But evidently can say on the Internet (definitely NSFW!)
George Carlin was one of those comedians that was always there when I was growing up. I even had a few cassette tapes of his performances. But he was such a visual comedian that he was best seen on TV or in person. He will most certainly be missed.
I saw George Carlin once live (at the Westbury Music Fair). The stage at Westbury rotates (it's a theater in the round) and he just kept moving the whole time. I had noted with interest in last week's Washington Post that Carlin was supposed to receive this year's Mark Twain prize from the Kennedy Center. I had thought about getting tickets to that event.
While the above clip is the one that he will likely be most remembered for (I mean the case did go all the way to the Supreme Court), it is the clip below that I will always associate with him. I think about it a lot (and it is why I always unpack whenever I go away on vacation, even overnight). I thought a lot about this routine when I read this post on another blog along with the accompanying article in Time Magazine. as well. I was going to do a full post on the topic, but that would be just one more thing and I am pretty sure that I am already well over 100 items.
Good night George.
6 comments:
My mom had Take Offs and Put Ons on vinyl, and I used to listen to that a lot. I had some of his other releases on cassette, but some of my favorite bits are on the record. I dubbed a copy at one point ... I probably have that tape around somewhere.
I saw him at the Civic Theater in Akron in ... 1990? 1991? Something like that ... with my parents and sister. I still have my souvenir t-shirt (Slogan: "Sometimes a Little Brain Damage Can Help") because I never get rid of anything, apparently. I haven't worn it in fifteen years, but it's safely stowed away along with other t-shirts from high school I can't bear to get rid of (Hard Rock Cafe/Toronto, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the senior class t-shirt with everyone's name on it, etc.)
Anyhow, I was going to blog about this at some point, but I'll just link to you instead. So, thanks for that! : )
I can't watch the videos here at work, but one of my favorite skits was his comparison of baseball to football. The man was a comedic genius who will be sorely missed.
I've never heard of this guy before but have to say I fucking love him. Stuff, I've had a lot.
Eryl - thanks for the visit. George Carlin is definitely one of those comedians that comes along all too infrequently. I'm glad you liked the "stuff"
Ages ago, I had his 'Class Clown' on vinyl. I used to laugh myself silly listening to his skit on people meeting in hell after the Pope changed the fish-on-Friday ruling. How sinners in hell would compare notes and one fellow would be in for murder and robbery and another would be in for eating a weenie on Friday evening.
My kids are huge George Carlin fans. I'm thrilled that his humor has proved that ageless (and it never fails to amaze me that NO ONE in the U.K. has ever heard of him), but it hasn't done a great deal for their language...
Mary - Here in the states they re-ran the premiere of Saturday Night Live, with Carlin as host. In his opening monologue, he did his "football vs. baseball" schtick.
Maybe if Kim plays that word he wanted to play, Rogan will become a Carlin fan, too . . .
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