Nice.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. You'll like it.

[Louis C.K.]

Nice.

[Bert Kreischer]

Very nice.

[Louis C.K.]

Good.

[Bert Kreischer]

Ingram is the book.

[Louis C.K.]

Yes, it is.

[Bert Kreischer]

This is awesome.

[Louis C.K.]

Thanks.

[Bert Kreischer]

And I felt. I'm telling you, real emotion. It's. It's impressive, man. You. You really talented at this.

[Louis C.K.]

Thanks.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. I hope you also make another movie, though, someday.

[Louis C.K.]

Yeah, I have a few ideas someday.

[Bert Kreischer]

You have one that you told me about in detail.

[Louis C.K.]

I don't remember that one.

[Bert Kreischer]

You don't remember that one?

[Louis C.K.]

Jesus thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great. Yeah, that's hard one. Yeah, maybe I'll make that one.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah, it'd be great.

[Louis C.K.]

We'll see.

[Bert Kreischer]

Yeah. Be awesome. Congrats on this.

[Louis C.K.]

Thanks, man.

[Bert Kreischer]

And thanks for doing the podcast.

[Louis C.K.]

Thank you.

[Bert Kreischer]

All right, we'll see you guys next week.

[Louis C.K.]

One goes topless while the other wears a shirt? Tom tells stories and Burt's the machine. There's not a chance in hell that they'll keep it clean. Here's what we call two bears, one cave.