If you like a healthy dose of controversy with your comedy, the Pittsburgh Improv has something for you this weekend.
Comedian Louis C.K., who took a professional hiatus after 2017 allegations of sexual misconduct, will be back at the mike for three shows at the comedy club in Homestead.
The Improv website shows a few tickets — at $85 — remaining for the show at 8 p.m. Jan. 24, while shows at 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Jan. 25 are listed as sold out.
An Emmy, Grammy and Peabody award-winner, C.K. took a hiatus after admitting the truth of the allegations and being dropped by various entertainment outlets. In August, he made an unannounced appearance at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan.
He found himself in trouble again at the end of 2018, after audio clips of a show at Governor’s Comedy Club in Levittown, N.Y. — during which he joked about the allegations against him, the 2018 Parkland school shooting, Auschwitz and nonbinary people — started showing up on social media.
The Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer reached out to Improv Comedy Clubs after C.K. was booked for a Jan. 23 show at the Raleigh club, and received this reply:
“We see comedy as the final frontier and we don’t censor artists. We trust that our audiences can decide for themselves what their limits are. We understand that not everyone will agree with our decision and we respect their right to protest. We also respect Louis C.K.’s right to perform.”
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley at 724-836-5750, smcmarlin@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shirley_trib.
