- I'm definitely a comedian.
- Yeah.
- I can say that one thing with confidence.
15,000 people laughing at your jokes.
That's kind of an amazing feeling.
I want to do a better show
every time I'm on stage.
Do a set tonight,
and I ain't wastin any time.
I got a list of stuff I want to try.
I want to make sure that this set
makes me better.
There's a huge challenge in not having your old act.
But I think you rise to the occasion.
This movie is unreleasable. (laughter)
You have wasted my money.
Well geez, it's only this.
And I'm like, well that's more money
than my dad made in his life.
Anytime you see me do an event
where some stranger says something to me,
it's me.
I say out loud, I'll never do the same hour in a year.
And then inside, I'm going
oh geez, - Oh god, why did I say that?
- Why did I say that?
You get to be on Earth.
First of all, oh my god, (audience laughter)
what a location.
- He's an American comedian,
actor, writer, director, and producer.
He's the creator, star, and executive producer
of FX's series, Louie.
He's considered one of the greatest standup comedians
of all time.
He's Louis C.K.,
and here are his Top 10 Rules for Success.
- I never keep trying what ...
Like standup is always the standby for me.
Like that's what I do.
- The meal ticket.
- That's, yeah. - Yeah.
- That's what I am.
I'm a comic. I'm a comedian.
So anything else I do,
it's like if I make a movie,
I would never say I'm a film maker.
I would never call myself that.
I'm a comedian who made a movie,
you know? - Right.
- I'm definitely a comedian.
- Yeah. - I can say that one thing
with confidence.
But so I've tried T.V.,
and I try it and it doesn't work
and then I go back to comedy.
And if something I'm doing as a standup
leads me back to like,
hey this might be a show,
then I'll try.
I'll try anything that I think might be good.
I don't care about like,
well I failed at it before.
You know what I mean?
Who cares?
Try it again.
I mean there's always a reason - I love that philosophy.
- Well also - Well you were ...
- The first time I did a pilot,
the very first time I got a deal to do
a pilot for a sitcom, - Yeah.
- I wrote it and they really liked it
and it got close, and then they said
we're not going to make the pilot.
- That was Saint Louie?
- No, it was before that. - Oh.
It was a whole other thing.
And then, I wrote Saint Louie with this other guy
and they made the pilot.
We got to shoot a pilot.
It was so exciting.
And I shot a pilot
and then they said, "we're not going to make the show."
All right.
Third time around,
made a pilot,
and got one season of Lucky Louie on the air.
And then that's all they wanted.
There's a limit to everything.
You can't think everything's just going to be
everything forever.
- Yeah.
- That was the limit of that one.
I did one season.
Okay.
And now I've done Louie, and it's gone three seasons.
So I got a little further each time.
I pushed the ball a little further ahead each time.
I mean, not doing something cause it didn't work
would be like if you're a quarterback
and you go the line of scrimmage at the 25
or wherever the guy ran it to
and you hand the ball off and the guy pushes it eight yards
and you're like, well we didn't score a touchdown,
so I'll go home.
- You know? - Right.
- I mean, there's no point.
- But at the same time, - You keep pushing.
15,000 people laughing at your jokes,
that's kind of an amazing feeling.
But also having them sit there looking at you listening
is really great too.
But I always see,
I've done it three times now
and it was the same every time
that they're all laughing,
the show's going great,
but what I see are there's at least,
in 15,000 people, there's like
a thousand disappointed people.
(audience laughter)
There's like a thousand people - No.
- And they're dotted.
I see 'em all. - You see them ...
- I see 'em still today.
But during the show, I see them,
just guys going like, ehh ... - Yeah.
(audience laughter)
- Those are the ones that you really see.
Everyone's going, yay!
And I'm just,
ah, I'm sorry buddy. - You're certain that you're
reading their disappointment accurately?
- Absolutely.
(audience laughter)
I'm 100% sure.
- Well, I'm not sure that's true,
but I share the feeling.
I know that ...
Hell, I know it here tonight.
(audience laughter)
- Well the more people you reach
and the more people that see you,
the more people are going to think that you suck.
That's just the law of mathematics.
- Yes, but - You can't please everybody.
- Let me explain it to you this way.
- Yeah. - If, in fact, that's true,
why would those people go to the trouble of
ordering the tickets online and showing up?
- Cause they're just miserable (beep)
(audience laughter) - I don't know.
I don't know, they just like to go to ...
That's not their fault.
- Well no, okay.
- It's not their fault.
I don't know, they heard I was good.
- Case closed.
- They heard I was good.
Well it's not about not killing,
it's about doing the best show that you can do
and it's about staying at the edge of your ...
I want to do a better show every time I'm on stage.
I mean, part of it is that I want what I do
to keep getting better.
Unless you think you're the best comedian
that ever could poss- like, you're a
perfect crystalline diamond of a comedian
that couldn't possibly be improved upon,
every molecule has been compressed together
to the point there's no air in it.
- [Host] Right, right.
- You're a black hole of a comic that can't,
there's just no room for improvement.
You know, you've folded the samurai sword a thousand times
and just can't fold anymore. - [Host] (laughing)
No.
So you got to keep trying.
I mean, I think a lot of people in show business
and comedy even, especially,
are very lazy and they just sort of think
that you just get up there
and then you wait for your manager to get you a better one.
A better shot.
But it's something you got to really,
to me,
I mean for me, I just want to keep working at it.
I wouldn't like it if I stopped trying really hard.
It isn't a neurosis, like oh geez, I hope they like me.
It's this is what I do,
I got to do it really well.
- So when did you get to the point where ...
You know, struggling to get better,
make a living,
figure out how to deal with hecklers,
like a million things to,
all right, I'm good at this,
now I'm going to try to be great at this.
- Well that was when I saw him do that,
that was a big deal.
I was writing for T.V. then,
so I was a little more - Spread out.
- Focused on that. - Yeah.
- But I started going back out to clubs again
and then my life changed in its own way.
I had kids and I grew up also.
So I just,
you know, everybody grows up at a different time.
- Yeah.
- I grew up when I had kids
and started really thinking about standup.
When I had kids, it made a big difference for me
cause when I went out to do a set,
it wasn't a social event.
It was until that point,
you just go to the Comedy Cellar,
have a falafel at the comedy table,
- [Host] Yeah.
- Run down and do your set,
bull (beep) with some comics.
It was a lot of wasting time.
- Yeah. - And it didn't really matter
how the set was, that was just the job.
I'm just going to go on and do my time,
tell the same jokes,
maybe do one new joke.
But now it's like, I've got kids
and getting out of the house is a big deal.
- Yeah. - I can do a set tonight
and I ain't wastin any time.
I got a list of stuff I want to try.
I want to make sure that this set makes me better.
I started to think every set I do
has to make me a better comic.
There's a huge challenge in not having your old act.
But I think you rise to the occasion.
And you don't rise to the occasion
if you don't put the void there.
But ...
- What is - If you take away
your old material from yourself,
like one thing I started doing
when I was developing hours is
I'd take my closing bit and I'd open with it.
- Right.
- Just to (beep) with myself.
- Right, right - Just cause then
I have to follow my strongest bit.
- That's how he got good.
You see this attitude?
- I, you know ... - He's a tough guy.
- I've been watching him.
- Yeah. He's a tough guy.
- Well cause then the end of your act cauterizes.
It gets stronger just cause you don't have a choice.
(laughter) You know what I mean?
- Cauterizes. - So that's
why I started doing that.
You get rid of all your best weapons
and you have to, you know,
or else you're dead.
- [Host] But don't you think
sometimes - So they bring something
out of you. - [Host] When we discussed ...
- I wrote and directed Pootie Tang.
- But then didn't the studio lose faith in you during it?
- Yes, they sure did, yeah. - And they took you off
the film.
- Yes, they took me off the,
well I had already shot it
and it was during the editing process.
They hated my cut,
they fired my editor, got another guy,
let me do one more cut.
- [Host] Chris Rock was the star.
- He was one of the stars, yeah.
- [Host] He read the script, he liked it.
I assume the studio read the script and liked it.
- Yeah, yeah. - Wasn't that a character
that was sort of on the Chris Rock show?
- Yeah, Pootie Tang - [Host] Pootie Tang.
- Was the character we did on the Chris Rock show.
- Right, and you worked on that show,
and you said hey, I - But yeah, I created
the character there, yes
- [Host] I'm going to make a movie about Pootie Tang.
- Well Chris asked me do you think there's
a movie in that guy.
And I said
that's a little nutty
but I'll try it. - You should have called me.
I would have told you no.
(laughter)
- Well of course you're going to say yes.
You (inaudible)
- I wanted to make movies, yeah.
Very badly.
- And so the net with that show was very popular.
The studio was probably excited about it.
- Sure.
- You go out you shoot the thing,
you write the thing,
you do all of it.
And at what point does the studio say,
listen, you're (beep)?
(laughter)
What have you done here?
- I remember that point.
It was a great moment in my life.
- Who comes to see you?
- They summon you.
I got flown out to L.A. (laughter)
- Nice.
Are you thinking, wow, I'm getting flown to L.A.
- First class. - They don't even tell you.
- First class. I have no idea.
Well I kind of smelled somethin,
but they took me to Paramount.
You know those gates.
It's like you feel like that
you're going to the White House.
And I went to John Goldwyn's office.
He was Samuel Goldwyn's grandson.
- He's a big guy. I know that.
- Yeah.
And so I'm in his office.
I'm in the most important office at Paramount.
He was running the studio at the time
and he just ...
I remember I walked in and he's shaking a little
because he's so mad.
And he just almost,
everybody was there that was involved in the movie.
He just unloaded on me and said,
"this movie is unreleasable! (laughter)
You have wasted my money!
This is irresponsible.
I have a problem with everyone here."
And then this guy who was the President of M.T.V Films
who they said,
"well John, I don't think you really got the film."
"How dare you say that to me!"
- [Host] Ohh god! And starts screaming at
company presidents cause of my movie.
- [Woman] Wow!
- There was nothing redeemable about the work.
Now did - Not to him but
here's the thing is to me, - [Host] How do you go on in
show business after something like that?
- Well that, I'll never forget that moment.
Cause I feel my whole ...
All I wanted to do is make movies at the time
and it was being destroyed
(laughter)
by Samuel Goldwyn's grandson.
- [Host] He knows something.
- Yeah, a little bit. - [Host] Right?
- And I'm sitting there,
but a part of me was outside of my body
going, you are in the Paramount big office
being yelled at.
But I said, how (beep) cool is this?
(laughter)
- Really? You were able to - Yes.
I was able to enjoy it.
- [Host] You turned it into a positive.
- [Woman] Wow.
- Absolutely, because who gets to have
that very rare, beautiful experience to get to heaven?
- You know, I read How to Make Friends and Influence People.
But for you to have such a positive attitude
as your career is ... - [Woman] That's amazing.
- Well to me, the key is like
surviving failure is a great ...
It's a very great experience to have.
- [Host] Tell me about
(laughter)
- Yeah look, I went through all of that Howard,
and the press ...
I grew up watching Siskell and Ebert on PBS,
you know when it was that show.
And so I always dreamed when I was kid,
someday Roger Ebert and that other dude is dead,
they're going to look at me through the camera
and say something about my movie.
And here was Roger Ebert saying,
"Pootie Tang is so bad I don't even understand what it is.
This isn't even a movie.
It's not even complete."
(laughter)
- [Howard] But like he's like,
why don't they shoot the director?
(laughter)
- Yeah, he was like so hateful.
And I'm having the experience of
becoming famous for making a movie
everyone unanimously thinks is awful.
There are some people who like to just
show up and do a show and get a check.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- And they don't think about,
like I'm interested in everything.
Like when I tour and they tell me,
hey you're doing the Chicago Theater
and here's how much you're making,
they tell me this big exciting number.
Then I go, I ask them,
well how much are the tickets?
And then they go well, in order to pay you that
they're charging 50 bucks a ticket.
I don't want people to pay 50 bucks a ticket to see me.
How much do I get paid
if they pay 30 bucks a ticket?
Well geez, it's only this.
And I'm like, well that's more money
than my dad made in his life.
(laughter)
I mean, I'll take it.
And also,
once I started looking at it that way,
I learned stuff.
Like I learned that if you ask for a
high guarantee for a live show,
you drive up the ticket price cause the risk is higher.
But if you tell the theater, look,
don't guarantee me anything.
Only pay me if we make money.
Then the price of the tickets come down
and they don't have to advertise as much
because they're not as afraid that they're going to lose ...
Do you understand what I'm saying?
- Yeah, totally.
- So and if you work in a theater without a guarantee,
you actually get paid more
because the show costs less.
It costs less for the advertising, all that stuff.
So if you sell it out,
you will make more money.
So I started learning about that stuff.
Like, really interesting to me.
Like the story I tell on Conan about
the guy next to me on the airplane
when the internet shuts down suddenly.
There wasn't anybody next to me on that plane.
That was me.
There was nobody next to me.
People don't talk to me on airplanes.
Anytime you see me doing a bit
where some stranger said something to me,
it's me.
The fact is, I was really upset
that the internet shut down.
I was livid.
And then I caught myself and said,
wait a minute, what are you upset about?
This was incredible that this was possible even.
And I sort of started,
it was kind of like an epiphany for me.
I started seeing things differently,
like realizing that when we get to a gate
and they go we need ten minutes because
the guy at the gate,
the plane at our gate hasn't backed out yet.
And I go, okay, come on.
Like that was me.
Let's go!
Why?
It's actually not going to get me there quicker.
It's not going to get, you know what I mean?
Like I'm losing nothing.
I just feel bad.
But if you can just like take a breath and calm down
and go, you know this is as good
as they make these right now.
This is as good as it is.
And it's pretty goddamned great.
But somehow, we don't, ehh.
Doesn't make us happy, and that's too bad.
I always think that means people are bad people.
It means that they're unhappy.
- They just want jetpacks.
That they have all this great (beep),
and if you had a jet pack, you'd be like,
I have the (beep) jet pack.
I can't believe I got this jet pack.
Who's your service provider on your jet pack, cause ...
Do they make the new one?
I hate this thing.
It sucks.
And then we'd all sit there and talk about that.
Part of me feels like
that if people have to go back to basics a little bit.
They'll start to see that,
cause there's no ...
You have a job and then you don't even
make enough for the (beep) you even own.
You have a house full and a car and a house
of all this (beep) you can't have.
You can't afford it.
And you don't even get the pride of saying like,
I have this job and because of it
I have that car.
I have this job and because of it
I have custody of this car
that the bank is paying somebody else for.
And if they ever come callin,
I'm going to go to jail.
It's really a (beep) life I think
that we're living right now.
And I feel bad for people,
cause I see it in their faces all the time.
So that's really more what it was about.
I didn't mean to say we're a (beep) generation.
I meant to say that we're a (beep) generation.
- So you never got worried about tapping out?
- Yeah, of course.
I'm terrified of tapping out.
- Yeah.
- But that's a motivating fear.
That's pressure.
- Yeah.
- I like pressure.
I learned that from Billie Jean King.
- Billie Jean King! - One of my heroes.
Yes. One of my heroes. - Really?
Yes.
I remember as a kid watching a press conference
with Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs
- [Interviewer] Yeah. - When they were doing
Battle of the Sexes.
I was so fascinated by that,
cause I was raised by a single mom
and I have three older sisters.
So I've always identified with
women taking care of (beep)
and I never saw women as weak.
I only ever knew my strong working single mother.
So watching Billie Jean King
field this horrible,
just misogyny was fascinating
cause of the way she carried it.
That's what made it work.
Cause he would sit there going, you know,
why don't you all get back in the kitchen?
- (laughing) That's right, I forgot he did that.
- It was amazing.
- Yeah.
- And he'd have two girls in bikinis with big tits.
I mean there's no bigger insult to a working woman
than chicks with tits.
And he'd sit there and he'd go like,
yeah, this is what a woman is.
What's your problem or whatever.
And the way she carried it was amazing.
She didn't sit there and turn red
and be like Wilma and get angry.
She just sat there like this.
And then they asked her,
how do you feel when he says all this?
And she smiled and she said,
all it does is put a lot of pressure on me.
And I love pressure.
And she had this big smile on her face.
She said I love pressure.
And I thought, oh my,
I never forgot it.
I thought, oh my god.
How do you love,
what does that mean?
Like I thought really carefully about that.
She really did.
She was like come on,
keep it comin.
I love it. I love it.
I want this pressure.
Cause she knows how to turn pressure into hard work.
She knows how to,
it motivates her.
- Yeah.
- She knows that the heat from pressure
is going to make her work harder
so she's like, go ahead.
The more he said the more she had to win.
There's no way.
She had so much to lose
that she knew she'd play better.
So that's the way I do it.
I think,
like I say out loud,
I'll never do the same hour in a year.
And then inside I'm going, oh
- Oh god, why did I say that?
- Why did I say that?
And then it pushes me.
- Don't tape shit on your ...
Life is short.
Life is very short.
I like life. I like it.
I feel like even if it ends up being short,
I got lucky to have it
cause life is an amazing gift when you think about
what you get with a basic life.
Not even a particularly lucky life
or a healthy life.
If you have a life, it's an ...
Here's your boiler plate deal with life.
This is basic cable, what you get
(audience laughter)
when you get life.
You get to be on Earth.
First of all, oh my god,
what a location!
(audience laughter)
This is Earth and for trillions of miles in every direction,
it (beep) sucks so bad.
(audience laughter)
It's so (beep) that your eyes bolt out of your head
cause it sucks so bad.
You get to be on Earth and look at (beep).
As long as you're not blind or whatever it is,
(audience laughter) you get to be here,
you get to eat food.
You get to put bacon in your mouth.
I mean (audience laughter)
when you have bacon in your mouth,
it doesn't matter who's president or anything.
You just, ahhhh.
(audience laughter)
Ahhhhh.
Every time I'm eating bacon,
I think, I could die right now
and I mean it.
That's how good life is.
- Thank you so much for watching.
I made this video because
Arlington Gutierrez asked me to.
So if there's a famous entrepreneur
that you want me to profile next,
leave it in the comments below
and I'll see what I can do.
I'd also love to know
which of the 10 rules had the biggest impact on you.
Leave it in the comments
and we'll join the discussion.
Thank you so much for watching.
Continue to believe,
and I'll see you soon.
- I started doing
right out of high school.
Started doing standup.
Didn't go to college,
didn't pursue anything else professionally, really.
Started doing standup.
First time I went on stage,
I did a minute and a half
and I bombed.
It was terrible.
But I wanted it so badly
that I kept trying
and I learned how to write jokes
and I just had jokes.
Kind of funny thoughts.
About, I don't know,
15 years later,
(audience laughter)
I had been going in a circle that didn't take me anywhere.
Nobody gave a (beep) who I was,
and I didn't either.
I honestly didn't.
I used to hear my acts and go,
this is (beep) and I hate it.
But I been doin this for 15 years
and stopping now is like getting out of prison.
Like what do you do after 15 years of standup comedy?
How do you reenter the workforce?
(audience laughter)
So I was in a really bad place.
I hated my act.
I'd been doing the same hour of comedy for 15 years,
and it was (beep).
I promise you.
And I was working places like Chinese restaurants.
So this is (audience laughter)
I was.
I'd do a show in a Chinese restaurant
where they don't even know there's a show going to happen.
They're there to eat,
and all of sudden you go, hey everybody
and people are like, I'm eating.
I don't want to be forced to sit in, uggghhh.
So I was doing a Chinese restaurant called
The Kowloon in Boston,
in Saugus, Massachusetts.
And I was sitting in my car after the show
just feeling like I'd,
this was all a big mistake.
I'm not good enough.
And I felt like my jokes were a trap.
And I listened to a CD of George
talking about comedy and workshopping it
and talking about it seriously.
And the thing that blew me away about this fellow
was that he just kept putting out specials.
Every year, there'd be a new George Carlin special,
a new George Carlin out
and they just kept coming.
And each one was deeper than the next,
and I just thought, how can he do that?
And it made me literally cry that
I could never do that.
I was telling the same jokes for 15 years.
So I'm listening and they ask him,
how do you do all this material?
And I'm like, ehh ...
And I hear him and he says,
well I just decided every year
I'd be working on that year's special.
And I'd do the special and then
I'd just chuck out the material.
And I start again with nothing.
And I thought, that's crazy.
How do you throw away?
It took me 15 years to build this (beep) hour.
(audience laughter)
If I throw it away, I got nothin.
But he gave me the courage to try.
And also, I was desperate.
What the fuck else was I going to do?
(audience laughter)
This idea that you throw everything away
and you start over again.
And I thought, well okay.
When you're done telling jokes
about airplanes and dogs,
and you throw those away,
what do you got left?
You can only dig deeper.
Start talking about your feelings and who you are.
And then you do those jokes,
and they're gone.
You got to dig deeper,
so then you start thinkin about your fears
and your nightmares
and doin jokes about that,
and then they're gone.
And then you start going into just weird (beep).
Yeah, eventually you get to your balls.
But there's a whole
(audience laughter)
it's a process that I watched him do my whole life
and I started to try to do it.
And I started to think, what do I,
cause he says whatever he wants.
What do I really want to say
that I'm afraid to say?
And at the time I was a father.
I am still a father.
(audience laughter)
But at the time
I didn't start,
I didn't take off yet.
Jury's out.
My oldest is eight.
I could still split.
So far I'm still there.
I was having a hard time being a father
and I wanted to say it on stage.
And one night I thought,
forget all the old jokes.
I'm going to start again.
And I thought of first thing,
I said I can't have sex with my daught-
with my daughter.
With my wife because we have a baby
and our baby's a (beep) (beep).
It's just what I was feeling
and I said it
and the audience went, whoa!
And I thought, oh,
I'm somewhere new now.
And I said
(audience laughter)
And I said something like,
I never used to get babies in the garbage,
but now I understand it.
(audience laughter) And they did that.
And I thought,
I'd rather have that
than the (beep) laughter from my 15 year old jokes.