Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Louis CK began his comedy work in the 1990s. He wrote jokes for many famous people, such as David Letterman and Chris Rock. His jokes were always very clever, and they made people laugh. Since this time, he began doing his own stand-up comedy, and he also made his own TV show, named Louis. People like his self-deprecating tangents and his cynical ideas. Maybe, these things make his audiences feel better about their own lives.
Recently, Louis CK released a new comedy special. It has many jokes about dreary ideas, and he even talks about some very touchy topics. Some people loved his 2017 comedy special because it seemed very honest, but other people were bored by it because it seemed like the same old jokes.
Find out what Marni and Andy thought about Louis CK’s new comedy in today’s English lesson.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Marni: Hey, Andy. I just checked out Louis CK’s new comedy special, 2017… clever title.
Andy_H: Yeah, pretty clever. I wish his humor was a little more clever… maybe, something that was actually out of the box, instead of just drifting into traditional tangents.
Marni: Ouch!
Andy_H: Yeah…
Marni: So, you’re not a fan of our middle-aged, sort of frumpy white guy… bald white man who’s just very self-deprecating.
Andy_H: Well, the thing is… I love Louis CK, but watching his special, it seemed a little repetitive. He’s got his whole cynical thing, “Oh, I don’t like myself.” But it seemed like he wasn’t connected as much with this special. What did you think?
Marni: I really liked it, actually. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. I thought the beginning was pretty funny. He talked a lot about problem solving via suicide, which could be a very touchy subject, but… He also talked about teachers, and it was pretty biting.
Andy_H: Yeah, he’s pretty dreary whenever he, pretty much, talks about anything.
Marni: Yeah, any subject.
Andy_H: But I will give you… As much as I may be hard on him, his comedy is good.
Grammar Point
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Quizzes
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Discussion
Marni tells Andy that she watched Louis CK’s new comedy special. Andy has also seen this special, but he didn’t like it a lot. He thought that it was very similar to all of Louis CK’s other comedy. Marni asks if he even likes Louis CK, who often has self-deprecating jokes about being a frumpy, bald white man.
Andy actually really likes Louis CK. But in this special, Andy thought he seemed a little bored and disconnected. He asks what Marni thought. She liked the 2017 comedy special much more than she thought she would. Although, she knows that many people might not like Louis CK’s dreary jokes about sensitive topics.
Have you seen Louis CK’s comedy? Do you like self-deprecating jokes?
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