RIP George Carlin, 1937-2008

I've never been a huge fan of stand-up comedy, probably because so many more people are bad at it than good. But Carlin was one of the best. My "stand-up" section in my CD/LP/cassette collection is rather small, but it is populated by several Carlin titles.

He was around for a long time. I can only think of a handful of stand-up comics who stayed as popular and on their game for so long. He hosted the debut episode of "Saturday Night Live", released 23 comedy records, had 14 HBO specials, wrote three books, and appeared in several movies (most notably, to me, in 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'). He started out as half of a fairly traditional comedy team, Burns and Carlin, but evidently after seeing a Lenny Bruce show he had an epiphony and went out on his own and dramatically changed his act. One of his most famous skits was the "Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Television", a skit which eventually was the catalyst of a U.S. Supreme Court obscenity ruling.

Anyone who listened to Carlin knows that not only did he try to test the boundaries of what he could and could not say in public, he was also very political (left leaning). While I have sometimes found his politics to be a bit naive and reactionary, Carlin never lost his ability to make people laugh. That was the bottom line, really.

I always loved his quick faux advertisements between longer skits that he had on his album A Place For My Stuff. "And now, a message from the National Apple Growers' Association: F*ck pears." RIP George Carlin.

Here's some vintage Carlin that is especially appropriate on his "passing away". Enjoy...