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Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

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Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#151
post #111
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoyed Curb - I made it through one and a half seasons - but I couldn't continue watching it. I may just have a low threshold for enduring discomfort, but Curb just keeps pushing and pushing the cringe meter. For Louis CK, it's about what happens WITH the discomfort. Curb, to me, is a DISPLAY of discomfort that is funny to a point, but then just has very little redeeming value beyond that. Another example of the s…

I know exactly what you mean here. I also sometimes have trouble tolerating cringe-comedy situations although seemingly not as bad as you. I actually used to get very uncomfortable while watching some Shakespearian comedy-of-errors plays. The type where the audience knows something that the actors don't. Makes me want to shout at them which is I guess the point however I feel like it is not an enjoyable type of anxie…

Yes, I do think that is the case. I also just, very plainly, don't see that much craft in drama-from-ignorance. Sure, "x knows something that y doesn't, subsequently y runs into a number of cringeworthy encounters" does make for drama, but if somebody saying "no y, actually, it's THIS" would destroy the entire plot from thereon, I find the whole setup a bit stale.

Same goes for "x is a twat, situations involving x will make you cringe" shows - there are only a few like that which I can tolerate and they make a huge effort to assign enough other redeeming qualities to x to make up for it. For Curb, I do like Larrys character, but after a while, it seemed like he existed solely to feed the cringe.

And yes, I have it bad. The last episodes of Curb that I watched, I permanently had my finger on the space bar. Sometimes, I would have to pause it for periods of time that were longer than the show itself.

Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a huge fan, but professing total ignorance of all things technology reminds me of being in the fourth grade. Luckily for him doing an IAMA on Reddit doesn't involve performing sex acts on a donkey. Seriously, either he's become one of America's most successful standups in spite of his complete naivete, or he's a lot more shrewd than he's making out.

Actually, if I remember correctly from his interview on the WTF podcast, his father is a programmer and Louis was always pretty technologically adept. E.g. he edits his TV show himself on his MacBook.

Not his father, his mother.

Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#153
post #30
post #6

His description of why he did it: To those who might wish to "torrent" this video: look, I don't really get the whole "torrent" thing. I don't know enough about it to judge either way. But I'd just like you to consider this: I made this video extremely easy to use against well-informed advice. I was told that it would be easier to torrent the way I made it, but I chose to do it this way anyway, because I want it to b…

Wow. His simple tone belies the brilliance in his writing here. I seriously doubt he just spent 5 minutes scribbling this out as an afterthought. He gets a few key ideas across: - he doesn't understand torrenting and so is helpless against it - he cares about his viewers more than taking advice about DRM - the video is owned solely by him and not some soulless corporation, and you're directly hurting him by torrentin…

I agree, he obviously understands the entire issue much much better than most artists.

Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#154
post #120
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personal respect for the artist notwithstanding, this is not a replicable model for others. He makes it up in volume. This is not a general solution.

why not? He already got paid a significant sum by the ticketholders at beacon theater, so all he has to recoup is the cost of producing the special, which he did largely himself. The marginal cost of distributing an additional copy of his work is minimal, and his pricing reflects that, and makes people more likely to pay for it rather than steal it. Can you elaborate on why you don't think this is a general solution?

It is not a replicable model to assume your work will not be reproduced online and to assume you can politely ask someone to remove it if it has been.

Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a huge fan, but professing total ignorance of all things technology reminds me of being in the fourth grade. Luckily for him doing an IAMA on Reddit doesn't involve performing sex acts on a donkey. Seriously, either he's become one of America's most successful standups in spite of his complete naivete, or he's a lot more shrewd than he's making out.

Professing total ignorance of all things technology != professing ignorance of Reddit and torrents.

It takes less than 30 seconds to understand what a torrent or Reddit is. Or does CK not know how to find and understand (read) basic information?

Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#156
post #116
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damn, I would've bought it if not for requiring PayPal. I don't have an account or want one.

Why is he down-voted? He didn't want to join paypal, fair enough. He didn't know he could pay with paypal without joining it, now he knows it. Other HN-ers might see this post, realize they don't need paypal, and go back to buy the video. IMO this shouldn't be down-voted. p.s. I know I could have just upvoted it instead of writing this useless post (Which I'd understand if you downvote me by the way), but I thought m…

Because about 50 words after "pay with paypal" is a separate two-sentence paragraph dedicated to saying "you don't have to make a paypal account".

Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i'm guessing it's because of this monetization model wouldn't work for everyone, and so it's not a solution in any which way to the copyright problem. This works for him because you, and i, know and (probably) appreciate his humor, and he's going to make some money from it. It's not going to work for someone who's not quite as good, and rely more on having that product actively sold to you ...

I'd argue that if someone isn't 'quite as good', then they don't deserve anyone's money. The biggest problem with the music/movie/entertainment industry today is that all of the backing is behind 'sellable' artists, not talented ones. Take all that promotion and marketing and brainwashing away, and you have a group of entertainers being judged on their true merits. I think thats fair - I don't really understand how a…

Louis CK spent nearly 15 years in the wild as a hack comedian before he found his voice, according to his own commentary. We wouldn't have his excellence now if it weren't for him being able to keep himself fed through his work while not 'quite as good'.

Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Professing total ignorance of all things technology != professing ignorance of Reddit and torrents.

It takes less than 30 seconds to understand what a torrent or Reddit is. Or does CK not know how to find and understand (read) basic information?

You're taking this way too seriously. Comedians claim ignorance all the time to sound funny. It doesn't mea. They are real ignorant or stupid.

Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It takes less than 30 seconds to understand what a torrent or Reddit is. Or does CK not know how to find and understand (read) basic information?

You're taking this way too seriously. Comedians claim ignorance all the time to sound funny. It doesn't mea. They are real ignorant or stupid.

Too bad his comedy doesn't translate over text.

Re: Louis CK self-produces, self-publishes content on his webpage

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It takes less than 30 seconds to understand what a torrent or Reddit is. Or does CK not know how to find and understand (read) basic information?

You're taking this way too seriously. Comedians claim ignorance all the time to sound funny. It doesn't mea. They are real ignorant or stupid.

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