Spotted: Extended Baseball Metaphor Courtesy Louis CK

Given just a few relevant biographical data points, basically anyone with even just a cursory knowledge of market research could reliably and accurately identify the present author’s tastes — which are little more than a function of his demographic signifiers.

“Wears fashion spectacles,” such a one might suggest. “Prefers natural foods,” that same one would continue. “Unutterably alone,” he or she would rightly conclude.

What else such a report might reveal is that this author derives no little joy from the work of Louis CK. Relevant both to NotGraphs and that aforementioned comedian is the following passage, which appears in a not actually very recent interview about the show Louie and includes an extended metaphor concerning base-and-ball. (Bold is author’s.)

THE FIRST SEASON YOU WERE SHOOTING VERY GUERRILLA ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK. HOW HAS SHOOTING THE NEW SEASON CHANGED SINCE YOU’RE MORE WELL KNOWN NOW?

New York is a great place to shoot because they kind of don’t give a shit that you’re shooting. I’m not involving other people like Sacha (Baron Cohen) with Borat. My kids keep me grounded and full of ideas and inspiration because (show business is not interesting to people).

To me, the second season has to be better than the first. That’s my goal. You have to dig deeper and find new ways (to do it). TV is a very rough business. It’s kind of like a desert and you have to be like a cactus. You have to be a kind of plant that has a lot of ways to draw a lot of nutrients from the soil (laughs) and it has to develop and evolve quickly. The first year I was like a rookie pitcher and I’ve faced every batter in the league now and they all know me. So I need to develop a slider now.

The episode “Pregnant,” the Season Two opener… started with sweet stuff about the kid, then awful stuff with a very dramatic introduction of this character, then a fucking terrifying emergency, then strange, interesting characters from across the hall and then the greatest, loudest fart of all time!

I’m just trying to keep people out of the box, so don’t dig in too hard.