Stand-up comedian Louis C.K. has recently made a significant mark in the world of stand up comedy, making Time Magazine’s list of “The World’s 100 Most Influential People” in 2012. Dave Itzkoff of the New York Times writes in an interview with Louis C.K. that his “moment keeps getting bigger and bigger.” Like his greatest comedian inspiration, stand-up legend, George Carlin, C.K. comments on the absurdities in society with dark, brutal honesty.

For your enjoyment, I have scavenged through C.K.'s greatest comedy specials in search of his 8 greatest bits of all time. Given his consistent genius in his now yearly comedy specials, I’m sure I could tweak this list around if I searched around more. But I am still satisfied with what I came up with.

Not all of his material is available online, but because YouTube and Google are infinite chests of information, a lot of his material is still available, leaving us with a list of clips that offer a keen understanding of C.K.’s refreshing comedic style.

**Viewer Discretion is Advised -- Just about all of C.K.'s comedy contains curse words, sexual references, disturbing imagery and absurd remarks that will most likely offend people who don't like that stuff in comedy.

8. Cinnabun

I don’t think anything wins an audience over more than being able to effectively self deprecate yourself on stage. People love modesty.

And C.K., with this bit about disgusting airport desserts, demonstrates self-deprecating humor at its finest. C.K. knows he’s a fat sh*t-head, which probably makes him even funnier. He humorously ridicules his relatively large body, unhealthy eating habits and those in his audience who can relate to his gluttonous lifestyle.

7. F*ggot

An example of Louis C.K.’s unique ability to talk about sensitive social issues with the right amount of honesty, historical context and comedic timing to make it work and not offend his audience. I have no idea how the hell he does this, but he does it all the time with racial, gender and homosexual jokes. Impressive shit. Here, his comedy lies in how dramatically a given context can change a word’s connotation.

All C.K. fans know he’s not a bigot, and if you’ve never heard his act, it’s just obvious when you hear his genuine, reasonable tone. I would imagine that the groups he’s talking about in these sorts of bits get even more humor out of them than I do.

6. Pot

He tells a story here that will hit home with any middle-aged man who breathed in a shameful, nostalgic puff of potent weed 25 years too late. This bit demonstrates his uncanny storytelling abilities as well as anything he’s done. The hilarious way he illustrates the different ways of awkwardly leaving a conversation circle, and all of the little things that become awkward in the mind of the stoned are visually and conceptually hilarious.

5. Being White

Similar to his f*ggot bit, C.K. demonstrates here that, if done with the right care, clarity, and observation, it is possible to gracefully walk the line between potentially offensive remarks and authentic comedy. His comments here demonstrate that if you perform on C.K.’s high caliber of dark comedy, you CAN go there – that racial, gender or homosexual comment, that topic where a lot of comedians may just be too terrified to even think about approaching. He goes there (a lot), he makes us all laugh, and he even makes some important subtle commentary on the lingering social injustices in modern America.

4. Hide and Seek

Here is an example of classic C.K. cynicism as he remarks on the absurdities of childhood behavioral patterns – a simple, common topic for bits for his demographic that he puts an original spin on with his candid remarks on the paradoxical, frustrating relationship between parent and child. The visual humor of his daughter's hiding pose and the hypothetical dialogue between him and his wife as they pretend to search for their child make for comedic gold.

3. Why?

Following the parenthood theme, this joke takes another common parenthood dilemma and turns it into a creative narrative that spins out of control. The first partially cut off lead-in bit is funny too, with comments on his empathy for other parents, but the main event starts 40 seconds in with his ultimately philosophical conversation between a curious child and a flustered parent.

2. Farts

Simple observational humor at its finest. This bit, performed during an interview with comedian and former host of The Daily Show, John Stewart, demonstrates C.K.’s ability to take perhaps the most basic form of humor (farts) -- that 6-year-olds find hysterical -- and explain the reason behind its innate hilarity. He establishes his modesty, and implies a negative attitude toward the pompous comedian who only considers ironic and intellectual humor as real comedy, a likable trait in a superstar comedian.

1. Life

Here’s a bit that puts things in perspective – establishing C.K.’s superiority not only as a comedian, but as a motivational speaker. This is the kind of stuff this man will be remembered most for – picking out those everyday details in life that a lot of people either ignore or take advantage of and putting vulgar, comedic twist on them. (He has a lot of bits with this angle on the unappreciated glory of modern technology).

The basic things you get in life – a planet where your eyes don’t get sucked out of your socket, a body, sex, and food. This is a lasting, heavy rooted laugh, with an undertone of life reflection to stick with you on your drive home, the next few days, weeks, years to come -- real, meaningful stand-up comedy at its very best.