EMMYS: Q&A With Louis C.K. Of Louie

Comedian Louis C.K. finds himselfan overnight sensation after 25years in the biz.Now he’s earned four Emmynominations for writing and acting on his critically praised FX comedy Louie as well as for writing and editinghis stand-up special LouisC.K.: Hilarious forEPIX premium cable channel. But best of all, C.K. (a homonym of his last name Szekely) iswidely hailed by his peers as the gold standard in stand-up. He spoke with DeadlineTV Contributor Ray Richmond: DEADLINE: How does itfeel for Ricky Gervais to call you TheFunniest Stand-up Working In America or Chris Rock refer to you as TheGreatest Comic Mind Of The Last Quarter Century? LOUISC.K.: Its nice tohear, but also a little weird, you know? You cant buy into any of it. Hearingit doesnt make me better at anything and probably does the opposite. Plus,you know its all going to go away. No one is permanently chiseled ontoanything. Ive been doing this for 25 years and have been up and down a lot.You get hot for a while, then it turns right around. I remember doing the YoungComedians Special in Aspenin 1995 and that was the first timewhere I felt like I was on some kind of a roll. The lesson I took away was notto take any of it too seriously. Keep it in perspective. DEADLINE: Butyou just took in more Emmynominations than any other performer this year. C.K.: Well yeah, the Emmy thing, thatsjust crazy. I was honestly expecting nothing. Actually thats not entirelytrue. I thought maybe Id get something for writing the special. But thenominations for the FX series, I had no idea these voters were even aware ofit. Yet now that its out there, I see it as an opportunity. And Im doing allI can to try to win. Its hugely important to me. DEADLINE: Why? C.K.: Because winning hopefully helps togive the show a deeper foothold, and I start making some money for FX. I wantto put cash in Rupert Murdochs coffers that are otherwise laying dormant.Emmys would give FX a payoff for having given me this gift of a show. I wantthe establishment to tellJohn Landgraf that he did the right thing,and that he should let me keep doing it. Thats what the Emmy is for me. Ipersonally dont need it. Ive already won. It would also reward all of theamazing crew people who work so hard making Louie what it is and maybe give the crew job security and Landgraf even morecredibility. I just want to bring any benefit to that guy that I can. Sobasically, I see the Emmys as a slot machine that pays off in reverse. DEADLINE: Soyou have adecent relationshipwith your FX boss? C.K.: Its way beyond that. He lets me dowhat I want. John Landgraf has taught me everything Ive needed to make this showwork like it does, and he lets me do the show the way Ive wanted to. I dontthink anyone has ever done a show this way. DEADLINE: You write Louie,produce it, direct it, star in it, edit it. How did you manage to become atotal control freak? C.K.: Ive been writing pilots anddeveloping television shows going back to 1996, and learned a lot the past 15years. I found out that the more money you ask the network for upfront, themore permission you need for every creative step along the way and the lessfreedom you ultimately have. When I was making my deal, my manager and agentwere pushing me to get more money for the Louie pilot. But I listened toLandgraf and took far less.In the long view ofit, there are only two outcomes: Either Ill never get rich from the show butremain intensely proud of the work and stand behind every second of it, or itcatches on and Ill make my money down the road. If youask for a shitload of money up front, your options go way down. One of thefears I had was succeeding wildly with a show I hated. I just feel so lucky tohave the deal for this show that I have. DEADLINE: Do you just make the show and FX sees it for the first timewhen it airs? C.K.: Not quite. My contract with FX saysthat I have to show them every script, and they have the right to approve everyactor we put on the show. They can also replace me in any of my jobs wheneverthey want at their discretion. The fact they havent enforced any of thoserights says theyve been happy with the way Ive been doing things so far. Ifyou want to keep the freedom, youd better succeed. There are no free rides. SoI wouldnt call what I have complete creative control. Instead, its really alack of being creatively controlled. DEADLINE: Ivenever heard of anyone having that kind ofdeal. C.K.: Neither have I. But I dont do it onmy own. I have an enormous and great crew. My fellow voices on the show areincredibly unique. The show looks beautiful, too. The reason Ive been able topull this off is Ive learned big lessons from the independent filmmakers likeWoody Allen and Spike Lee by just watching them from afar. Woody and Spike gotknown for making really exceptional films without anyone telling them how to doit. Thats what I wanted for TV. DEADLINE: Why are youstill so dedicated tostand-up? C.K.: I love it. Stand-up isprobably the most solo performance in art. Theres nothing else like it. Youretotally alone. Even a singer has a band. I love stand-up more than anything,and Im so happy to have found a way to use it in the show. DEADLINE: Which comicsdo you admire? C.K.: Zach Galifianakis. Patrice ONeal isgetting incredibly strong right now. Doug Stanhope is a fucking phenomenalcomedian, honest and really funny and working really hard right now. I haventseen Patton Oswalt in a while, but I really love him onstage. Maria Bamford isterrific. And I still love Bill Cosby and Steven Wright. DEADLINE: Whatdo you think of ModernFamily? C.K.: Never seen it. I dont watch a lot oftelevision. I tend to rent movies. And I watch a lot of sports. But when Imnot working, Im with my daughters every chance I get.