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Louis C.K. invites viewers to pay whatever they want for his new comedy special

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

August 10, 2015 | 2 min read

Comedian Louis C.K. has taken the adventurous route of allowing his fans to pay whatever they want for his latest stand-up special.

The Live at Madison Square Garden album features skits from three shows he performed at the venue – although he stresses some of it will be old material.

Fans can pay between $1 and $85 for the content – with $5 listed as the default price.

On his website, a letter starting “Dear Human Person” reads: “I have put a new show up on louisck.net. It's called "Louis CK live at Madison Square Garden… Some of the material is in the Comedy Store Special. Some of it isn't.

“BUT since it's repeated material, I'm giving you the option to set your price anywhere from 1 dollar to 85. The default is 5. I hope you like it.”

He added: “There isn't much else to say. I'm having a pretty nice summer and I hope you are too. I feel pretty good about the planet, the country and my immediate surroundings, even though a lot of things are a huge mess all over the world.

“It may be selfish, or naive or even calloused to feel pretty good ever about anything when anyone anywhere is having a bad time and there sure are a lot of anyones everywhere having a bad time. But then again if you're upset all the time because something bad is happening every second, then jesus. I mean… for christ's sake, take it easy.”

The blasé approach to pricing comes after C.K.’s comedy series entitled Louie was put on “extended hiatus”.

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