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ike  ·  4296 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Is Louis C.K. Our Gogol? : The New Yorker

Despite their many key differences, Louie really reminds me of Seinfeld in one respect: absurdism.

Seinfeld's absurdity grows from the themes that nothing any of the characters tries to do really matters in the end and that karma plays an absurdly large and hilarious role in their lives. Louie's absurdity grows out of the abominations that he experiences amazingly frequently. Both make us laugh, but for completely opposite reasons.

We laugh at Seinfeld because the characters' misfortunes are not only well-justified and vindicating but are completely unrealistic and could never actually happen to us. We laugh at Louie because he makes us confront how dark and absurd life really is, and we don't know how else to respond.