Louis C.K., Existentialist

Louis C.K. recently ranted on The Conan O’Brien show about the negative impacts cell phones have on children’s development. He’s made a name for himself in comedy with his acerbic profundity, but his audience is limited due to his unflinchingly inappropriate style.

His more palatable appearance, bleeped for cable television, has become the surprising catalyst to a large number of supporting and critical articles about children and cell phones. I say surprising, not because his comments lacked the depth to spark real discussion, but because a) his style is unremittingly critical and lampooning (cell phones criticism could be lost among the hundreds of other targets he’s aimed at) and  b) his input has sparked more genuine thought about this than many other more “qualified” social commentators.

It’s a clip worth watching, because comedy is the best vehicle for cultural commentary in an age that can’t take itself seriously. There’s an undercurrent of Kierkegaardian despair in much of what he says.