Monday, June 23, 2008

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
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6 comments:

  1. The Mistress of the Dark7:27 AM

    Ah but remember that was only a routine and he was the host of a children's tv show too. Wasn't it Thomas the Tank Engine? He played Mr. Conductor a role also played by Ringo Starr.

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  2. John A Hill11:02 AM

    Carlin did indeed play the part of Mr. Conductor for a time.

    I used to really like Carlin. As you mentioned, he got a little bit too raunchy for my taste. I probably have an old 33 1/3 album of his somewhere around here.

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  3. Anonymous1:05 PM

    Bilbo:

    You really hit the nail on the head in this post today. Carlin could have been one of the greatest social commenting comedians ever--but he took the low road.

    I'm sorry to see him pass, since it means he has lost his chance to be all he could have been.

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  4. Mike1:27 PM

    He was one of my favorites. And 71 isn't that old anymore. But for him I'm sure those were a wild 71 years.

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  5. lacochran2:13 PM

    I agree that he slid. He was brilliant but when he started doing rape jokes I wasn't laughing.

    Anyway, I think, all in all, he was a great observational entertainer for many years and he'll be missed.

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  6. Jean-Luc Picard3:23 PM

    I've heard of the name, but never heard him.

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