Nice summary, Bryce.
George will be missed. He was one of the few "can't miss" stand-ups as I was growing up.
Rest easy, old friend.
See ya 'round, George
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cinemalover
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movieman1957
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I was not a big fan of Carlin but I thought he was great when lampooning the language. He was very smart. He used words as a tool like few other comedians. I didn't always find it funny but it was very smart. He had a great delivery.
I saw some of his late specials on HBO. He didn't look well but the voice was still strong. I thought sometimes he was just ranting but he still brought them in. In those days in the 70's an 80's he was unlike anything out there. He set a high comedy standard.
I saw some of his late specials on HBO. He didn't look well but the voice was still strong. I thought sometimes he was just ranting but he still brought them in. In those days in the 70's an 80's he was unlike anything out there. He set a high comedy standard.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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MissGoddess
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I never admired the obsceneties he was known for but I loved his way with words and his common sense approach to many issues of the day. He had courage to say what many think and it's too bad a voice like that has quieted.
It is not bad language I will remember him for, but common sense and stubborn individualism.
It is not bad language I will remember him for, but common sense and stubborn individualism.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
-- Will Rogers
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jdb1
I agree, he certainly did look like a sick man in his last HBO special.movieman1957 wrote:I was not a big fan of Carlin but I thought he was great when lampooning the language. He was very smart. He used words as a tool like few other comedians. I didn't always find it funny but it was very smart. He had a great delivery.
I saw some of his late specials on HBO. He didn't look well but the voice was still strong. I thought sometimes he was just ranting but he still brought them in. In those days in the 70's an 80's he was unlike anything out there. He set a high comedy standard.
I can understand his "ranting," though. After so many years of telling us the truth, maybe he was just too frustrated by societal apathy to do anything but rant at us - it's the privilege of the elderly, after all.
I think one of the truly courageous things Carlin did was to shed the suit and the shtick way back in 1970, and start calling them as he saw them for a mainstream audience. There were many humorists who spoke painful truths, but for the most part they either softened the message with their sophisticated manner and gentlemanly attire (like Dick Gregory), or they were the "underground" kind of performance artist. Does anyone remember Brother Theodore? I'll bet Carlin was very familiar with him.
Carlin is a stand-up comic that I liked (but not as much as Mort Sahl, Woody Allen, Dick Gregory, Jonathan Winters, Stephen Wright, Bob Newhart, or -- the greatest -- Richard Pryor). But he is the only one of that bunch that had my parents and my children laughing along with me. That, to me, is a mark of greatness.
Judith asked: Does anyone remember Brother Theodore?
You betcha. Was it The Merv Griffin Show or The Allan Burke Show (or both) that he frequently appeared on in the mid-60's? I often wondered if Andy Kaufman watched him.
Judith asked: Does anyone remember Brother Theodore?
You betcha. Was it The Merv Griffin Show or The Allan Burke Show (or both) that he frequently appeared on in the mid-60's? I often wondered if Andy Kaufman watched him.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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jdb1
The obscenities probably served several purposes: to get attention, to emphasize the angst of a search for meaning, and most probably because that's the way he actually talked, and he wanted to sound like a real guy, considering real life issues.
The online NY Times is now referring to him as a "Modern Mark Twain."
By the way, I guess New Yorkers may have seen Carlin a little differently from those in other parts of the country. I never found him intimidating, or even particularly aggressive (abrasive, yes). He was just an Irish-American New Yorker venting his spleen, in the fashion that so many Irish New Yorkers do. Most of the people I know who are his fans are educated people who appreciate his acerbic wit, his erudition, his honesty, his turn of phrase, and especially his attempt to make some sense out of it all.
The online NY Times is now referring to him as a "Modern Mark Twain."
By the way, I guess New Yorkers may have seen Carlin a little differently from those in other parts of the country. I never found him intimidating, or even particularly aggressive (abrasive, yes). He was just an Irish-American New Yorker venting his spleen, in the fashion that so many Irish New Yorkers do. Most of the people I know who are his fans are educated people who appreciate his acerbic wit, his erudition, his honesty, his turn of phrase, and especially his attempt to make some sense out of it all.
Last edited by jdb1 on June 23rd, 2008, 12:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jdb1
Here are some representative Carlin-isms:
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?
How is it possible to have a civil war?
Whose cruel idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have a "S" in it?
Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?
Inside every cynical person there is a disappointed idealist.
Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?
Where are we going? And what's with this hand basket?
It’s like when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It’s so f***in’ heroic.
I'm not into working out. My philosophy is no pain, no pain.
I'm desperately trying to figure out why Kamikaze pilots wore helmets.
Some people see things as they are and ask “Why,” some people dream of things that never were and say “Why not?” Some people have to go to work and don’t have time for all that.
Always do whatever’s next.
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn, and cross it deliberately.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?
How is it possible to have a civil war?
Whose cruel idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have a "S" in it?
Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?
Inside every cynical person there is a disappointed idealist.
Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?
Where are we going? And what's with this hand basket?
It’s like when a flower or a little tuft of grass grows through a crack in the concrete. It’s so f***in’ heroic.
I'm not into working out. My philosophy is no pain, no pain.
I'm desperately trying to figure out why Kamikaze pilots wore helmets.
Some people see things as they are and ask “Why,” some people dream of things that never were and say “Why not?” Some people have to go to work and don’t have time for all that.
Always do whatever’s next.
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn, and cross it deliberately.
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MissGoddess
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MissGoddess: That's a bit of two-sided blade (avoiding all cliches today, for obvious reasons): without the obscene, would he have been considered as edgy or important? He was the very definition of "sledgehammer to the face," and his delivery was as caustic and vicious as napalm, but sometimes, as Mark Twain always insisted, you just have to swear to get the point across. Would he ever have gained notoriety had he not been obscene?
Hi Patsy! No worries, I see what you are saying, but I find it questionable if someone needs to hear obscenities before they will listen. I will add that I've never seen any of Carlin's more "raw" stand up routines, only the kind of stuff that's been shared here in this forum and even some ridiculously early television appearances where he looked impossibly young. I never saw nor want to the "7 Words" bit. The minute someone begins talking with that kind of language (and it's almost constant here in NY) I immediately shut my ears figuratively and turn away.
No, he certainly did not need---nor does anyone else---to use foul language to get my attention (maybe to lose it), though I'm the first to admit how relieving it can be sometimes when you're angry. I just consider this a lamentable weakness, a cop out, in myself and anyone else who employs it just to get attention.
No, that part of his "legacy" has nothing to do with what I admire about the man or anyone else.
Hi Patsy! No worries, I see what you are saying, but I find it questionable if someone needs to hear obscenities before they will listen. I will add that I've never seen any of Carlin's more "raw" stand up routines, only the kind of stuff that's been shared here in this forum and even some ridiculously early television appearances where he looked impossibly young. I never saw nor want to the "7 Words" bit. The minute someone begins talking with that kind of language (and it's almost constant here in NY) I immediately shut my ears figuratively and turn away.
No, he certainly did not need---nor does anyone else---to use foul language to get my attention (maybe to lose it), though I'm the first to admit how relieving it can be sometimes when you're angry. I just consider this a lamentable weakness, a cop out, in myself and anyone else who employs it just to get attention.
No, that part of his "legacy" has nothing to do with what I admire about the man or anyone else.
Last edited by MissGoddess on June 23rd, 2008, 3:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
-- Will Rogers
Despite the fact that Carlin became famous for his “seven dirty words”, I actually don’t see Carlin’s humor as profane. Carlin was a writer-comedian. He didn’t ad-lib. All of his jokes were painstakingly written, honed, and re-written. Including the obcentities. Listen to the rhythm of his joke, remove whatever well-placed expletive, and the joke becomes less funny. It just does.
"Let's be independent together." Dr. Hermey DDS
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jdb1
True. He evolved, long ago, from just a teller of jokes to a monologist. His routines were like well-honed speeches, with an introduction, a middle section and an end which wrapped together everything that came before. He was just as much an essayist as was Spalding Gray, only in a grittier way, with a different rhythm.
Good afternoon to all,
It seems to me that George Carlin's greatest gift to us was the one that escaped most of his audience. He made us think. And he did so by pointing out the absurdities in life that we all too readily accept as normalcy. His words were his tools and he used them much the same way that a sculptor employs a mallet and chisel to remove all but what he sees hidden within his medium. It's far more difficult to explain a complex thought with brevity than with a lengthy discourse. Yet that was what he did, and did so brilliantly. He had the innate ability to make one realize that thought lives on many planes of existence and isn't necessarily a linear concept. He allowed our minds to "bend" without employing foreign substances. I believe that he was actually talking down to many of those listening to him but in doing so was actually elevating our intellects to a level beyond what we would have thought to be attainable. If he was "guilty" of using what the prim and proper found to be objectionable language, it was because he understood that that was the language they would typically use in their speech and thought. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. There was great wisdom to be found in his wit, and like him or not, the world will be just a little worse off for having lost him. He won't be easily replaced, if at all. Rest at peace, George, your troubles are at long last behind you.
As always,
Hollis
It seems to me that George Carlin's greatest gift to us was the one that escaped most of his audience. He made us think. And he did so by pointing out the absurdities in life that we all too readily accept as normalcy. His words were his tools and he used them much the same way that a sculptor employs a mallet and chisel to remove all but what he sees hidden within his medium. It's far more difficult to explain a complex thought with brevity than with a lengthy discourse. Yet that was what he did, and did so brilliantly. He had the innate ability to make one realize that thought lives on many planes of existence and isn't necessarily a linear concept. He allowed our minds to "bend" without employing foreign substances. I believe that he was actually talking down to many of those listening to him but in doing so was actually elevating our intellects to a level beyond what we would have thought to be attainable. If he was "guilty" of using what the prim and proper found to be objectionable language, it was because he understood that that was the language they would typically use in their speech and thought. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. There was great wisdom to be found in his wit, and like him or not, the world will be just a little worse off for having lost him. He won't be easily replaced, if at all. Rest at peace, George, your troubles are at long last behind you.
As always,
Hollis