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Comedian Louis C.K. did a surprise show at downtown Portland's Ground Kontrol Thursday night.

(Courtesy of Alex Falcone)

Louis C.K., arguably America's greatest active stand-up comedian, dropped by for a surprise set at downtown Portland arcade bar Ground Kontrol Thursday night.

Earlier that evening, C.K. appeared before an estimated 6,500 people at the Moda Center's Theater of the Clouds, performing a darkly comic set that dealt with such traditionally hilarious topics as abortion, suicide and divorce.

Also Thursday, Portland comedians Alex Falcone, Whitney Streed, Jacob Christopher and Alex Rios were scheduled to appear at Ground Kontrol's recurring "No Pun Intendo" show, hosted by Anthony Lopez.

According to Falcone, some of C.K.'s Moda Center openers had been looking for a venue to perform after the show. It wasn't clear that C.K. himself would appear until minutes before he showed up, paid the cover and walked in.

After sets from opener Todd Glass and New York comedian Dan Soder, Falcone estimates C.K. did about 10-to-15 minutes of new material from Ground Kontrol's corner "stage," where the sound of the comedy can sometimes be overwhelmed by the rows of noisy pinball machines. After C.K. arrived, the crowd slowly grew from around 10 people to nearly 40.

"He seemed pretty uncomfortable," Falcone said. "People were screaming at him, walking by, seeing him in the window and running in."

Though photographs and video were forbidden at the Moda Center show, C.K. didn't stop the crowd from snapping pics at Ground Kontrol. Still, he kept some new jokes to himself, telling the crowd "I think some of you are secretly filming."

C.K., born Louis Szekely, is known for writing, directing and starring in his currently on-hiatus FX show, "Louie," and for releasing annual stand-up specials. Rolling Stone placed his 2007 special, "Shameless," at No. 3 on their list of the best stand-up specials of all time. in 2014, GQ called the six-time Emmy award winner the "funniest man alive."

During his current tour, C.K. has been dropping in for short, unexpected sets at intimate venues across America, sometimes riffing on new material that later ends up in his stadium show encores. And he's not the only comic to embrace surprise shows. Dave Chapelle, who once once drew thousands of Portlanders to an unscheduled midnight show at Pioneer Courthouse Square, last week joined "a billion dollars' worth of comedians" -- including Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Schumer, Aziz Ansari and Chris Rock -- at a surprise show at the Comedy Cellar, the venue that C.K. drops into during the "Louie's" title sequence.

Falcone described the unexpected Portland performance as "inspiring."

"What I'm most impressed by is, he's as big as you can get, and he still likes to battle a little bit," Falcone said. "He still likes that gritty comedy show where there's 15 people and they're not really listening. It's a different crowd to the thousands of adoring fans at a stadium show, but it's probably a more honest reaction to how good the jokes are."

No Pun Intendo is back TONIGHT! Join us at 9pm in the lounge for an incredible lineup of comedians for only $3! pic.twitter.com/tt0Gr4YKWS — Ground Kontrol (@GroundKontrol) January 20, 2017

Only those paying close attention to local comedians' Twitter handles -- or who happened to be crushing their high score on "Street Fighter II Turbo" -- could have known about the show's unannounced guests.

y'all need to get to ground kontrol right now — whitney of streed (@whitneystreed) January 20, 2017

So @DanSoder @ToddGlass and Louie CK walk into bar and do drop in sets. No joke here, sometime real life is funny enough without a punchline — Jacob Christopher (@WWjchristD) January 20, 2017

And those lucky few got to see a top comedian in his prime for a bargain. Before they sold out, tickets to C.K.'s Moda Center's three Moda Center shows started at $50 and went way up from there.

The entrance fee for "No Pun Intendo?" Three bucks.

Louis C.K.'s Moda Center shows continue Friday and Saturday.

-- Michael Russell