Louis C.K.

Louis C.K. performs at the 8th Annual Stand Up For Heroes, presented by New York Comedy Festival and The Bob Woodruff Foundation, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014, in New York.

(AP Photo/Brad Barket)

Harvey's Comedy Club has been bringing standup comedians to Portland for more than two decades, but its reputation isn't exactly stellar with Louis CK.

Louis sent an email out to fans Tuesday after cancelling a show at Madison Square Garden in the face of an impending blizzard. The "long winded, unedited coffee-addled" correspondence discussed his new standup special, "Louis CK live at the Comedy Store," talked about touring in the 1990s, and also contained a brief jab at Harvey's:

"There were some comedy clubs around the country that were legendary. That lasted out the death of comedy in the 90s ... These were the Meccas. When you could get a week at Acme, you know you could continue having the will to do this shit for another few months. A week at the Punchline in San Fran could get you through the next week at Harvey's in Portland."

Ouch.

It was a throwaway jab that's reignited (once again) the conversation about Portland's standup comedy scene. Willamette Week noted that while Harvey's was singled out as the only potentially soul-crushing gig back in the '90s, it's actually pretty indicative how far Portland's scene has come since then.

Barry Kolin, who owns Harvey's, doesn't disagree. When he opened the club he knew nothing about comedy, he said over the phone on Wednesday, so he hired a comedian, Dave Anderson, as a consultant.

When Louis CK was hired for six nights of standup, Tuesday through Sunday, at Harvey's back in '92, Anderson was pushing the idea of doing "clean comedy," Kolin said. Anyone who's seen even a few minutes of Louis CK's comedy knows that calling him "clean" is far, far from the truth.

Still, Louis obliged, giving five nights of "clean" sets. "But on Sunday," Kolin remembers, "He said, 'You know folks, Sunday night I want to give you the show I want to do, because I don't think I'm ever gonna come back here."

He performed a profane set, the audience loved it and, true to his word, he never came back.

Kolin said he's learned since then to embrace "good comedy," whether it's G or R-rated. Looking back he seemed to understand Louis CK's frustration at the time.

"Comics hate when someone when puts some parameters on their act," he said. "I didn't know! I was brand new to the comedy business."

So despite the diss, there are no hard feelings – at least not as far as Harvey's is concerned.

"He'd see it's a completely different setup now if he came here," Kolin said. "If he ever wants to come back, the door's always open."

--Jamie Hale