In mid-December, an audience member at a Long Island comedy club recorded Louis C.K.’s hour-long stand-up set, in which the comedian covered, among other things, the survivors of the Parkland shooting. “They testify in front of Congress, these kids? What the fuck? What are you doing?†C.K. said during the set. “Fuck you, you’re not interesting cause you went to a high school where kids got shot. Why does that mean I have to listen to you? How does that make you interesting? You didn’t get shot, you pushed some fat kid in the way, and now I gotta listen to you talking.†C.K. also argued that the younger generation should instead be busy “finger-fucking each other and doing Jell-O shots.†This last line inspired another comedian in a set last week.
Performing at L.A. venue Dynasty Typewriter last Wednesday, stand-up and Saturday Night Live alum Sasheer Zamata devoted nearly five minutes to C.K.’s recorded set and decided to rewrite the Parkland bit in particular. After referring to C.K.’s set as full of “topics that I would expect from a comedian who is desperately trying to avoid talking about the masturbation in the room†and “some lazy-ass shit,†Zamata argued that true C.K. fans should be able to differentiate between some of his earlier, more thought-provoking comedy and the December stand-up set. “It’s like you go to your favorite restaurant, and instead of getting chicken that you ordered, they serve you pigeon,†she said. “It may taste the same at first, but the more you chew on it, the more you realize the quality has decreased. And then if you try to complain about it to the manager, he takes his dick out and calls you the N-word.â€
Zamata went on to note that she believes comedians should be allowed to say whatever they want onstage, but it has to come with a real take. “You can’t just get up onstage and say blatantly racist, transphobic, victim-blaming statements without a punch line! Like, who are you — all of our uncles?â€
Then came Zamata’s rework of the Parkland bit. “He says that the survivors of the shootings shouldn’t be spending their time talking to Congress about gun control. Instead they should be ‘finger-fucking’ each other. But who’s to say they’re not? They can do both! They’re teenagers — of course they’re finger-fucking each other!†she said. “They just know how to separate sex from work, which I understand is a hard concept for Louie to grasp. Which is ironic, because we all know how much Louie loves to grasp hard concepts.â€
Listen to the clip here: