Carlin riffs on “White People.”
Over the weekend comic giant, George Carlin went to the great comedy club in the sky. Now with Richard Pryor and now Carlin gone, the world seemed a lot less funny today.
While recently I noticed that he appeared to be a little puffy and lacking energy, Carlin’s stand-up performances never suffered. After complaining of chest pains Sunday afternoon, Carlin had a fatal heart attack later that night. He was 71. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.
From the time that I began paying attention to mass media, it wasn’t Bill Cosby, Lenny Bruce or Redd Foxx, but first Pryor and later Carlin who were my absolute favorite comedians. While Pryor looked like me and was a master storyteller, Carlin was a comic wordsmith; a man who could take phrases, desconstruct them and then make you laugh hysterically.
I first saw Carlin on a series of New Year’s specials that had a marathon of his shows. From the “Hippy Dippy Weatherman to his thunderous stand-ups, Carlin’s material was smart, intelligent, caustic and sometimes brutally honest. His sensibilities and humor spoke directly to mine and I became a life-long fan, making sure to check out his televised concerts shows regularly.
While Carlin won me over, he really upset conservatives in 1972 when his infamous “Seven Words You Can Never Use on Television,” routine got the comedian sued. That lawsuit led to the 1978 Supreme Court decision supporting the right of the FCC to regulate the broadcast of inappropriate language on television.
Talk about the power of language!
With a career spanning four decades, Carlin made countless appearances on television in film, most notably in the cult classic, “Car Wash” (also starring Pryor). Of all of his HBO concerts, my personal favorite was the incendiary 1999 show, “You Are All Diseased.”
Over the course of an amazing hour, Carlin floated eloquently through our country’s “Fear of Germs,” Minority Language,” “Parents and Children” and American Bullsh-t.” Not only was it funny, Carlin’s perspective was insightful, educational and it also made you think. It was pure Carlin, pure genius!
It wasn’t just me that thought this popular counterculture figure was funny, it was also his peers. In 1994, Carlin was voted into the Comedy Hall of Fame. Just four years ago, he received the ultimate compliment when he was voted the No. 2 “Greatest Stand-up Comedian of All Time” by Comedy Central, trailing only the king, Pryor.
Carlin had the distinction of hosting the first “Saturday Night Live,” on Oct. 11, 1975. He later revealed that he was high on cocaine during the entire show. During this period, Carlin became very unpredictable, walking off stage, insulting the audience, or simply not showing up. He also unexpectedly stopped performing in 1976 when his career appeared to be at its height. For the next five years, he became reclusive and performed no stand-up. It was later revealed that he had suffered a heart attack.
Yet his fans continued to love his work and support him.
Young people will remember Carlin for his films, “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and the sequel, “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.” Later, he starred in “Jersey Girl,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and “Dogma.”
His death is a major blow to the world of comedy, but somewhere there’s a comedy club in the hereafter that has an all-star comedy line up: Bruce, Foxx, Pryor and now Carlin. They will be bringing down the house for all of eternity!
Rest in Peace, you were one of the best to ever do it!
Check out some of Carlin’s routines.
Carlin’s “Seven Words.”
Carlin on “Soft Language.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niQ73ZlDxuI
Carlin on “Children”
