The two-drink minimum is a standard at old-school comedy clubs, a subtle reminder that making money is priority number one. A glance at the menu at the Rosemont Zanies makes the already unpleasant proposition even worse: a drink called the “Louis C.K.” is still prominently featured on a list of specialty cocktails. By the way, it’s a combination of coconut vodka, creme de cacao, and hazelnut liqueur that would surely give me a hangover that rivals the queasy feeling I get whenever I think about C.K. these days.
I’m going to draw a line, because I don’t want anyone to say, “Bert would book a rapist.” Absolutely not. You don’t invite a predator into your home. But as a business, absolutely I would book Louis C.K. He’s a brilliant comedian. Any comedy-club booker that worries about a comedian hurting their business is in the wrong business. Louis hasn’t been charged with any crime. I haven’t heard of any formal complaints or criminal charges. I separate the art from the artist. As far as people protesting, they have every right to do that. Like every stand-up comedian says, “If you don’t like my material and you’re offended, leave.”
Even if C.K. doesn’t repeat his past behavior of forcing others to watch him masturbate without consent (something he has since admitted to), he will at the very least be given a platform to continue to mock Parkland shooting survivors and nonbinary people the way he did in a set last month at the comedy club Governor’s on Long Island. Free speech is one thing: C.K. can say whatever he wants. And yes, his initial renown was due in part to his offensive behavior onstage. But when bookers use status as an excuse to give stage time to known predators whose punch lines come at the expense of traumatized and marginalized groups, it signifies to lesser-known comedians that such behavior is OK. That standard creates an unsafe and unwelcoming environment for women and queer people and other underrepresented voices in comedy—the people who should be given more opportunities to perform, not fewer. No one seems to think anything C.K. is doing right now is funny.
