Louis C.K. a stand-up guy

I think that it's all about surviving failure. You have to treat everything as a learning experience. I like doing things even when they don't work out. You sometimes find things bring value that you weren't aware of. Like when I [directed] "Pootie Tang." That didn't open particularly strong and certainly got destroyed by the critics. But I was at the Bonnaroo Music Festival recently, and Jack White of the White Stripes came up to me and said that "Pootie Tang" was his favorite movie. It's his tour bus movie. And John Mayer told me that, too, and so did Metallica, the entire band. Jack White told me he was working with Jim Jarmusch and told him that he should see "Pootie Tang." And he said Jarmusch said Tom Waits had just told him the same thing. So when Tom Waits is telling Jim Jarmusch how great your movie is 10 years later, all the pain was worth it. It was a difficult experience, and I don't think it was a particularly good movie. But I learned how to make films from it.

You were inspired by George Carlin to put older material to bed and start anew. What has this done for you as a writer?

It's definitely made me better, because it's forced me to write more. It's a belief that everything you write is a little better than the last thing you wrote and you're getting better every time. So if you wait five years to write something new, you're going to get better awfully slow. If you write a complete new hour every year, it's going to improve faster and develop more. And my life is changing a lot faster than it has before.

You've performed in Europe. Do international audiences react differently to your material?

Slightly. I think it's a really subtle thing, because I definitely have a trust with the audiences here, primarily because they know me. In England, it's not totally foreign. [Audiences] have watched lots of [American] TV and have probably met plenty of Americans. But it's not as automatic. It's really just a chemistry thing. But it was good, and I'm glad that I went there. ... I don't do material about [American] politics or popular culture, so it doesn't make that much difference.

In your upcoming stand-up special, you have a Sept. 11th reference. How hard is it to work subjects as sensitive as that into your act? A lot of trial and error?

If you're bent on doing a joke about a subject, then you have to figure out how to do it. But that was just an honest thought I had, so people either relate to it or they don't. It's pretty simple. Comedy is kind of Darwinist. There are some bits that if people don't like, I'll keep doing them anyway, because I just have a faith that there's something in it. I don't mind if people don't like something for a minute. It's only a few seconds; they'll like something else. To me, if you're saying something that's honest and that's a defendable thought, then people who are just squeamish in general about the subject will usually get over it. If the thought is powerful, interesting and funny enough, then they'll be like "Oh, man. I'm not used to hearing jokes like that, but that was funny."

Do you ever have the desire to put some of your other disciplines down and just focus on one thing?

I kind of like to keep everything going, because they all tend to kind of bail each other out. All the things I do —- movies, TV and stand-up —- are up-and-down businesses. If I do a TV series and it doesn't get picked up, then I go on the road. Do a movie and nobody likes it, then I go on the road. I can always go back to stand-up. Stand-up is a raw, creative form and takes you to other ideas.

THE 411: $32.50. 8 p.m. Sept. 19. The Tabernacle, 152 Luckie St., Atlanta. 404-249-6400, www.ticketmaster.com.