***** !

**** ****

Professor P

ENGL 101

*****

The Twisted Rationality of ‘Of Course, But Maybe’

The Evil Side of the Human Race

How is it possible, in this day in age of political correctness and heightened sensitivity,

for a comedian to take un-funny topics and make them funny? Ladies and gentlemen,

introducing A prime example of one such comedian is Louis C.K.: an average joe, but

incomparable comedian. C.K. approaches three controversial topics with both caution and

confidence, and manages to end his act with the audience rolling on the floor. Through his facial

expressions, hand gestures, and sarcasm, Louis C.K. mocks uncomfortable topics and

exemplifies them in a funny manner. in order to tap into human being’s rational side of thinking.

When Louis C.K. jokes about allergies, soldiers, and slavery, he claims that as hard as we try to

be people of decent character, all humans have a dark and flawed side that cannot be ignored.

Within Louis C.K.’s short comedic piece, he discusses the constant inner turmoil within

his thought process. He has his “good” thoughts and his “bad” thoughts. The good thought is

what C.K. claims he actually believes and holds to be true and are widely accepted views. The

bad thought, on the other hand, C.K. says is not necessarily what he thinks, or at least should

think, but cannot seem to get the idea out of his head. , according to C.K., is an unpopular and

highly immoral view, but one that he cannot seem to stop wondering about. With this

explanation of his somewhat twisted thought process, Louis C.K. introduces his “of course, but
 ***** !2

maybe.” C.K. establishes a strong connection with the audience by introducing displaying his

humanity - explaining how he is in fact a good person, but occasionally his thoughts run

rampant. Although his ideas seem bizarre at first glance, C.K. reveals the innate human ability to

thinking rationally by getting to his audience to laugh at his jokes. C.K. uses his physical

appearance and the awkwardness of his jokes to get his audience to find humor in unlikely

topics, and show the twisted rationality of his thought process. C.K.’s physical appearance and

behavior come to his advantage in getting his audience to laugh at his controversial jokes. He

wears simple clothes: a navy polo, black jeans, sneakers, and a watch. Therefore, he relates to

his audience by not sticking out. As he introduces his final and most controversial joke on

slavery, C.K. asserts, “You’re in this with me” (02:47). He gives the audience permission to

laugh at his joke, knowing what he is about to say is not a widely accepted view. More

importantly, C.K. makes himself one with the audience, showing we all share in our human

imperfection, that he is not alone in thinking these immoral ideas. Even his hand gestures make

the jokes easier to laugh at. For example, when C.K. talks about the “of courses,” he holds his

hand up high as if saying they are the almighty ideas noble ideas. Contrarily, he swings his hand

down low as he provides the “but maybes” as if condemning them the corrupt ideas. The jokes

of course are all crude and touch on very sensitive, controversial topics, but simultaneously all

have the potential for some partial hint of reality. The jokes, all touching on controversial topics,

inspire laughter from the audience, further proving C.K.’s point that we are imperfect humans

with a dark side.

Louis C.K. categorizes his “good” thoughts under the “of course” section, which all show

the positive aspect of humanity. There are three things to notice about the “of courses.” First,
 ***** !3

these ideas are morally and ethically the right thing to think morally and ethically the right thing

to think, in addition to being held as one of society’s norms. C.K. declares, “We have to

segregate their food from nuts, have their medication available at all times, and anybody who

manufactures or serves food needs to be aware of deadly nut allergies, of course” (00:51). So in

In terms of the peanut allergy joke, it is the moral thing to do is morally right to protect a

person’s life, even if it means going the extra mile. In this case, it would be removing any

possible nearby threat for a child with a peanut allergy. Morally speaking, it is the right thing to

do to prevent someone with an allergy to peanuts from having an anaphylactic reaction. Louis

C.K. makes his opinions very clear here, naming at least three things that can help prevent

disaster. Second, the “of courses” are generally accepted truths in society. Looking at the bit

about the soldier, it is generally a highly honorable profession deserving of abundant respect and

compassion as these men and women sacrifice their lives everyday. C.K. introduces his next

joke: “Of course, if you’re fighting for your country and you get shot or hurt, it’s a terrible

tragedy, of course, of course” (01:48). When talking about the soldiers getting shot, he wears a

sad expression and bushes his eyebrows to let the audience know this upsets him, since it is a

generally accepted truth that soldiers deserve respect because of their sacrifice. However a

person feels about their country and its military, the idea that the soldiers sacrifice their lives thus

deserve respect is still a generally accepted truth. Finally, these ideas all are touchy and sad

subjects. C.K.’s jokes and the examples he used became increasingly controversial as he went on

with his act. The final example was slavery., the final example being slavery. Not only is the

idea that slavery is a horrible thing a generally accepted truth in most of today’s society and

morally the right thing to think, but it is also a very sensitive topic for many people. Not only is
 ***** !4

slavery a very sensitive, upsetting topic for many people, but the idea that slavery is wrong is a

widely accepted and ethical opinion. I believe Louis C.K.’s jokes were followed by laughter

from the uncomfortable audience because of the anticipation of what was to come.

The second category of C.K. Louis’s thoughts, his “bad” ones, fall under the “but maybe”

section. There are also two important takeaways for the “but maybes.” To start off, the “but

maybes” are the wrong thing to think immoral thoughts, in terms of societal norms and basic

human decency. In terms of societal morals, and just basic human decency, these ideas are not

morally right or popular. By following the “but maybe” ideals, allergists would kill off each

other patients just to get rid of the affected people. No one would morn the loss of a man or

woman sacrificing their life overseas. Slavery would still be present in every country, ensuring

more frequent technological advances, C.K. suggests. But of course, This is why these ideas fall

under the “but maybe,” because as a society and as humans with a moral compass, we reject

these ideas. these ideas are rejected. C.K. uses his facial expressions and different voices to get

his point across. Beginning his joke about slavery, C.K.’s voice goes up so high as if he’s asking

the audience how far can he go with this joke. Just before this, he actually tip-toes across the

stage in anticipation of his final, most controversial joke. He claims, “Maybe every incredible

human achievement in history was done with slaves[…]There’s no end to what you can do when

you don’t give a fuck about particular people” (03:19). C.K. credits just about all of humanity’s

greatness on the inhumane concept of slavery. He then goes on to almost secretly ask the

audience what if? What kinds of things would humanity accomplish if owning slaves were was

still the norm? C.K. asks us what our world be like if we gave into our dark side more often,

creating a picture of greatness. The next takeaway of the “but maybe” ideas is that although it
 ***** !5

they may be twisted, the ideas makes some sense. The audience knows they’re not right, but

recognizes the potential for truth. there is a potential for truth. Taken out of context, these ideas

seems insane, C.K. jokes with his audience, making them seem more rational. For example,

C.K. says that allergies only do one thing: they disable people, and in some cases even kill. So

why should someone with a fatal allergy be protected — maybe they are in fact meant to die.

And although slavery is cruel and goes against the totality of human’s rights, maybe there is

some truth to the idea that slavery provides great resources for societal advancement. I believe

the audience laughs at these jokes because at the surface, these suggestions are so ludicrous and

preposterous that they’re amusing. On a deeper level, I think the audience laughs out of

discomfort and guilt, because they acknowledge that some of C.K.’s suggestions resonate with

them, even as ridiculous as they are, meaning the audience also accepts C.K.’s idea about our

darkness.

Comedic genius Louis C.K. gets his audience to laugh at three highly serious, sensitive

topics through his behavior and the shocking truth behind his jokes. His everyday look assists

him in blending in with the audience, unifying them even. By the middle of his second joke,

C.K. walks on thin ice with his audience, but somehow his act ends with the audience howling.

His potentially offensive jokes reveal C.K.’s twisted, yet rational thinking. He leaves his

audience questioning these ideas. Of course not. But maybe? The audience also leaves

questioning their character, mostly because of how easily they laughed at his absurd claims.

C.K.’s “Of Course, But Maybe” routine is ultimately about the inescapable evil and flaws of the

human race. 

 ***** !6

Works Cited

C.K., Louis. “Of Course But Maybe”. Live (2013). Clip referenced on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O5h4enjrHw