Louis CK

[ZPowers]

Standup is a lot more like public speaking than acting. Even theater is a lot less interactive.

Yes and no. The performance itself is more interactive by nature, but acting is all about that presentation, the job is almost 100% about that communication with audience (and, when not, working with the director or cast around you). The comedian spends many more hours locked up alone writing material or meticulously finding the right cadence and manner to preform it (sometimes alone, sometimes experimenting with a crowd) than he actually does on stage. The time it takes to eventually build up to the performance is much more extensive than the time actually on stage. Unlike a band or an actor, for a comedian that rehearsal is him/her alone. Actor, director, writer all in one, except when he uses an audience as a random club as guinea pigs for new material before trying it in larger, more public sphere. You mentioned comedy writers as maybe more introverted, but all comedians are both performers AND writers, making it a bit more of a crap shoot than if they were strictly one or the other IMO.

EDIT: Of course, the process differs between comedians. But I know many wall themselves away from everyone else for hours a day to work on comedy, compared to hour-long shows on only some nights.

 

[FunnyDigestion]

I change my mind on this man. Definitely ENTP, probably.

Sorry girl who hates it when people say he's ENTP.

 

[ZPowers]

Also worth noting: the version of himself he plays on his show is probably INTP, though that doesn't mean Louis himself actually is that, obviously.

 

[Tallulah]

He started as a bit of a writer, writing short films he has, at best, a cameo in and writing got Conan O'Brien. Also, I'm an INTP and would be a comedian if I could be anything. It's an artificial connection, where you have control over how you present yourself. That isn't to say you don't present yourself honestly or don't have flaws (those things are needed in comedy), but it isn't the same to me as a normal conversation or forced interaction with folks you don't feel like talking to. Comedy is as much performance (and attention-getting) as any acting gig, and there are quite a few introverted actors.

Indeed. I've always, ever since I was a kid, loved to be in front of an audience...and I am definitely an introvert. But it's not a hammy thing...it's getting enjoyment from presenting something you want to present. I like the attention--to a certain extent--and it's cool to have people liking what you do. That connection is cool. But I only interact with the audience as much as I want to, offstage. Onstage, it's all in your control. And I would think for certain comedians, it would be especially important to get your ideas out in the way they come to you--in your voice, your delivery, not filtered through some lame sitcom character or more successful, but hacky, standup.

I would definitely never bank on a desire to perform alone as being an indicator of extraversion.

 

[chickpea]

i've only seen a little bit of his standup, but based on his character on his show i think infp. i don't see any ti, but maybe i'm just biased.

 

[King sns]

I've always seen him as an isfp or infp

 

[You]

INxP. I lean INTP because of his perspective on specific subjects and relationship with his comedic counter-parts as revealed via interviews & talk shows.

 

[ReflecTcelfeR]

I've been watching the show and I'm still kind of tied between INxP, but I am leaning towards INTP.

 

[redacted]

Saw him live last night... he is ENTP for sure.

 

[violaine]

Finally going to be seeing him in a few months. I'll report back then. I've thought ENTP thus far.

 

[louiesgonnadie]

Observing him in more casual appearances (like interviews), if you listen to him on Opie & Anthony, it seems like he's more Ne-dom just based on all of his wacky social commentary (ie him calling Donald Rumsfield a lizard, and other countless out-of-the-box things he has said). Granted, an INTP can have just as wacky social commentary, but be more grounded with Ti and appear more rehearsed, while C.K.'s commentary seems more raw, plus he isn't as hesitant to make comments on O&A (not saying all INTPs are usually).

I'm going with ENTP. I could be off the mark, though. Just a few observations.

 

[mintleaf]

He definitely comes across as someone who is just as comfortable spending time inside his own head as he is engaging with the outside world, but as [MENTION=17347]louiesgonnadie[/MENTION] said, he isn't grounded enough to be anything but Ne-dom. Leaning towards ENFP for some reason. The descriptions don't exactly fit, but he seems to have more of an NF vibe (though that's what I think about Stephen Fry, who has been typed ENTP by far more qualified people)

apparently which ENxP Mark Twain is has been contested quite a bit, and I see the same sort of confusion in that debate
and this might sound like a dumb suggestion (I'm really tired) but maybe looking up Twain threads would provide some insight into where the t/f divide is.

or maybe personality psychology isn't ready for Louis CK.

 

[Tiltyred]

"Chewed Up" was the first thing of his that I watched, and it threw me into shock. I walked around for a couple of days ruminating over "I could shoot a baby deer in the mouth," I will admit. The second time I watched it, I got him. Not quite sure what he is, MBTI-wise. Could be ENTP. If he is, he's a good bit out of character in his act, though, and too much of his act seems first-hand to me.

 

[swordpath]

INTP

 

[louiesgonnadie]

This is a good reference, since it is one of the more personal interviews C.K. has been in. Maron talks about how messy he used to be (to the point where C.K. dropped a glass bottle of liquid, and he just left it there to rot on the carpet). Remarkable, go to the 1:05:20 mark where C.K. gets emotional talking about his daughter being born. He realizes that the majority of his life he just fucked around, and let anxiety-infused impluses get to him, and says his daughter has entered center stage in his eyes (in other words; he didn't care about getting old and dying and shit like that, it was about his daughter now).

There's a lot of other eye-opening material in this video that helped me understand C.K. better. I'm still going with reserved extrovert; but I can see where people are coming from in terms of saying INTP - a part of him does seem introverted.

(On another note, the idea of one of my favorite comedians sharing the same personality type with me is pretty awesome, not gonna lie!)

 

[Tiltyred]

I listened. ENTP. He's also SUCH a VIRGO, omg. He really is.

 

[MariaMorgan]

Louis Ck is not extroverted but I think that what makes him more adorable and worth to see and read. Public like him and that what matters the most always.

 

[louiesgonnadie]

Actually, the more I read about him and think about it, I'm going with xSTP. Leaning ISTP, in fact.

He was interested in cars at a young age, and in that interview I posted, he said he used to be a computer whiz, but the context he drew that in didn't seem like he reveled in it or dug deeper, moreso the fact that he was into stuff like that for practical reasons. Then again, he only mentioned that briefly.

His sense of humor is very physically oriented, lots of sex jokes (not saying this is purely hallmark for S types, N types can fall into this territory too) and the way he talks is very simple and brief; he doesn't often use words that are complex or recondite. He has very vivid recollections of situations he has experienced; this isn't to say Si can't be vivid, but from C.K.'s point of view there really isn't any sentimental value to it from what I've observed.

He seems introverted to me. Just because someone talks a lot and often participates in social situations, that solely doesn't make said person extraverted. He seems like someone who likes to introspect a lot, someone who ponders a lot about life, it's interconnections and the meaning of life, to be exact. This tells me he could have a dominant introverted function, it's harder to pick out because C.K. is older, and has adapted to a lifestyle where he is used to being in social settings - therefore he doesn't appear Ti-dom in interviews. This is just a guess, though.

The only hard part to distinguish from this is his Ne style in his stand up - he has a tendancy to "train" in his stand up comedy, shifting from scenario to scenario (i.e. look back to Live at the Beacon Theater, he talks about littering and how NYC is a pile of litter, than jumps to how litter gets transported onto boats which dump litter into the ocean and falls onto a dolphins head, and litter gets stuck on head as a hat for 10 years). Then again, Ne and Se are similar in ways, so...

 

[louiesgonnadie]

Hmm, this could be a good reference...he gives advice to the general public here, hosting a radio show.

Kind of leaning xNFP now?

 

[Stansmith]

After getting a better idea of what NeSi and SeNi are really about, I'm starting to think Louis CK is an ISTP instead of the usual INP typing. His humor is earthy, nihilistic and gross. He doesn't really seem to think big conceptually; he just talks about the depressing shit he does in his day-to-day life. Even his show is pretty straightforward and low-key in concept. This is a classic example of a lower-Ni epiphany: