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Louis C.K.'s Next Comedy Special Will Be $5 On His Website (1 Viewer)

RhymesMcJuice

RhymesMcJuice

Footballguy
I really like this idea and hope it catches on with other stand-ups. $5 is a lot cheaper than $15 DVD's you normally have to pay and the money goes directly to the comedian themselves.

Link

In an epic, farewell-to-New York broadcast of “Conan” Thursday night that featured guest appearances by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert; a rare visit from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog; and the host, Conan O’Brien, officiating a same-sex marriage, the standup Louis C. K. made some news of his own. He announced on the show that he is taping a comedy special that will be broadcast only on the Internet.

Louis C. K., the star and creator of the FX series “Louie,” said in an interview with Mr. O’Brien that his upcoming concerts at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan on Nov. 10 would be recorded and then posted in an edited version on his Web site, louisck.net, on Dec. 10 where it can be viewed for a cost of $5.

Asked in a phone interview on Friday morning why he was not bringing the special to a traditional cable television network, Louis C. K. said: “To me, I flip the question over: Why should I go through a cable network when I can just give it directly to the people who want to see it? It’s so much easier, and it’s an interesting experiment.”

Louis C. K. has been featured in the standup specials “Shameless,” which ran on HBO in 2007, and the Emmy Award-nominated “Chewed Up,” which appeared on Showtime in 2008. His most recent standup show, “Hilarious,” was presented at the Sundance Film Festival and picked up by the Epix cable channel, earning him two more Emmy nominations.

But in recent years, he said, the cable channels have become increasingly difficult and unnecessary platforms for him to present these kinds of shows.

“HBO used to be the thing,” Louis C. K. said. “It used to be called an HBO special, even if you had a special on Showtime – people would call it your HBO special. But HBO gave up that. They don’t do it anymore. I offered them ‘Hilarious,’ to broadcast, and they said, ‘Well, we don’t do any business with you. You don’t have a show on HBO, so we don’t have a reason to promote you that way.’”

Showtime, he said, “was really nice but they don’t really push stuff, they just kind of stick it on.” And Comedy Central is “a weird place – they show too many commercials and they cut all the cursing out.”

The joy of presenting a standup special that eliminates any traditional broadcast partner, Louis C. K. said, was that this new show “will be available immediately, and universally.” He added: “You don’t have to have an iTunes account in good standing. You don’t have to have your credit card at Netflix updated. You can be a loser and watch this thing. You can be in prison.”

Using this strategy, he said, monolithic and intrusive media corporations don’t have to be part of the equation, either.

“Everybody is outnumbered,” Louis C. K. said, “because everything in your wallet represents all these contentious relationships with these huge companies. If you want to watch one of my specials on Netflix, they start marketing to you, and you start getting Jeff Dunham ads. You try to read an article about Rwanda and a pop-up comes up for Larry the Cable Guy. ‘Hey, I heard you enjoyed Louie’s special – now we know who you are.’”

He continued: “You can’t put an old black-and-white TV set on your kitchen table and turn it on and watch something. You can’t throw on a record and listen to music. You have to belong to something. The idea was, let’s just make a thing where you stick your five dollars in a slot, and enjoy the show.”
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I think it is great and I agree—although no direct knowledge— that the cable networks can be a pain to deal with.

however, I think the big thing missing in all of this is that most people are lazy. And it is easy to just turn on your TV and watch it rather then attempt to access content on your computer. I think there is the younger segment of the population that is OK with web content as entertainment, but the % is still small.

 
'glvsav37 said:
I think it is great and I agree—although no direct knowledge— that the cable networks can be a pain to deal with. however, I think the big thing missing in all of this is that most people are lazy. And it is easy to just turn on your TV and watch it rather then attempt to access content on your computer. I think there is the younger segment of the population that is OK with web content as entertainment, but the % is still small.
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I would expect at some point it will be released on DVD.
 
'glvsav37 said:
I think it is great and I agree—although no direct knowledge— that the cable networks can be a pain to deal with. however, I think the big thing missing in all of this is that most people are lazy. And it is easy to just turn on your TV and watch it rather then attempt to access content on your computer. I think there is the younger segment of the population that is OK with web content as entertainment, but the % is still small.
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The only one hurt by that will be Louis. If he's okay with it, so am I.
 
Very interesting. If this distribution method catches on, it could be a huge money-maker for Louis (and others).

 
'Christo said:
'glvsav37 said:
I think it is great and I agree—although no direct knowledge— that the cable networks can be a pain to deal with. however, I think the big thing missing in all of this is that most people are lazy. And it is easy to just turn on your TV and watch it rather then attempt to access content on your computer. I think there is the younger segment of the population that is OK with web content as entertainment, but the % is still small.
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The only one hurt by that will be Louis. If he's okay with it, so am I.
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It's not going to cost him much since he's filming shows that people are paying for. He probably won't make a ton off it but it will cost him very little.
 
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Anyone going to watch this tomorrow? I think I am going to give it a try since I like his act.

 
It looks like he posts the act to his website tomorrow and it can be viewed starting anytime after that, not just on Dec. 10.

 
Only worth the $5 if it is DLable, and not just streaming.

But with Piracy, I doubt that it is (please tell me I am wrong?)

 
I coughed up the $5 and it's well worth it IMO. I know I've spent $5 on many other things that were less entertaining. You can tell right away he's concerned with the filming -- he doesn't give hecklers any rope.

And yes, I downloaded it. I plan to transfer it to my phone.

He's got some funny bits on Monopoly, returning rental-cars, and constant sexual thoughts.

 
'LittleLarry said:
I coughed up the $5 and it's well worth it IMO. I know I've spent $5 on many other things that were less entertaining. You can tell right away he's concerned with the filming -- he doesn't give hecklers any rope.And yes, I downloaded it. I plan to transfer it to my phone.He's got some funny bits on Monopoly, returning rental-cars, and constant sexual thoughts.
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Indeed - well worth it.
 
Everyone is a winner.

"The show went on sale at noon on Saturday, December 10th. 12 hours later, we had over 50,000 purchases and had earned $250,000, breaking even on the cost of production and website. As of Today, we've sold over 110,000 copies for a total of over $500,000. Minus some money for PayPal charges etc, I have a profit around $200,000 (after taxes $75.58). This is less than I would have been paid by a large company to simply perform the show and let them sell it to you, but they would have charged you about $20 for the video. They would have given you an encrypted and regionally restricted video of limited value, and they would have owned your private information for their own use. They would have withheld international availability indefinitely. This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it in Dublin, whatever the city is in Belgium, or Dubai. I got paid nice, and I still own the video (as do you). You never have to join anything, and you never have to hear from us again. "
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'AhrnCityPahnder said:
Everyone is a winner.

"The show went on sale at noon on Saturday, December 10th. 12 hours later, we had over 50,000 purchases and had earned $250,000, breaking even on the cost of production and website. As of Today, we've sold over 110,000 copies for a total of over $500,000. Minus some money for PayPal charges etc, I have a profit around $200,000 (after taxes $75.58). This is less than I would have been paid by a large company to simply perform the show and let them sell it to you, but they would have charged you about $20 for the video. They would have given you an encrypted and regionally restricted video of limited value, and they would have owned your private information for their own use. They would have withheld international availability indefinitely. This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it in Dublin, whatever the city is in Belgium, or Dubai. I got paid nice, and I still own the video (as do you). You never have to join anything, and you never have to hear from us again. "
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He needs to work on lowering his costs, no way should it cost $250k to film a show, edit it and host it on a website.
 
'cstu said:
'AhrnCityPahnder said:
Everyone is a winner.

"The show went on sale at noon on Saturday, December 10th. 12 hours later, we had over 50,000 purchases and had earned $250,000, breaking even on the cost of production and website. As of Today, we've sold over 110,000 copies for a total of over $500,000. Minus some money for PayPal charges etc, I have a profit around $200,000 (after taxes $75.58). This is less than I would have been paid by a large company to simply perform the show and let them sell it to you, but they would have charged you about $20 for the video. They would have given you an encrypted and regionally restricted video of limited value, and they would have owned your private information for their own use. They would have withheld international availability indefinitely. This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it in Dublin, whatever the city is in Belgium, or Dubai. I got paid nice, and I still own the video (as do you). You never have to join anything, and you never have to hear from us again. "
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He needs to work on lowering his costs, no way should it cost $250k to film a show, edit it and host it on a website.
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agree... but that probably includes what it costs to reserve and staff the theatre as well.

 
'bonesman said:
'cstu said:
'AhrnCityPahnder said:
Everyone is a winner.

"The show went on sale at noon on Saturday, December 10th. 12 hours later, we had over 50,000 purchases and had earned $250,000, breaking even on the cost of production and website. As of Today, we've sold over 110,000 copies for a total of over $500,000. Minus some money for PayPal charges etc, I have a profit around $200,000 (after taxes $75.58). This is less than I would have been paid by a large company to simply perform the show and let them sell it to you, but they would have charged you about $20 for the video. They would have given you an encrypted and regionally restricted video of limited value, and they would have owned your private information for their own use. They would have withheld international availability indefinitely. This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it in Dublin, whatever the city is in Belgium, or Dubai. I got paid nice, and I still own the video (as do you). You never have to join anything, and you never have to hear from us again. "
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Click to expand...
He needs to work on lowering his costs, no way should it cost $250k to film a show, edit it and host it on a website.
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agree... but that probably includes what it costs to reserve and staff the theatre as well.
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People paid to see those shows:
First of all, this was a premium video production, shot with six cameras over two performances at the Beacon Theater, which is a high-priced elite Manhattan venue. I directed this video myself and the production of the video cost around $170,000. (This was largely paid for by the tickets bought by the audiences at both shows).
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About 5000 people times $50 is $250k. I think he really made about $500k profit in 4 days. It's great for him but he should be honest about it.
 
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Just paid and am downloading it now. Had to laugh when it took me to paypal to pay the user "Pig Newton". Also the yes/no option to receive info about other Louis CK stuff on the website, the second option being "No, leave me alone forever, you fat idiot"

:lmao:

:popcorn:

 
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Wow...made a cool $1m on this so far. And he gave $250k in bonuses to his staffers, and gave away $280k to charity, keeping $220k for himself after the $250k production costs. Pretty cool.

Louis C.K. tops $1 million in sales of $5 comedy special

By Julianne Pepitone @CNNMoneyTech December 22, 2011: 1:16 PM ET

Louis C.K. announced his $1 million sales milestone during a chat with talk show host Jimmy Fallon.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Comedian Louis C.K. was annoyed that he never saw a royalty check from sales of his standup specials through traditional outlets like DVD or iTunes. So he produced his own recent special, sold it online directly to fans for $5 -- and made a cool million in just 10 days.

Louis C.K. announced the sales milestone on Wednesday night's episode of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."

Louis C.K. began selling the special, filmed at New York's Beacon Theater, on December 10. He put up a simple website that directed customers to "buy the thing" through eBay's (EBAY, Fortune 500) PayPal for $5. A footnote explained that the file has "no regional restrictions, no crap. You can download this file, play it as much as you like, burn it to a DVD, whatever."

Louis C.K. called it an "experiment" when he launched the sale. Wednesday's $1 million milestone showed that it's paying off.

Jimmy Fallon asked: "You just said 'Hey, everyone who wants to see the show, you give five bucks'?"

Louis C.K. paid to produce the special "out of my own money," he responded. "So I had it. And I said, I can just give it to people for a little bit of money."

A friend told him "everyone's going to steal it...so I just wrote a note that said, you know, please don't do it," Louis C.K. said, as the audience laughed. "And they didn't. So it made a lot of money."

Louis C.K. said he was shocked as he watched the orders come in -- and then began to feel guilty about the amount he'd netted.

"I've never had a million dollars all at once. I grew up pretty poor and I was like, this is not even my money," he said. "This is just a five-dollar impulse that 220,000 people had, and now I have it. And I felt uncomfortable about having that much money."

So Louis C.K. set aside $250,000 to cover the cost of the expenses of producing the special, then doled out another $250,000 in bonuses for his staffers.

He then donated $280,000 to five charities: The Fistula Foundation, The Pablove Foundation, charity: water, Kiva and Green Chimneys.

"I was going to [donate] $100,000, but it's like blackjack -- I just kept dishing it out," he told Fallon.

That leaves $220,000 left over.

"Some of that will pay my rent and will care for my childen [sic]. The rest I will do terrible, horrible things with and none of that is any of your business," Louis C.K. wrote in a statement posted on his website.

A $220,000 profit is plenty, he added.

"I never viewed money as being 'my money' I always saw it as 'The money.' It's a resource. if it pools up around me then it needs to be flushed back out into the system," he wrote. "If I make another million, I'll give more of it away."

First Published: December 22, 2011: 1:11 PM ET
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http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/22/technology/louis_ck_million/index.htm?source=cnn_bin
 
I bought it. Well done making everything so easy.

Talking about perversion. Saying woman are full of it when they say, "I'm perverted. I can be dirty too."

"Get real. You are a tourist to the island of perversion. We are prisoners."

The whole bit about whether to give up his 1st-class seat to a soldier heading towards coach was hilarious. How he never does it but is so warped he gives himself credit for even having the thought. :lmao:

It was worth $5 but it was not one of his better hours.

 
It looks like this is an idea that may be catching on -

Aziz Ansari releases comedy special online for $5

11:58 AM, March 20, 2012 | Comments

By SANDY COHEN

AP Entertainment Writer

Aziz Ansari of “Parks and Rec” fame is bypassing cable networks to release his latest comedy special on his website.

The comedian says his “Dangerously Delicious” stand-up special will be available online worldwide for $5 beginning Tuesday. Fans can download or stream the 60-minute show without commercials or restrictions.

Ansari, who will bring his new tour to the Royal Oak Music Theatre on May 5, said he was inspired by the popularity of his comedy clips on YouTube and by the success of fellow comic Louis C.K., who sold his “Live at the Beacon Theater” online in December and brought in more than $1 million.

Ansari has promoted his appearances to his 1.7 million followers on Twitter and plans to use the site to spread the word about his new special.

 
'skillz said:
It looks like this is an idea that may be catching on -Aziz Ansari releases comedy special online for $511:58 AM, March 20, 2012 | Comments By SANDY COHENAP Entertainment Writer Aziz Ansari of “Parks and Rec” fame is bypassing cable networks to release his latest comedy special on his website.The comedian says his “Dangerously Delicious” stand-up special will be available online worldwide for $5 beginning Tuesday. Fans can download or stream the 60-minute show without commercials or restrictions. Ansari, who will bring his new tour to the Royal Oak Music Theatre on May 5, said he was inspired by the popularity of his comedy clips on YouTube and by the success of fellow comic Louis C.K., who sold his “Live at the Beacon Theater” online in December and brought in more than $1 million. Ansari has promoted his appearances to his 1.7 million followers on Twitter and plans to use the site to spread the word about his new special.
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Do you have to pay extra for the laugh track?
 
Hello there. I am Louis C.K. for now. You are a person who opted into my email list, when you bought my Live at the Beacon standup special. As I promised, I have left you alone for a long time. Well, those days are over. I am writing now to let you know that I am offering some more stuff on my site, which you are more than welcome to buy. What does "More than welcome" mean? Well, it means you can totally buy this stuff. Like, totally.

Okay so there are two new products. They are both audio comedy specials. One is called...

Louis CK: WORD - Live at Carnegie Hall

This is about an hour long and it's a recording of a live standup show that I did at Carnegie Hall in November of 2010 as part of a national tour I was on entitled "WORD" I've had a lot of requests from people to release that show as a speical or as a CD. I hadn't done so because a lot of the material that I did on the WORD tour, was in the second season of my show "LOUIE" on FX. But I decided since it's never been released as an entire show, and some of the material was not on my show, I'm releasing this now. I'm giving you this long and boring explaination because, as most of you know, I release about an hour or more of new standup material every year and folks can count on seeing a new show every year. This is old material, so I don't want to be a #### and pretend it isn't.

Anyway, Louis CK: WORD - Live at Carnegie hall is available for the same 5 dollars as everything will be on louisck.com. It is the same deal as before that you get 4 downloads and the file is drm free. YOu can burn it onto a CD, play it on your ipod, whatever you want. The special is broken up into separate tracks because I think that's more fun for a comedy album, but they are all just one thing you buy all at one time.

The second new thing is even older, actually. It's an audio release of "Shameless", my very first hour long standup special that I did for HBO. It was never released as an audio CD, so I asked HBO to let me offer it on this site and they agreed. They also agreed to let me offer it, the same as the rest, DRM free, for 5 dollars. Obviously I'll be sharing the Shameless money with HBO but I think it's pretty cool that they're letting this be out there unprotected like this. Shameless is also 5 dollars, drm free, and you can download it a bunch of times for the price.

Lastly, I'm offering Live at the Beacon Theater as an audio version, for those many of you who have asked for it. This is just exactly an audio version of the video special. Those of you who have already bought Live at the Beacon theater already own this. If you just return to the site louisck.com with your password, it is now live and available for you to download at no extra cost. Those of you who now buy LIve at the beacon theater for 5 dollars, will also have the audio version availbable to you. It's simply been added to the video downloads and streams you already were getting.

Later, I am going to make a version of Live at the Beacon theater, that is a separate audio special, which will be much longer. That will cost money. Because I'm an #######. But that's later.

Also later, actually soon, I'll be putting my first feature film "Tomorrow Night' up for sale on the site. And also other things. Soon. For now. Please feel free to click on the button below, to purchase some of the new stuff, using Paypal or Amazon payments, we now accept both. Or go to louisck.com and peruse the new items. I think we have some samples there that you can check out.

You may have noticed that Louis CK LIve at the beacon theater is airing on the FX network. FX agreed to air it 10 times over the next few months. The version on FX is only 42 minutes long and we had to take out the ####s. The reason I chose to air the special on FX is that FX is my people. They gave me my show LOUIE (season 3 premieres on June 28th at 10:30pm) and they have never aired a standup special. So I thought it would be cool to let them air it and bring more people to the site who want to get the complete unexpurgated version. Also FX doesn't make me cut things for content. Just the big words (####, etc)

Okay. that was exhausting. Sorry. I didn't even ask you how you are. How are you? Oh yea? Oh good. That's great. What? Oh man. That's tough. I'm sorry... Oh well that sounds like you handled it well, though. So. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know that's... yeah. Well... Just remember, time will go by and that'll just be on the list of #### that happened to you. You'll be okay. Yeah. Huh?... Oh. Really? HE DID? Oh my GOD! hahaha!! That's CRAZY! No. no. I won't tell him you told me. Of course not. Alright well... uhuh? Oh wow. yeah. Alright well.. I really gotta go. Thanks for listening. I'm glad you're basically okay. Stay in touch.

your friend,

Louis C.K.
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Tickets to his new show are $45, on sale now at his site.

Hi. I'm going on tour all over America, or at least some of it.Tickets for this tour are available EXCLUSIVELY here on louisck.com.Tickets are 45 dollars, every seat, every City. That includes all taxes and fees. You don't have to join anything and you don't have to hear from me again unless you want to. Just cheap tickets to see me do an all new bunch of jokes.See you on the road, #####es.
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