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The Moment that Made Louis C.K.'s Career

alchemy.substack.com · saved by 1 readers

I’ve been having some wonderful reader conversations recently. One question that comes up reliably is the direction of my work which I would charitably describe as “all over the place.” It reflects my wrestling with how my life has changed, as well as the push and pull between different inner voices, a back and forth between the comfort of the known and fear of the novel. One reader reminded me of the time when Louis C.K. shared his story at the funeral of his hero, George Carlin. C.K. talked about the darkest point of his career. I had watched it years ago but it’s so honest and raw, that it immediately sent chills down my spine again (I shared the clip on Twitter). I remembered the technique C.K. used to unlock his creativity. But just like the message of True Detective completely changed when I re-watched it this year, I realized that I had missed the change in C.K.’s mindset which unlocked his career. C.K. began doing stand-up right out of high school. Even though he initially bomb

I’ve been having some wonderful reader conversations recently. One question that comes up reliably is the direction of my work which I would charitably describe as “all over the place.” It reflects my wrestling with how my life has changed, as well as the push and pull between different inner voices, a back and forth between the comfort of the known and fear of the novel. One reader reminded me of the time when Louis C.K. shared his story at the funeral of his hero, George Carlin. C.K. talked about the darkest point of his career. I had watched it years ago but it’s so honest and raw, that it

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