Louis CK announces first Philadelphia show since sexual misconduct scandal

Louis CK will perform in Philadelphia in March as part of the controversial comic’s first tour since a sexual misconduct scandal in which he admitted to masturbating in front of female comedians and associates derailed his career in 2017.

CK is scheduled to perform a stand-up set at the Met on March 6. The performance is CK’s second set to take place in Pennsylvania on the tour, and will come following a Jan. 22 date at Reading’s Santander Performing Arts Center, which is already sold out. A Live Nation spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment about the show’s booking.

Initially announced in October as a 14-city tour, CK’s current run has the comic “doing professional stand up comedy around the country and planet” with a set consisting of “jokes, stories, observations, lies, non-lies, and being generally ridiculous for the benefit of a laughing audience,” according to a statement on the comedian’s website.

Following his date in Philadelphia — which will employ Yondr technology, so no one can record the set on their cell phones — CK is scheduled to move on to performances in locations including Washington, D.C., Albany, and Boston.

The comedian briefly took a break from stand-up performances following his admission to sexual misconduct allegations from several women, initially reported in a 2017 New York Times article. In response, CK said in a statement that “these stories are true,” and added that he would “step back and take a long time to listen” after having spent a “long and lucky career talking and saying anything I want.” The scandal also resulted in a number of the comic’s projects being axed, including FX’s Louie, as well as the feature film, I Love You, Daddy.

Ultimately, CK took slightly less than a year away from the stage, returning in August 2018 with a surprise performance at Manhattan’s Comedy Cellar that drew criticism for because the show was unannounced and consisted of material focusing on survivors of the Parkland school shooting.

Additional shows followed the Manhattan appearance, some including material about his sexual misconduct scandal. The Daily Beast attended a performance in San Jose, Calif., last January, writing that CK joked that he likes “to [masturbate], but I don’t like being alone.”

“The power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly,” CK wrote in a statement regarding the scandal in November 2017. “I have been remorseful of my actions. And I’ve tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions.”