The Last Word: Louis C.K. on Fatherhood, Trump, Chris Rock’s Advice

You spent much of your childhood in a Boston suburb. What’s the most Boston thing about you?
That I hate Boston [laughs]. I really do — and I love it too. I always think any situation could break out into a fight; that’s pretty Boston. I could be at a state dinner at the White House and I’d be like, “Somebody might start throwing some shit. It could get ugly.”

What’s the most indulgent purchase you ever made?
I bought a stupid fucking fancy watch. You’re supposed to look at a watch for information, but I look at this watch and I go, “Jesus, why did I do that?”

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
Chris Rock told me recently, “You have a disease, and that disease is that you can’t do nothing for one month.” I had just finished [self-released web series] Horace and Pete, and then I had something I wanted to do that was a big deal — I won’t tell you what it was — and he said to give it a month and try not to do anything drastic. So I waited, and I’m glad I waited. He was right.

Given your feelings about the state of our culture, how do you avoid despair?
You can’t get despair from culture. You can only get it from your own shitty life. I’ve been alive for 48 years, so the things that are shitty about our culture have come and gone already a couple of times. When my kids are having a hard time, I say, “Nothing ever stays the same.” Whatever you’re going through, it’s gonna get better. It’s also gonna get worse — and then better again.

How do you make sense of the Donald Trump phenomenon?
I’m not gonna tell Americans how to feel — I think you gotta get out of the way of people’s feelings. It’s a self-cleaning system. Whenever anybody says, “The voters are stupid” – well, the voters elected Obama against a war hero and a multimillionaire, which are classic choices for the other side. I have faith in the American people because of that. And if Trump does win, I feel like we will figure it out.

Do you think you’ll ever retire?
From being on camera, maybe, but I think I’ll always be onstage. Stand-up is the thing I really feel is what I do and who I am.

So can you see yourself onstage doing stand-up in your seventies and eighties?
To make decisions about your 78-year-old self at 48 is a stupid exercise. It’s like saying, “What am I gonna do when I’m a fish in my next life?” I don’t fucking know! I’m not that guy yet. I mean, I have days now where if I sleep weirdly and my neck hurts the next morning, I’m ready to quit everything.