Hayley Benton

hbenton@citizen-times.com

"I don't have a ticket, but I donated $100 to the cause," said a man at the Orange Peel's box office on Wednesday evening.

For a show that sold out less than an hour after being announced, the line along the Biltmore Avenue sidewalk crowded with both ticket-holders and non-ticket-holders, who scanned the crowd, holding up a finger: "One ticket? I just need one ticket."

The man at the box office was turned down — sold out means sold out — and sold out was certainly the case for the two short-notice shows with Louis C.K., a standup comedian and star of the FX dramedy "Louie." All proceeds from the show will go to Equality NC.

C.K.'s show is somewhat of a surprise among the recent string of cancellations across the state over the controversial House Bill 2, which was signed into state law by Gov. Pat McCrory. The law, which critics say discriminates against the LGBT community, has been the reason that multiple agencies cited as why they chose to back out of business in North Carolina. In the entertainment industry, Lionsgate Entertainment and 21st Century Fox, both of which are producing films in the state, released statements condemning the law. Rock artist Bruce Springsteen canceled his Greensboro show last weekend with a statement opposing HB2, and author Sherman Alexie canceled all book tour stops in North Carolina, including a stop at Malaprop's in Asheville.

On April 13, C.K. notified his mailing list of the show around 2 p.m., mentioning that all proceeds will go to the state LGBT rights organization, and an announcement from the Orange Peel popped up on its site about an hour later.

North Carolina resident Kelley Jones wrote an open letter thanking C.K. for his surprise Asheville shows, writing, "It saddens me greatly that jobs, money and entertainment have been stopped from coming into the state due to opposition of House Bill 2. I honor and respect the intention behind the choices these people have made, but who it affects is us, the everyday people of North Carolina.

"This is what we need!" Jones wrote about the benefit show. "Thank you for bringing joy and humor to North Carolina. Thank you for creating awareness around House Bill 2. Thank you for showing up in person to show your support of equality in North Carolina."

On stage at his first show of the evening, C.K. didn't give the speech that many fans anticipated, based on social media interactions before the show.

He did mention, however, that he had two options: He could refuse to perform in the state — "or I could do the show, take your money and give it to some queers," he said in his trademark profanely crabby comic style. "Take your money and just give it to some queers, so they can go buy some queer sh-t with it. Finance all their queer-being and whatnot. So that’s what I decided to do."

Of course, he said, "that's not the way I said it in my mind when I decided to to it."

Much of the performance was classic Louie — the grumpy-yet-hilarious single father using vulgar humor to describe otherwise commonplace situations. Though he did edge in more than a few jokes about equality, mentioning that, as a 14-year-old, he once had his date stolen at a school dance by a more popular boy.

C.K. began thinking about the memory recently and decided to look up his long-ago nemesis on social media — only to find that the high school kid he remembered as "Jeff" is now a woman.

As C.K. began reading Jeff's transformation blog, it made him emotional.

"I was so moved and proud of Jeff and happy for her," he said.

And then he came across an entry where Jeff had written that she'd known about her gender identity for most of her life — and Louie, thinking back to his high school dance, came to the conclusion that she had stolen his date and broke his young heart for no good reason.

"And the thing I learned was that, whatever group of people you’re pointing at, they’re not all the same," he said. "Not all people are the same. This particular one was a f--king a--."

C.K. mentioned during his show that he'll be doing three performances in Asheville — so stay tuned for an announcement on the third, if you missed Wednesday night's entertainment and enjoy his particular brand of comedy.

Local comedian Grayson Morris opened for C.K.

Update: At the request of Louis C.K.'s representative, lengthy quotes from the show have been cut down or omitted.

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