Louis CK is one of the most viciously funny standups walking the boards today. A comedy professional for more than 20 years, Louis won an Emmy for his writing on The Chris Rock Show, directed the cult hit Pootie Tang and starred in his own sitcom, Lucky Louie, on HBO, as well as two solo HBO specials. He was born in Washington, D.C. to a Harvard educated father descended from Hungarian Jews and Mexican Catholics, and a Harvard educated mother of Irish Catholic descent. After six years in Mexico, he grew up in Massachusetts. His family pronounces their surname Szekely roughly as [se'-ke], and in his grade-school years he resorted to "C.K." as an easy way to get his name pronounced almost correctly as [si' ke].
He has performed his stand-up frequently on shows like Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In August 2005, C.K. starred in a half-hour HBO special as part of the stand-up series One Night Stand. Most recently his subject matter reflected his frustrations and anxieties from raising his four-year-old daughter. He was ranked #98 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. There was a small controversy about his placement. When '80s prop comic Gallagher was ranked #100 on the list, he was angry and remarked "I don't even know who Louis C.K. is!
