The Death of George Carlin

CNN broke the news today that George Carlin, one of my most and least favorite comedians, had passed away.

He was one of my "most favorite" comedians because he was a genuinely funny man with the same sort of twisted, curmudgeonly outlook on life that I have. Many of his early routines, like his "Wonderful WINO" riff on top-40 radio, were howling classics: who else could deliver a news break teaser like: "The sun did not come up this morning, huge cracks have appeared in the earth's surface, and big rocks are falling out of the sky. Details at 11 on Action Central News, kids!"; or a weather report like: "Today's forecast, Dark. Followed by Light"?

On the other hand, he was one of my least favorite comedians because of his increasing reliance over the years on horrendously foul language in his routines. Instead of the rich belly-laughs he once delivered, much of his later work relied more on shock and embarrassed giggles. The downhill slide began, I think, with one of his most famous routines: "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television," and went down from there (for the record, you can hear many of those seven words on network television nowadays, not to mention cable.)

I love satire and sarcasm (which is why I think Mike and I would get along so well), puns, and humor that relies on clever twists in the fabric of reality for its effect. If you enjoy my Cartoon Saturday offerings, or my two posts on Rita Rudner and Steven Wright, you know what sort of humor floats my boat.

George Carlin was a genuinely funny man who drank the Kool-Aid of vulgar humor. I enjoyed his work, but never thought he was as funny as he might have been had he continued on his earlier comic trajectory.

But wherever he is, they're laughing.

Have a good day. Laugh at something, even if it's only the Republicans or the Democrats. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo