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I thought it was a good question, and probably the only part of the article that's relevant to Hacker News. (FWIW I think it does matter and didn't like his ans

by bthomas 14y ago

I thought it was a good question, and probably the only part of the article that's relevant to Hacker News. (FWIW I think it does matter and didn't like his answer)

ryanmolden 14y ago
You didn't like his answer of "I worked my ass of to get here"? Is it that he didn't acknowledge the role of good luck or do you honestly think he didn't work to get where he is at?
- gregstoll 14y ago
  I wish he had acknowledged the role of good luck. Clearly, he worked hard to get where he is, but how many other comics have done the same? (I don't know much about the comedy business, though...maybe there just aren't many people who put in as much time as Louis C.K.)
  - illuminate 14y ago
    Luck gives opportunity, nonstop hard work is what keeps you from squandering it. Successful comedians (even the terribly unfunny ones) just don't quit. Plenty of people get where they are through luck, but I don't think comedy is the sort of field where people just "fall into" their careers. There are plenty of funny comedians who don't make it big (Eddie Pepitone comes to mind) and work hard, but you can't describe how to get lucky, all you can describe is how to not fuck up opportunity.
uptown 14y ago
"I think it does matter and didn't like his answer" I'm curious to know why you feel that way.
- mrev 14y ago
  +1 for Louie's answer. So nice to see him stand up to that brand of weirdly confrontational journalism. What should he be doing different exactly? Selling tickets for other performer's shows on his site? Pull a Pearl Jam? Why exactly is he obligated to do anything?
  - nightpool 14y ago
    I don't think that was what that question was about. I saw it more as pulling up a common counterargument to Louis CK's success (people say all the time that he's a "special case" and his success doesn't mean anything). It was more like playing the devil's advocate to see what Louis would say about it.
- bthomas 14y ago
  Implicit in all the discussion about his site is whether it could signify a major industry shift - that's what I thought the question was getting at. I'd have preferred him to take a position: "I think I have a better way for the industry to work" or "Don't infer too much from my success, it's a red herring". Or he could just say that he's only focused on his brand and not the industry at large.
  - uptown 14y ago
    Part of the problem with the question (and perhaps people's expectations of his answer) is that it's really asking about two somewhat-different things. Louie's talent as a comedian is something he's built over many many years. He's obviously not the first, and definitely not the fastest to rise to critical acclaim ... so arguably, you could make the case that there's nothing special about what he's accomplished there ... just that he's currently very highly thought of in the comedy world. What he's done is pair the timing of that success with a different business model for his personal brand than had previously been applied to the world of comedy - and he's done that with a technological solution that really anybody CAN replicate. He booked venues that weren't beholden to large ticket companies giving him the freedom to record and resell his performance. He hired his own crew to record those shows. He hired people to build a website for $32,000 to distribute those shows, and he asked people to pay $5 instead of stealing them online. Then he used the success of that experiment as leverage for the deals he struck for his tour and with HBO because they wanted him more than he needed them. Really anybody could have (and still can) do what he's done, but there's few short-cuts to the talent part. But I guess since I'm commenting here, I've "canceled my subscription to being a good person".

by bthomas 14y ago

I thought it was a good question, and probably the only part of the article that's relevant to Hacker News. (FWIW I think it does matter and didn't like his answer)

ryanmolden 14y ago

You didn't like his answer of "I worked my ass of to get here"? Is it that he didn't acknowledge the role of good luck or do you honestly think he didn't work to get where he is at?

gregstoll 14y ago
I wish he had acknowledged the role of good luck. Clearly, he worked hard to get where he is, but how many other comics have done the same? (I don't know much about the comedy business, though...maybe there just aren't many people who put in as much time as Louis C.K.)
- illuminate 14y ago
  Luck gives opportunity, nonstop hard work is what keeps you from squandering it. Successful comedians (even the terribly unfunny ones) just don't quit. Plenty of people get where they are through luck, but I don't think comedy is the sort of field where people just "fall into" their careers. There are plenty of funny comedians who don't make it big (Eddie Pepitone comes to mind) and work hard, but you can't describe how to get lucky, all you can describe is how to not fuck up opportunity.

uptown 14y ago

"I think it does matter and didn't like his answer" I'm curious to know why you feel that way.

mrev 14y ago
+1 for Louie's answer. So nice to see him stand up to that brand of weirdly confrontational journalism. What should he be doing different exactly? Selling tickets for other performer's shows on his site? Pull a Pearl Jam? Why exactly is he obligated to do anything?
- nightpool 14y ago
  I don't think that was what that question was about. I saw it more as pulling up a common counterargument to Louis CK's success (people say all the time that he's a "special case" and his success doesn't mean anything). It was more like playing the devil's advocate to see what Louis would say about it.
bthomas 14y ago
Implicit in all the discussion about his site is whether it could signify a major industry shift - that's what I thought the question was getting at. I'd have preferred him to take a position: "I think I have a better way for the industry to work" or "Don't infer too much from my success, it's a red herring". Or he could just say that he's only focused on his brand and not the industry at large.
- uptown 14y ago
  Part of the problem with the question (and perhaps people's expectations of his answer) is that it's really asking about two somewhat-different things. Louie's talent as a comedian is something he's built over many many years. He's obviously not the first, and definitely not the fastest to rise to critical acclaim ... so arguably, you could make the case that there's nothing special about what he's accomplished there ... just that he's currently very highly thought of in the comedy world. What he's done is pair the timing of that success with a different business model for his personal brand than had previously been applied to the world of comedy - and he's done that with a technological solution that really anybody CAN replicate. He booked venues that weren't beholden to large ticket companies giving him the freedom to record and resell his performance. He hired his own crew to record those shows. He hired people to build a website for $32,000 to distribute those shows, and he asked people to pay $5 instead of stealing them online. Then he used the success of that experiment as leverage for the deals he struck for his tour and with HBO because they wanted him more than he needed them. Really anybody could have (and still can) do what he's done, but there's few short-cuts to the talent part. But I guess since I'm commenting here, I've "canceled my subscription to being a good person".