He first tried stand-up comedy at age 17 at an open mic in Boston, in 1984 at a comedy club's open-mic night; he was given

five minutes of time, but had only two minutes of material. He was so discouraged by the experience that he didn't perform again for two years. In 1985, he graduated from Newton North High School After high school, C.K. worked as an auto mechanic, and finally moved to New York City in 1989.
Louis C.K.'s arrival on the comedy scene in New York was ill-timed. Although comedy blossomed in the 80s, by the turn of the decade it was on the decline and clubs in Manhattan had begun going out of business. He practiced his routine at empty venues, and auditioned unsuccessfully for Saturday Night Live. In his 20s, C.K. found himself struggling to pay the rent. One night he suffered a serious motorcycle accident an event he has said marked a low point in his life.

Professional Success
Things began to turn around when C.K. got a job as a staff writer for the cable show Carolines Comedy Hour. In 1993, he worked as a writer on Late Night with Conan OBrien, helping craft the talk-show hosts very first sketch. He later wrote for The Dana Carvey Show and The Chris Rock Show.

In 1996 HBO released his first half-hour comedy special.

C.K.'s

credits as a writer include the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Dana Carvey Show and The Chris Rock Show. His work for The Chris Rock Show was nominated for an Emmy Award three times, winning "Best Writing in a Variety or Comedy Series" in 1999. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award for his work writing for Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

He performed his act on many televised programs, including Evening at the Improv andStar Search.

C.K. has performed his stand-up frequently on shows such as Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien,Lopez Tonight, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

He also wrote and directed the 2001 comedy Pootie Tang. received largely negative reviews from critics but has become a cult classic. Though C.K. is credited as the director, he was fired at the end of filming and calls the film a "very huge mistake" that "never should have been made."

In August 2005, C.K. starred in a half-hour HBO special as part of the stand-up series One Night Stand.
In 2006, he created and starred in the HBO show Lucky Louie, which was cancelled after only one season. Shortly after, C.K. released a string of comedy specials, including Live at the Beacon Theater, which he sold on his website. After less than two weeks, sales topped $1 million and the comedian announced he would donate $280,000 to charity.

Inspired by the work ethic of George Carlin, the comedian who had committed to dropping all of his existing material and starting over every year, C.K. launched his first hour-long special titled Shameless in 2007, which aired on HBO and was later released on DVD. In March 2008, he recorded a second hour-long special, Chewed Up, which premiered on Showtime Network on October 4, 2008, and went on to be nominated for an Emmy for "Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Variety Special." On April 18, 2009, Louis recorded a concert film titled Hilarious. Unlike his previous specials, which had all been produced for television networks, Hilarious was produced independently, directed by C.K. himself, and sold to Epix and Comedy Central after it was complete
In 2010, his show Louie premiered on FX, with C.K. writing and directing all 13 episodes per season.

On December 10, 2011, Louis C.K. released his fourth full-length special, Live at the Beacon Theater. Like Hilarious, it was produced independently and directed by C.K., but unlike his earlier work, it was distributed digitally on the comedian's website, forgoing both physical and broadcast media.
In 2012, he was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy. He started a national comedy tour in October 2012, for which he also distributed tickets via his website. Despite some skepticism about his sales strategy, his shows began selling out immediately. Louis C.K. was married to artist Alix Bailey, but the couple divorced in 2008. They share custody of their two daughters. Much of C.K.s comedy draws from his life as a single, aging dad.