Stand-up comedy favourite Louis C.K. has announced the arrival of two stand-up specials exclusively on streaming service Netflix later this year.

The first of these programmes, entitled ‘2017’, was shot in Washington D.C. and will be made available worldwide on April 4th, with the second to follow later in the year. It marks C.K.’s first stad-up comedy special since 2015’s ‘Louis C.K. Live From the Comedy Store’.

It is also significant as the 49 year old has, for many years, tended to upload his stand-up material online in self-distribution via his website to retain creative control of his work.

Louis C.K.Louis C.K. will deliver two stand-up comedy specials for Netflix in 2017

“Louis has been one of the most innovative comedy voices in this new era of stand-up,” Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix, said in a statement on Thursday (February 23rd) announced the deal. “He has also been a thought leader in the business of comedy. We have marvelled at his creativity and his ability to invent comedically and commercially, and are thrilled that he is bringing his newest specials to Netflix.”

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Netflix has been working on expanding its library of stand-up comedy, recently concluding high-profile deals with the likes of Amy Schumer, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle.

C.K., whose real name is Louis Czekely, has recently juggled a great deal of comedy, film and TV work. He provided the voice of the lead character Max in the 3-D animation The Secret Life of Pets last year, and will do more voiceover work in upcoming TBS animated series ‘The Cops’, which has been green-lit for 10 episodes coming in 2018.

He recently constructed another deal with another streaming service, this time Hulu, for his series ‘Horace and Pete’ that stars Steve Buscemi and Alan Alda and which debuted in 2016 via his own site.

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