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It's March 1992, I'm 13-years-old, it's 2 am and my life is about to change forever.
I made it a habit in my early teens to stay up late and watch stand-up comedy on HBO. I thought if I watched enough and studied the intricacies of it maybe some would rub off on me. Some of my favorites during this time included Steven Wright, Kevin Pollack, Damon Wayans, and Eddie Murphy. One night the HBO Comedy Hour came on and it featured this old, balding dude with a ponytail I had never seen before. I was never really fond of older comics, I tried watching acts like Robert Klein and Steve Allan but I just did not relate to the material so I was immediately prejudice to this 60's hippy dressed in black. But I loved stand-up comedy so I was always open to watching someone new; little did I know this guy was a legend and already had a career longer than twice my lifetime.
George Carlin: Jammin' in New York, was the first Carlin special I ever experienced. And I say "experienced," because this man's words did not just make me laugh, but it also started to change the way I think. Never before had I heard someone break down language to its minute detail and uncover the real meaning behind words and phrases that people use so liberally.
"People add words when they want things to sound more important than they really are. 'Boarding process.' Sounds important; it isn't. It's just a bunch of people getting on an airplane! People like to sound important. Weathermen on television talk about 'shower activity'. Sounds more important than 'showers.' I even heard one guy on CNN talk about a 'rain event'. I swear to God, he said, 'Louisiana is expecting a rain event.' And I thought, 'Holy shit, I hope I can get tickets to that!'"
Carlin ended this special with a commentary on the environment and how we are all so concerned about the welfare of the Earth. At the time I too was very environmentally conscious, worried we would one day destroy our planet. With one sentence, my entire viewpoint shifted.
"The planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE! Pack your shit, folks. We're goin' away."
It is said that an individual who can change other's views and ideals with nothing but words is operating at genius levels. All of the sudden I was no longer worried about the planet Earth's survival, but I was now deathly concerned about the human race. Which is where our concern should lie. George Carlin had a way of zoning in on the real problem at heart and cutting through all of the white-washing and spin we are force-fed in the media. It truly changed the way I processed information.
Needless to say I was blown away by Carlin and wanted to find out as much as I could about his legendary career. My uncle educated me on his entire body of work, showing me Carlin's classic routines like "Stuff," "The Hippy-Dippy Weatherman," "Baseball and Football," and of course "The Seven Dirty Words."
But in my opinion, the culmination of George Carlin's career came in his 1999 special titled "George Carlin: You Are All Diseased." A main facet of this material was how America is #1 in bullshit. This subject line ultimately alluded to the topic of religion. Now I was brought up in a rather loosely religious, Jewish home. My parents taught me about God, we went to synagogue on some of the major holidays, and I had a Bar Mitzvah. Religion was in my life but it did not define it nor did I question it. I was pretty indifferent with the subject and just accepted everything I was told. That is until 1999. It was like the great and powerful OZ was revealed as just a bunch of smoke and mirrors. After hearing Carlin's routine, all of the bible stories and religious laws sounded very different to me, as if I could truly hear them for the first time. The story of the Ten Commandments now seemed as fictional as my Superman comic books. I felt deprogrammed and started to make my own assessments of what is right and what is wrong concerning religion. Carlin's words gave me back my own mind. I don't agree with everything in his act, nor are you suppose to as a lot of what he says is through an exaggerated character, but I can honestly say he touched my life and I'm better off for it.
I was very lucky to see George Carlin perform 5 times in my lifetime and each one was amazing. My only regret is I never purchased one of those T-Shirts he sold at all his shows. It reads "Simon Says . . . . . Fuck You."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o
Some lesser known George Carlin Facts:
-He was the first host on the premier episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975.
-He filled in for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show as a regular guest host.
-In 1994 he had his own sitcom on Fox, "The George Carlin Show," ran for 12 episodes.
-Played Rufus in the Bill and Ted movies
-14 HBO specials, more than any other comic
-Was in attendance at the famous Lenny Bruce performance where he was arrested for obscenity. Carlin refused to show police his identification, he was arrested along with Bruce and taken to jail in the same vehicle.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
I made it a habit in my early teens to stay up late and watch stand-up comedy on HBO. I thought if I watched enough and studied the intricacies of it maybe some would rub off on me. Some of my favorites during this time included Steven Wright, Kevin Pollack, Damon Wayans, and Eddie Murphy. One night the HBO Comedy Hour came on and it featured this old, balding dude with a ponytail I had never seen before. I was never really fond of older comics, I tried watching acts like Robert Klein and Steve Allan but I just did not relate to the material so I was immediately prejudice to this 60's hippy dressed in black. But I loved stand-up comedy so I was always open to watching someone new; little did I know this guy was a legend and already had a career longer than twice my lifetime.
George Carlin: Jammin' in New York, was the first Carlin special I ever experienced. And I say "experienced," because this man's words did not just make me laugh, but it also started to change the way I think. Never before had I heard someone break down language to its minute detail and uncover the real meaning behind words and phrases that people use so liberally.
"People add words when they want things to sound more important than they really are. 'Boarding process.' Sounds important; it isn't. It's just a bunch of people getting on an airplane! People like to sound important. Weathermen on television talk about 'shower activity'. Sounds more important than 'showers.' I even heard one guy on CNN talk about a 'rain event'. I swear to God, he said, 'Louisiana is expecting a rain event.' And I thought, 'Holy shit, I hope I can get tickets to that!'"
Carlin ended this special with a commentary on the environment and how we are all so concerned about the welfare of the Earth. At the time I too was very environmentally conscious, worried we would one day destroy our planet. With one sentence, my entire viewpoint shifted.
"The planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE! Pack your shit, folks. We're goin' away."
It is said that an individual who can change other's views and ideals with nothing but words is operating at genius levels. All of the sudden I was no longer worried about the planet Earth's survival, but I was now deathly concerned about the human race. Which is where our concern should lie. George Carlin had a way of zoning in on the real problem at heart and cutting through all of the white-washing and spin we are force-fed in the media. It truly changed the way I processed information.
Needless to say I was blown away by Carlin and wanted to find out as much as I could about his legendary career. My uncle educated me on his entire body of work, showing me Carlin's classic routines like "Stuff," "The Hippy-Dippy Weatherman," "Baseball and Football," and of course "The Seven Dirty Words."
But in my opinion, the culmination of George Carlin's career came in his 1999 special titled "George Carlin: You Are All Diseased." A main facet of this material was how America is #1 in bullshit. This subject line ultimately alluded to the topic of religion. Now I was brought up in a rather loosely religious, Jewish home. My parents taught me about God, we went to synagogue on some of the major holidays, and I had a Bar Mitzvah. Religion was in my life but it did not define it nor did I question it. I was pretty indifferent with the subject and just accepted everything I was told. That is until 1999. It was like the great and powerful OZ was revealed as just a bunch of smoke and mirrors. After hearing Carlin's routine, all of the bible stories and religious laws sounded very different to me, as if I could truly hear them for the first time. The story of the Ten Commandments now seemed as fictional as my Superman comic books. I felt deprogrammed and started to make my own assessments of what is right and what is wrong concerning religion. Carlin's words gave me back my own mind. I don't agree with everything in his act, nor are you suppose to as a lot of what he says is through an exaggerated character, but I can honestly say he touched my life and I'm better off for it.
I was very lucky to see George Carlin perform 5 times in my lifetime and each one was amazing. My only regret is I never purchased one of those T-Shirts he sold at all his shows. It reads "Simon Says . . . . . Fuck You."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o
Some lesser known George Carlin Facts:
-He was the first host on the premier episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975.
-He filled in for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show as a regular guest host.
-In 1994 he had his own sitcom on Fox, "The George Carlin Show," ran for 12 episodes.
-Played Rufus in the Bill and Ted movies
-14 HBO specials, more than any other comic
-Was in attendance at the famous Lenny Bruce performance where he was arrested for obscenity. Carlin refused to show police his identification, he was arrested along with Bruce and taken to jail in the same vehicle.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
15 comments:
So I say, “Live and let live.” That’s my motto. “Live and let live.” Anyone who can’t go along with that, take him outside and shoot the motherfucker. It’s a simple philosophy, but it’s always worked in our family.
"Catholic — which I was until I reached the age of reason. "
Here’s a bumper sticker I’d like to see: “We are the proud parents of a child who’s self-esteem is sufficient that he doesn’t need us promoting his minor scholastic achievements on the back of our car.”
Just a couple of my favorites.
We lost a great guy , I would agree he was the best stand up guy cause unlike the other greats he was still fuckin doin it like 2 weeks ago !
I Watched him since I was young and he def gave me some different perspectives , sadly I never saw him live.
THE BUDDY CHRIST !
I would like to give a shout-out to Carlin; Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits. For the man that introduced us all to all the bad words that we ever needed to know via HBO Comedy specials when our parents weren't paying attention. And also the man that said:
"There's some people that aren't in to all the words. There's some people that would have you not use certain words. Yeah, there are four hundred thousand words in the English language and there are seven of them you can't say on television. What a ratio that is Three hundred and ninety three thousand, nine hundred and ninety three to seven. They must really be bad. They'd have to be outrageous to be separated from a group that large. All of you, over here, you seven. That word. That's what they told us remember, that's a bad word. No bad words, bad thoughts. Bad intentions and words. Ya know the seven don't you, the seven you can't say on television."
All this from a man that worshipped the sun, smoked weed on a daily basis, had his run in with cocaine, booze and psychedelic drugs. But still was able to live to 71. My hats off to the “Dean of Counter-culture comedy,” without whom many comedians could not take the stage.
"Today I got into an argument with my Rice Krispies. I distinctly heard, 'Snap, Crackle, Fuck Him.'"
Why can't motherfuckers like George Bush or Oprah die? Its always the good ones. RIP my friend. By the way Koko, I bet you didn't give a shit about the environment when you were 13. All thirteen year old boys think about is pussy.
Pure Genius, what a loss for the world, but his rants will live on forever.
Koko, that was a great eulogy, I hope his rant's can live on forever and possibley be honored through a weekly rendition of "Blaze is Burning"
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1820525
"THE BUDDY CHRIST" was great.
Who is the Swami?
Who was the puss that deleted a comment?
I did you cocksucker. I tried to link a site and it didn't work so I had to delete the post.
No, I beleive I saw his post he deleted and it said something to the effect of......
Who is the Swami? I love your logo and I have always been a big fan of David Hasselhoff.....I love his body!
Signed,
J-RubYa
I think after he posted it he realized he wasn't on one of his gay chat rooms and had to go back and delete it.
Rufus was a Righteous Dude!
J-Rubya? Pretty original keith i like it! That picture is pretty funny but I do not really like the Hoff. He is a big act in my birthplace, but he does translate well to the American people.
Who the hell is the Swami?
Who is the Swami? That has been a lingering question through the ages. But to the Cobra Kai, he is the man, the myth, the legend, the back-side triple threat, number one in your hearts and number two in your programs, the deadly bat, the sniper in left center, the EB.
J-rubya, thats great! I new you were a fag. Go blow the Swami.
A true legend, that man was fucking genius. Nobody could analyze shit the way he did. I got to see his masterpiece live. GC will be missed. J dubs is still a fag
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