Louis grew up in Mexico City, and when he was seven, his family immigrated to Boston. A few years later, his parents divorced, leaving his mother to raise him and his three siblings. As a single mom, life was challenging for her, and the whole family. To help maintain an upbeat environment, she would gather her children to listen to old records by stand-up comedians. Louis loved Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, and George Carlin. He especially enjoyed watching his mother laugh, and he would try to mimic the comedy routines to crack her up.
When
he was in the fifth grade, Louis was given the task of reciting a poem between
acts of his class play. On the day of
the play, he stood in front of the red curtain and began to recite the poem…
and he burst out laughing. He paused and
tried to start again, but kept laughing and couldn’t get through it. Fortunately, the crowd laughed with him and
applauded, as he took dozens of breaks to finish the speech. It was exhilarating to get laughter like that
from grownups. He’d brought the house
down.
After
high school graduation, Louis got a job as an auto mechanic, but secretly held
onto the idea that he could become a comedian.
A local comedy club was having an open mic night, and Louis summoned the
courage to go on stage. He was given
five minutes to perform, but when he got onstage, he could barely get through
his first minute. No one was laughing,
and his mind was going blank. The
experience was torture.
Louis
stayed out of comedy clubs for over a year.
When he finally got his courage back, he tried another open mic
night. He managed to deliver a full two
minutes, but just like before, no one laughed… it was agonizing silence. But he decided to give it one more try, and
this time he managed three or four jokes that got some good laughs. He was invited to be a regular at the midnight
show. He still needed a day job, but at
least he was pursuing his dreams.
After
four years of working steadily in Boston, Louis was chosen to appear on MTV’s
Half Hour Comedy Hour. It was an
important TV experience, and he bombed.
But it gave him the chance to see the clubs and vibrant comedy scene in
New York. Louis couldn’t make enough
money doing stand-up, so he became part of the writing team for a show called
Caroline’s Comedy Hour. It didn’t pay
much, but it gave him experience writing and refining his comedy.
When
the hit TV show, Saturday Night Live, announced it was looking for new cast
members, Louis auditioned with a group of fellow comedians. The following week, each of his friends was
cast to be on the show… except him.
Louis could no longer afford to live in New York. But as he was planning to move, his phone
rang. The caller said, “A friend from
SNL told me that you’re really funny and I’d like to offer you a job writing
for Conan O’Brien.”
Louis
worked as a writer on Conan O’Brien for two years, which led to his writing for
David Letterman, Dana Carvey, and Chris Rock.
Throughout the entire period, he continued doing his stand-up, always
improving and gaining confidence. It
paid off when he was invited to perform on Conan, Letterman, and the Tonight
Show with Jay Leno.
Knowing
that comedians don’t make much money from their comedy albums, Louis tried
something new. He allowed his fans to
download his latest album from his website.
He intentionally didn’t protect it from being pirated, and instead asked
his fans to contribute just five dollars if they liked it. It was a huge success, and he earned over one
million dollars. Today, Louis C.K. is an
award-winning comedian, writer, editor, producer and star. And in 2012, at long last, he was invited to
host Saturday Night Live.
Louis
C.K. made a habit of turning obstacles into opportunities. Don’t ever give up on your dreams, no matter
what gets in the way or how long it takes.
There’s nothing funny about that!
Until next week...
Live Your Dreams
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