Interesting, and long interview with Louie C.K. on A Special Thing.

Some highlights below:

On writing for Chris Rock:

You know, Chris brought me over and said, “Do your weird Conan fuckin’ Harvard alternative comedy for black audiences, ‘cause nobody lets them have that stuff.” They just get fed the worst, broadest comedy. So I did that, I did really weird stuff on Chris Rock, and the crowds went fucking nuts for it.

On hitting up Jerry Seinfeld for money to make a movie::

The farthest I reached was Jerry Seinfeld, and he didn’t give me money. I called him, and I think he thought I was asking for a job, and it occurred to me during the phone call, “I could be working for Seinfeld in two minutes.” I used to open for him when I was younger, so I just called the “Seinfeld” show and asked for him. And he called me back, and he said, “What’s up? What can I do for you?” And I could hear in his voice, like, “I could use a writer.”

And I thought: Why don’t I just say I want a job and just go to LA right now? It crossed my mind.

But instead I said, “I’m making a film and I need money,” and he immediately went, “Ugh, God.” He regretted calling me back, and I basically severed my line to Jerry -- my ability to get a call-back from Jerry ended right there. I reached way too far -- I hadn’t talked to the guy in like ten fuckin’ years. Fuckin’ awful.

[ed. note: Louie later added: “Jerry's been really nice to me since that phone call, gave me a lot of encouragement and advice over several phone calls during all of what I've been through. I was the asshole for thinking I could hit the guy for money just because he was rich and I opened for him ten years before.”]