Critic Reviews

A great special for newcomers to Louis C.K.’s world. It’s a thoroughly entertaining 60 minutes of daring, ridiculous stand-up that will leave you wanting to go straight into his past catalog.

It’s classic C.K.: superficially offensive but actually taking a kind of gleefully amoral route to morally defensible positions. And funny, too.

It is a triumphant return to form for a man who may have lost a step at one point in his career, and even though he spouts jokes from an older face covered in small-rimmed glasses, Louis C.K. owns the Beacon Theater audience with humor and frankness.

A strong hour of material performed with practiced expertise. .... The contrast between puerile bits about pissing and resonant reflections on slow-motion death is an effective one, enhancing the impact of each tactic in turn.

In “Ridiculous,” the remnants of his former inquisitive, committed self are all but gone. His set doesn’t build enough to be rewarding in the aggregate, and his individual riffs keep stopping short of real wisdom.

It has brilliant stretches, to be sure. .... Elsewhere, though, he relies on dopey shock laughs.

Yet Ridiculous remains uninvolving compared with C.K.’s pre-2017 specials, which fits a pattern: His post-allegation jokes just aren’t as memorable as his most acclaimed routines. .... It results in work that’s stunted by design.

Did you want to imagine the 58-year-old comedian getting molested by his elderly father? Congrats! This special is for you. At this point, at least, this hour of comedy isn’t going to change anyone’s minds about him. If you never stopped loving Louis C.K., then you’re going to STREAM IT. If you’re on the fence or jumped off the bandwagon a decade ago, SKIP IT and wait to see what he has to say next.