The Bad Penny (beta)

Whether you love or loathe Louis C.K. – a comedic entertainer so polarizing that there isn’t much room in between – no one can dispute his status as one of the biggest comics of the 21st century. For proof, look no further than how he survived a sex scandal that would’ve put the nail in the coffin of just about any other comic’s career.

Supplying more evidence that his equally raunchy and philosophical sense of humor renders him a teflon comedian, Louis C.K. will notch one of the biggest milestones of his career next month. As he notified subscribers to his email newsletter on Thursday, the ultimate comic’s comic will headline the Netflix Is a Joke festival showcase at the 17,500-capacity Hollywood Bowl. His missive also revealed that he has a new comedy special, Louis CK: Ridiculous, coming at a to-be-determined date this summer.

“My show at the Hollywood Bowl on May 5th will be the very last show of this tour which has taken me around the world and will likely be my last full-scale comedy headline type show for a looong time. I hope you can make it,” Louis C.K. said in a rare instance of sincerity devoid of any wise-crackery.

With that in mind, this writer dug up an out-of-print 2017 list of Louis C.K.’s best routines, non sequiturs and one-liners that preceded the controversy that became ubiquitous in conversations about comedy a mere five months after Monsters & Critics published the piece. Today we’re resurrecting it for your amusement – or disgust, in which case you don’t have to click “continue reading.”