Fresh off his hit (1M+ views!) YouTube special, Brooklyn based comedian Louis Katz’s Fringe debut “Bountiful” showcases his trademark blend of highbrow and lowbrow humour.

A true comedian’s comedian, Louis’ act has garnered praise from American comedy luminaries. Vulture.com named his latest comedy album one of the top 5 of the year. Ali Wong called Louis “one of the funniest, most prolific comedians.” Marc Maron featured Louis on WTF twice, saying, “His album and special are hilarious.” And Doug Stanhope said: "Katz is funny to the point that Hitler would have given him a sleeper car on the train."

August 22, 2024    The List

A foolproof litmus test can be applied to any US comic visiting the Fringe for the first time: when they encounter British audiences who don’t whoop and cheer at the drop of a hat, do they a) pander to the few Americans in the room; b) grow aggressive towards the crowd after a few days into the run; or c) suck it up and trust that the strength of their material can loosen the reserve of even the most tight-lipped of punters?

It’s to Louis Katz’ credit that he chooses the latter option in his tussle with an emotionally conservative crowd, joking about adjusting his material but proving himself a craftsperson whose punchlines can win people over in any country. Anyone who watched HBO specials in the 1990s and 2000s will be familiar with the tone in this tightly constructed hour, which breathes the air of those following in the footsteps of George Carlin and Bill Hicks, tackling big themes in a bolshy way and eliciting cartoonish anger to bolster sturdy political rhetoric.

It’s a strangely unfashionable mode (particularly at an arts festival which generally favours comedians with personal stories over political sentiment), but one he executes formidably and with an incisive intelligence. Even his gags about dogs’ testicles are cleverer than most other acts across Edinburgh in August. He’s lacking a USP that will elevate him to the upper ranks of stand-up (something even he seems acutely aware of), but there’s no denying that Louis Katz is a formidable joke writer. Click Here For Review

August 14, 2024    Chortle

3.5 stars

Obviously an intelligent guy, Louis Katz’s Fringe debut is a pushback against dumbing down, primarily in the reduction of every complex issue to an us-versus-them binary: we’re the good guys, they are the Nazis, with the boundary conveniently moveable.

Essentially, Bountiful is a plea for more nuance, or at least just the basic acknowledgement that life is not so black and white. That’s true of his own stand-up, which often makes smart connections to produce rewarding punchlines, but is just as likely to feature a lowbrow dick joke. And there’s no surprise in which land better, with audiences embracing gags with the least complexity, so underlining his central complaint.

A stand-up purist, the American comic wants to earn his spurs in front of crowds, telling jokes. He has no time for the shortcuts of winning fans by posting crowd-work clips, being offensive or getting angry over some fake, trivial issue. That said, he does become enraged by the semicolon; he thinks it unworthy of its prime place on the keyboard as he expresses in a rant hilarious for its overreaction.

The Jewish stand-up enjoys playing in the grey areas of uncertainly, such as confessing a love for Kanye West despite his antisemitic outbursts. Likewise, he acknowledges that he has some capability for homophobia, purely because of the society most of us grow up in.

Counterintuitive thinking yields the best rewards, such as his bit on the one sex act where ‘consent makes it worse’ – a routine that started with what ‘the other Louis’ in comedy got up to. Other close-to-the-edge material, such as jokes about his wife’s weight, have a tricker passage.

Despite his plea to see the bigger picture in life, he can also understand the truth of the maxim ‘ignorance is bliss’, imagining what a cacophony of concerns would babble through your head if you were aware of the moral consequences of every minor action you took in your every day.

Katz seems to have a similarly astute awareness of everything in his show, frequently pausing to dissect how a joke went down. And even a week in, he hasn’t got used to the vagaries of performing in a makeshift free Fringe venue rather than a nice air-conditioned club – and certainly the sweatbox atmosphere in the Counting House does nothing to help the hour build momentum.

But he has command over his material, while his skills as a sharp joke-writer with a love of the craft of comedy are self-evident. You can see why he has a reputation as a comedian’s comedy back in the States. Click Here For Review