Most people love Louis CK and I must admit, I do too. But not for all the obvious reasons.
I respect his writing and his delivery. I think he’s a great actor too.
Sometimes I think he takes it too far. It kind of depends on my mood.
But that’s not the point.
I admire him because he is truly a master. I’ve watched his early clips and he was very forgettable. Maybe they just picked him to be on TV because they needed a red head (that’s the kind of stuff that happens in TV, seriously).
My point is that he kept working on his craft. His writing, his comedy, many of his creative outlets. He wrote for other comics on TV and he kept doing stand up.
And he got better. He kept honing his skill.
And then he got his next show and he knocked it out of the park. And he’s never stopped writing and working on his craft. He’s talked about his writing, directing, acting, and all of the other things he’d done and he always comes back to his comedy. He thinks that that’s the hardest and he loves it the most.
This is his brilliant opening monologue for SNL, but I must warn you, it’s rated R and you might get offended. My intention is that you watch his vulnerability and his examination of human pettiness, his rawness. He embraces the dark parts of being human and he makes it safe for us to go in the dark with him to explore.
Ok, so you may be thinking, what does this have to do with me? Well, I think that Louis CK’s journey is a great model for anything you feel passionate about and want to pursue. He was ok when he was starting out, but he kept going. Now I’m not saying that you have to do the whole 10,000 hours-Malcolm Gladwell-thing or you’ll never master speaking.
My point is, and I do have one, is to not give up; to keep going. If you want it bad enough, you’ll keep putting in the time working on your craft and making little tweaks. One of my mentors talks about baby steps. Just keep taking baby steps….
And speaking of baby steps…I have to let you in on a little secret.
I’m teaching a small, exclusive group program that starts next week, Tuesday June 6th, and I’m so excited about the people who’ve already signed up for it.
Seriously, my last class…they just blew me away. All of them went from being terrified of being on camera, to now they’ve become video gurus who crank out content rich, engaging, FUN videos that their people love and beg for more. One of them, Jen, has even started producing and directing her husband for their business’ brand!
