Category: News and Views
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture
hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of
heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a
spokesman said. He was 71.
Carlin, who had a history of heart and drug-dependency problems,
died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m.
PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon
for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters.
Known for his edgy, provocative material, Carlin achieved status
as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits
full of drug references and a routine called "Seven Words You Can
Never Say On Television." A regulatory battle over a radio
broadcast of the routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme
Court.
In the 1978 case, Federal Communications Commission vs. Pacifica
Foundation, the top U.S. court ruled that the words cited in
Carlin's routine were indecent, and that the government's
broadcast regulator could ban them from being aired at times when
children might be listening.
Carlin's comedic sensibility often came back to a central theme:
humanity is doomed.
"I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in
this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't
believe in all these man-made institutional ideas," he told
Reuters in a 2001 interview.
Carlin, who wrote several books and performed in many television
comedy specials, is survived by his wife Sally Wade, and daughter.
George was the man!! I saw him once in person and laughed my ass off, even my mom was overcomed with laughter. R.I.P, and thanks for the memories!!
I saw George back in 2003, and he was brilliant as always. There were even people in the audience screaming, "carlin for President"!!! He was the man. I've got all his books and have seen all his HBO specials and have a lot of his albums, I'm not sure if I have them all? But I do have a lot. Thanks, George, you rocked while you were here. Enjoy them pork chops, guess Jesus finally brought 'em.
I saw him live twice. He was great both times.
R.I.P.
I loved Carlin. It's ironic that he died yesterday and it was just recently that I started downloading his books. He has a few of them. There's brain droppings, and Jesus will bring the Pork Chops, and Killer Carlin just to name a few. Not to mention the countless books written by other people. I have most of his albums and some on vinyl too. The only thing I didn't buy was the little David years box set. I downloaded the extra disks from it however and they are funny as shit. I noticed this beginning century has saw the death of lots of comedians. I really didn't think Carlin would go this soon and it's a trip that Cosby is around the same age and he's still alive. I'll miss Carlin and by the way he hated his first name. First it never ends. G e o r g e o r g e o r g e o r g e. "Let George do it." "Screw it. You do it."
anyone noticed that the albums and hbo specials which became albums in the early ninetys George's voice changed. He yelled a lot. He didn't really use his indoor voice. As with the stuff from the seventies. I'd say that around the time of Back in Town and Parental Advisory, his voice was how it would be now. What do you all think? Have you observed the tonality of Carlin's voice being different now?
no matter what however, I always hurt from laughter listening to Carlin. No matter which form you're used to. The early one and the now, you had to be crying of laughter listening. I didn't cry when he died though because I know that he's happy. He said he wasn't afraid of death. He did say that he wanted his life preserved if it was possible. He didn't care if he had to be on a respirator or not. "Just gimmy that morphine every ten minutes and feed me ice cream every few hours. And leave me plugged in."
I also liked how he'd retell some of his bits and stories. I'd watch different comedy shows where he'd appear and look forward to not only his latest stuff but how he'd retell old stuff. He would change it a bit and still make it funny and I loved his endless observation. Also did you notice that some of his act was this forever growing long list. Like a grocery list that's not complete, well he explained about that once. he writes lists of things. Like a list of people who have to be killed. Or a list of common things we say or don't say. And usually after one of his shows is ending he'll go in to those things and add comments and make it in to a real good routine. Also around 1982 he had a massive heart attack and just barely survived it. He was a survivor though and survived his wife Brenda almost twenty years. You might remember her appearance in A Place for My stuff and how many of you thought that album was homemade. It was different to see Carlin as his own producer. There were short skits in between live snippets. I suspect those were incomplete material that wouldn't fit on other albums. He explained that he threw in an extra C.D. in the David years collection where there were things from those that wouldn't fit on the other albums. He had to be selective because the record company could only fit so much on a record album. There is also a disk where he has recordings he made as a little boy when his mother bought him his first tape recorder. In the fifties tape recorders were rare and only rich people had them. There were places you could go to pay a few cents to have a tape made of your voice or a record made too. He made a bunch of those as well where you have the beginnings of some of the funny news casts you'd later know him for. One of the last things where I heard Carlin was on Coast to Coast. I only heard one show where Art had him on back in 2000 and they talked about everything and of course, Carlin promoted his David box set. He made it clear that he wasn't there strictly for promoting but that the fans would appreciate the information. He also touched lightly about the early firings in Los Vaguest. One funny observation he made was that he'd be amused if the west coast had an earth quake of 25. He was fascinated at the destruction and sunalmy that would cause. He recalled being in a small quake with his wife Brenda and some of his kids and not even being scared as things were moving around unassisted.
You might be interested to know that an album has been released a few years back with Carlin's early sketches from S.N.L. that album is Killer Carlin. Let me refresh your memory. Killer Carlin was a character of George's on S.Nl. I'd burst out laughing at it. Killer Carlin was this punch drunk boxer and he played this character amongst weather man, and also the news desk. You might recall different renditions of Wonderful Wino and your Hippy Dippy weather man. Well it started not only on S.N.L. but on the early road shows before his albums. On his first album A.M. and F.M. you'll notice that the audience are used to George things and sometimes finish his phrases before he spits them out. You understood that they must have been with him at other shows because S.N.L. was not on in 1971. So even in his early career, his audience got used to him and I got the vibe that he would make himself part of his own audience. When you hear him interacting with his crowd, it's like one huge gathering. Maybe a family gathering of a sort I guess.
Unfortunately I never had the privilege of seeing George Carlin live. I have read most of his books and heard many of his albums.
Another thing worth noting about Carlin was that he was the first person to host Saturday Night Live.
I liked Carlins views on pot and cocaine. One thing I recall that I could relate to was he said that it wasn't just the idea of getting high that he liked. It was the entire ritual behind it. Like with cocaine and chopping it up and grinding it and then the reward. But the preparation of it was just as important because you're waiting in anticipation for the reward high. Well I can relate because when I smoke weed, I love to sit there for hours with my scissors and chop up the pieces for my pipe real fine. I'll take hours preparing a bowl and the whole time I'm thinking of how I'll feel when i smoke. So when Carlin explained it, I knew we were on the same wave length. I heard various interview shows where he'd elaberate on these things.
I've just posted some of his most famous quotes on the joke board if you want to check it out. Although he could be quite profane, he also made some valid points without using profanity.
Yeah Carlin was fucking awesome. I just got into listening to his stuf a few months ago, and damn am I glad I did. I have all his albums, and three of his books. I know he has more books, but not sure where to find them, I'll definatley be looking for all his books. In one of the parts of Carlin On Campus he states that he has trouble selecting wine in the early morning and he just gives up altogether and smokes a bong of fruit loopsand watches the mid morning movie, I wonder if he is in heaven smoking a bong of fruit loops now. lol.
Cheers ,
Kat
I think Walter did a wonderful job explaining and remembering Carlin with us that my only comment is I'll miss him. It's hard to believe and grasp the idea that there will be no more H.B.O. specials and no more books or guest appearances. I always liked how he stayed in the lime light.
yeah props Walter for your detailed posts. Looks like you're new here and I'll be looking forward to reading your views on whatever. I will say that I didn't know Carlin was the first to host S.N.L. so much as S.N.L. was the reincarnation of an old radio show from the late 40's and 50's called The Big show. Where they had an hour and a half of entertainment with some of the biggest stars in hollywood. As S.N.L. was sort of that idea. Incidently, love the koke stories Carlin used to tell. I'll really miss him. I too agree his death was untimely.
definitely remember the big show. I also recall an instants when George Carlin was fired from a boston station for taking out their van and going out to buy pot. Something happened they found out about it and he was fired. If you can get the interview done by A.N.E. with Bill Curtise, Carlin explains a lot about his short stint in the army and there are some funny stories there. I heard it aired around 1997 or rather.
and thanks for the compliments. I'm glad people are enthused.
Yeah the big show was with Tallulah Bankhead as master of ceremonies and at times she'd have Bob Hope or Fred Allen as side kicks or co hosts (whatever you want to call it.) Fred Allen was noticeable in the later years especially after he quit radio. He died before he could get in to TV in 56 on St. Pats. Now back to Carlin, I'll for sure miss him. Loved the H.B.O. specials and even more so, the fact they were made in to albums. in the nineties it was rare to find Carlin's older stuff on C.D. It wasn't out yet. I bought many tapes and still have a few record albums like Class Clown and A place for my stuff. I might have a few more too at my other house. I too wonder what'll be released now with Carlin's passing. At least a memorial album. He's already got a few best ofs. There's classic gold which I bought a few years back and there's some cuts from F.M. and A.M. and Class Clown and Occupation fool. Then there's a greatest hits and I'm not sure what it has because I never got it. I was told it has cuts from the albums I mentioned. I also agree that it was cool when Carlin retold older bits and changed them around a bit. You have to consider this. The guy's doing at least 70 minutes of material on a live show. Surely he's gonna repeat older things as a filler. It's like you go to a live concert of your favourite band, part of your going is to hear the classics and the hits you're used to. Then as an addition, maybe some new stuff. So this is comparable. Anyways carry on and I too think that n6qh summed it up and broke it down real good. Good job and most definitely rest in piece Carlin. I bet now if he's met Jesus, it's probably not the same Jesus he portrayed on the mock Jesus interview on A place for My Stuff with the late Brenda as the interviewer.
I saw Carlin in Montréal when he appeared for Comic Relief in 91 or 92. I can't quite remember but he did an excellent retake of A Place for my Stuff even better than on the original album and afterwards he said, "Save your stuff. These people they have no stuff." Comic relief if you don't know was a fund raising event for the homeless. Usually in L.A. and hosted by Robin Williams and Goldberg. You might be able to get the comic relief stuff on video. Not sure if that whole thing even exists or if different people are doing it but when it was happening, they had some of the biggest name Comedians performing and maybe even up and coming ones too. I suppose it be an excellent career builder although I think the way the enticed people to donate money and call the 800 number was to bring out the real talented and influential types.
If you're reading this before June 28th 2008 then you might be interested to know that this weeks episode of Saturday Night Live will be a re-run of the first episode in memory of George Carlin. As mentioned earlier in this thread, George hosted that first episode. If you've never seen it before, it's worth checking out. Not only for George Carlin, but it's interesting to see how SNL began, and how the show has evolved over time.
Thanks for that information. I'll try to stay up and watch that. No doubt I could probably download the show somewhere if I end up missing it. It's funny that some of the most controversial and outspoken comedians got their start from Saturday Night Live. Also Carlin was one of a few people from that show that died of old age. Most actors when I was growing up usually overdosed. People like Blotchy and later Chris Farley who were overwhelmed with all their work on the show would fold. Carlin and a hand full of others lived threw it all.
Actually, Saturday Night Live is not where he got his start. According to his bio, he started in the 1950's and was very clean. Then he caught a live show by Lenny Bruce and decided he wanted to be more like him. So he split with Jack Burns, his comedic partner at the time, and went out on his own and changed the type of act he did.
No they're saying that Carlin was the first host of Saturday Night Live. He didn't get his start there. However many other comics did though.
and what's funny about that was a lot of up and coming comics couldn't do their x-rated stuff until they had gigs of their own besides S.N.L. Guys like Eddy Murphy, Dennis Miller, whom I had no clue could be so explisive. S.N.L. was a tamer compared to when the people were left on their own to entertain by themselves.
yeah I remember the little disclaimer Eddy gave in his first stand up movie where in short he let you know he was not there to do S.MN.L. shit. He spelled it out.
what? you mean delirious? That is was funny as shit. Actually though it wasn't the first example of Eddy's raunchiness. Before the movie around 1981 I think, he put out a 45 minute album with some songs and one side had some stand up routines and he started his set off talking about faggots. Remember? Then there were the things about talking cars, and putting brute loan on your nuts.
yeah yeah that thing was recorded in some New York club. I have the album on wax. It's a self titled album. There's lots of good things on it like Boogie in your but, and that's the only song worth listening to because that dude shouldn't even be singing. But yeah the thing about the movie theatres and people shooting the screen was a fuckin riot.
naw dude. the drunken father bit was the shit on that album. Especially since it would be a running bit for the following projects which got made in to albums eventually. Like Delirious and Raw.
and you people are right. Eddy Murphey should not sing. However him imitating Stevie on S.N.L. was funny shit, dude. Also Jo Pisgipoe as Sanatra
they used to rerun old S.N.L. shows on N.B.C. after the live show but I guess not now. That's sucks because I remember all the old stuff and didn't mind seeing it whenever they ran it. Of course after 1997 I stopped watching accept for maybe if they had a good music guest or something because they suck now.
I know bro. I fuckin hated those dumb cheer leader sketches. After Collin Quin left things were real shitty. Even at that, Norm Mcdonald was the last funny person and cast on there. Fuckin loved it when they'd goof on PPeshie.
You mean Jo Peshie (I can't spell his stupid name) anyways it was funny when they incorperated the real one in one of the sketches and he beat the fake one with a fuckin base ball bat. That shit was priceless!
For anyone interested, HBO has been showing all of George's HBO specials. Last night they showed several of them, and will be reairing his most recent one tonight (Friday). Also, tomorrow night, Saturday Night Live will air the first ever episode from 1975 which was hosted by George Carlin.
way to go HBO.
don't forget that the killer Carlin c.d. has all of the S.N.L. bits or at least a best of I should say. So go get it if you like the vintage shit!
i read a bit of brain droppings today. I'm glad I have the version read by him as there is a talking book version read by some other ass hole. Just not the same unless it's read by Carlin because the comments and inflections are important. Better that it's from the author.
he reads most his books actually. I think they were trying to find things for him to do other than the H.B.O. specials. Then again there's lots of books written by famous people with themselves being the reader. I think that's good. For instants the miller rants are of course read by Dennis Miller. It be too weird if it were someone else.
To post 30, SNL is one of those shows that goes back and forth in terms of quality. I actually think they're doing well right now. The new season starting in the fall should be worth watching, if for nothing else then the fact that they always write their best material during an election year.
the S.N.L. thing kicked ass. Lots of bits Carlin did were from the window box album. I barely remembered the real show when it was on, I think I missed it but it brought back other memories. Like the Muppets for instants. George had them on. I can't remember the music guest but in between breaks, George would do Window box routeens. Like the thing about god, and the true image. Then he did somethuing from the Campist albumn, football and baseball. That's a good bit too. So if you didn't watch on Saturday, you shoulld try and catch a repeat. You'll be glad you caught it
I saw most of it Saturday and yeah lots of shit from Toledo Window Box. I think around the same time he had also released An Evening With Wally. If you haven't heard that album, you're sleeping people. That shit is on point.
by the way hey Digger person: if you're going to point out my trivial typing errors on PT's board, look at what you recently wrote on this one. It's full of errors. You Knob! Then of course noone's really reading this shit here so what ever!
I remembered I borrowed both the Window Box lp and the Wally LP and threw them on tape and it just made 90 minutes. The Wally album was cut short a few seconds but I was amazed when it pretty much fit on a 90 tape. I got those in the eighties but I've ever since download them and now have the entire things.
that is a ninety minute tape
It was a trip watching him on some kid show because you just wouldn't think of him as Mr. conducter.
Apparently this week on Doctor Demento, he's doing a George Carlin tribute. Might be worth checking out, assuming you can find a station that plays the show.
well all I can say about that is props to Dr. Mopthafuckin D!
did you know that Dr. D teaches Media at some L.A. university. Not sure if it's U.C.L.A. or what? Does he still teach? Cuz I came across this info ages ago?
i heard about that on the Stern show about Dr. D.
yes I'm sure Stern's such a relyable sorce of information!
naw but he knows a lot of important people though!
yeah anyone he hasn't jewed off for one reason or another!
i mean he's got a bad track record for things like that. Look at Jacky Martling. He shit on him. The guy wanted more money and he disowned the little fucker.
yeah yeah what else is knew with that tight jew? He fuckin jewed Billy West something evil. Billy West contributed heavily and combined with Fred excellent writing and performing. As soon as he wanted more money, Howard jewed him. Then if that's not enough tried to get him back for the Satilite run.
of course West wouldn't do it, he doesn't want to be a clown in someone else's circuis!
damn those joints you smoke really messes with your spelling dude! time to put it down. Anyways, copy on Stern Antics
Jim jewed all the weed. Learn to share you fuckin tight fist, gallute.
wait a second. you're goofing on Jim for spelling? I thought blinks had an automatic pass on poor spelling. Don't you have to see the words to remember how they're spelled? Now Jim never told us he's blind but who on this site isn't? You're either a gimp, or a limp blink! Come on! Cut the guy some slack, quick busting his balls. Even if he is a cheap skirt wearing bitch! He's our bitch and we love him.
I went over to that bastard's house once and he asked if I wanted a drink and then served me water. I mean come on. What are we talking about here? The fuckin guy gives nothing away. It's like the time Jack Benny took a piss test at this stay over hospital place. He had already went ten minutes before and when the lady collecting it saw the lack of liquid she remarked that he gives nothing away. And he's also of Jewish persuasion: what a fuckin surprise!
Actually Fred Allen was said to have served his house guests water. He wasn't cheap though he was quite generous. The water thing was just a weird thing of his. However it's a synch we can't fuckin ask him about it now. He passed away on Saint Pats day in 1956. Another end to an old vaudevillian.
I wasn't there for Vaudeville but I appreciate that lots of the old time actors got their careers there. Of course according to George Burns in the book All My Best Friends where he talks about some of this he mentions that back in Vaudeville comedians and musicians alike would have one act and they'd perform it all over the country. A single act about 17 minutes long, you'd rehearse and memorize it to perform all over the place. Until of course radio came out and then originality and creativity was the order of the day. So some of the big names would hire writers for their 15 minute radio shows.
really
I read all of this before i came back to the zone, but I knew at some point I'd have to make my points here.
Mr. Carlin, It was an honor to havre you in the comedy world. I really truly believe that not only has there never been a better comic, but there never will be. I love comedy, I'll never forget my first real exposure to it. It was an HBO special that Mr. Carlin did in 1990. I was about 10, maybe a little older when I first heard this masterpiece. After that, Mr. Carlin became my biggest influence. I've always wanted to be as funny as him. In my short stand-up career, really nothing, I've attempted to display my work in the same hard-hitting, yet common sense sort've way that Mr. Carlin did for nearly 50 years. I regret never having seen him in person, and it's a regret that I'll have til my dying day.
Thank you Mr. Carlin, for the 14 HBO specials, the 3 or 4 books, the years of entertainment. Even the thomas the tank show. Thank you Mr. Carlin, and Rest in ashes...because you're in many different locations, as per your request.