George Carlin: In Memorium
July 3, 2008 · Print This Article
Whether you loved George Carlin or hated him, there is no doubt that any fan of comedy felt the death of a comedy legend. Today Brian takes listeners through a a biography of the comedy pioneer, with plenty of examples of Carlin’s genius.
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Great trib.
This was awesome. I loved hearing all those clips again (a couple for the first time).
I want to correct a statement I made on the show. It was Joe who informed me of the Carlin specials on HBO. Matthew sent me another hilarious clip that we’ll talk about next week.
Also want to thank Tony on a great job. He chose all the music and was able to splice the clips in and out masterfully. Thanks for all of your efforts!
And before Grammar Nazi finds it, I realize I spelled “memoriam” incorrectly.
B-mo, speaking as someone from the UK I thought that was a great tribute. Even though I’m a huge fan of comedy I didn’t know that much about this life and what he’s done I thought you did great.
You totally have to respect the contributions Carlin made. Who else has made a contribution to such a wide range of comedic subjects; not just one or two.
For me, I first saw him in Dogma where he was hilarious as the Catholic bishop. Unfortunately, his stand up was rarely highlighted in the UK but all comedy fans know about who he is.
And a happy 4th of July to all my american cousins…..I know you Yanks don’t go on a lot about how America is the greatest country in the world so I hope you all take the time today to think about that.
Have a great day!
And a happy fourth of July to my American cousins. I know that Americans don’t go on about how the USA is the greatest country in the world much so I hope you take a few moments to think about that today!
Have a good ‘un,
Nick
This past few weeks I, like you B, spent some “reflection” time pouring over all of the HBO specials, early albums, et.al.
I was fortunate enough to see Carlin doing what he do best 3 times.
The first circa 1976 in Dayton, Ohio doing the classic “7 Dirty Words.”
Then again during the spring of 78. At 18, a buddy of mine and I left Ohio for Phoenix AZ taking the long way around so as to spend a couple of weeks with my teacher/mentor who had just moved to la-la-land. Her cousin was Bill Jordon who was in a show with Jack Webb at the time and he got us tickets to the Tonight Show. We get there and low and behold…Johnny is on vacation and George was sitting in for him. Cool!!
Then circa 1982, during one of his “black” periods, saw him at Gammage in Tempe. I remember leaving that show thinking…whoa…George has become so maudlin and morbid. We would all later learn that George was in trouble from all the partying we all had been doing for oh so many years and working through those demons gave his standups during those times a bit of a heavy edge.
Carlin holds a very special place in my heart, and I, too, felt his loss came from somewhere out in right field. I will miss him terribly.
Your tribute Brian was just wonderful…well informed…insightful… and a pretty thorough telling of Carlin’s tale. The only thing I feel you missed sharing with everyone was the AMAZING fact that from 1961 till her death in 1997, George was married to the same woman, Brenda, even renewing their vows in 1971. That’s 36 years! I’ve never heard talk of Georgie boy getting any of that oh so coveted “popularity” pussy. Everyone always talks of Carlin being so “anti” everything…so unconventional… so daring in deed and action…but when it came right down to it, he was a closet “conventional” family guy.
Brian…again…Most excellent job. —maniac : ‘ (
Why is the Saturday live skit about Sweaty balls so funny? It is the Saturday live bit that cracks everyone up? When talking to any of my friends or family when asked what saturday night live bit is the funniest sas sweaty balls?
Excellent tribute, Brian. On the subject of George Carlin, my girlfriend sent me this video the other day of Carlin talking about obituaries:
George Carlin: In His Own Words
I apologize if my attempt at HTML doesn’t work, the link is there in any case.
That was actually a very well constructed piece of biography. Yeah, that’s really good work Brian.
hey what are people’s opinions on the larry the cable guy vs. david cross feud?
for those that don’t know, in a nutshell, rolling stone printed a bit where cross politely but thoroughly bashed larry’s act. Larry freaked out and devoted a chapter in his (ghostwritten) autobiography to David. David responded with “An Open Letter to Larry the Cable Guy”, link here: http://www.bobanddavid.com/2007/10/an_open_letter_to_larry_the_ca.html
more on the wikipedia entry for david.
a different sort of comic feud, no? I enjoy Cross’ characters on TV, find his stand-up pretty abrasive - although I tent to agree with him, he’s often just a bit too over the top aggressive (see Janine Garafalo sp? for another example). I do, however, think Cross has Larry made pretty squarely in his open letter.
I got the link from not Iowa. You did an excellent job on the Carlin tribute. Now I have another podcast to add to my list.
Thank you,
RFig
My top comedians in no particular order and definitely incomplete.
George Carlin- Brilliant I saw live a couple of times at the Troubadour in Los Angeles around the early 70s
Groucho
Jackie Mason- Great live act amazing presence and ease on stage.
Richard Pryor-Stand up skip the movies
Bill Bailey- Fantastic talent mixes music and visuals a must see live.
Dylan Moran- One of the best acts I have ever been to.
Jack Dee
Rodney Dangerfield-stand up
Joan Rivers -stand up
Omid Djalili – if you do not know him watch on you tube.
Bob Hope
Early Woody Allen- I would say it feels dated now but at the time the early movies were very funny.
Bill Cosby- early stand up skip the t.v. shows
Billy Connoly –Live stand up is excellent. He is a fantastic story teller. Skip the T.V. shows
The Honeymooners-Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows- Buy the box set. It still holds up today.
Father Ted- T.V.
The Office- Original U.K. version only!
TAI – Best podcast by far!
Well, I wasn’t going to rant against you for the misspelling, because I figured you were grieving.
However, I’m glad you know you made the mistake.
A great podcast this week. When I saw that it was 90 minutes long, I thought you had gone off the deep end, but it didn’t feel that long when I listened to it. A well-done tribute.
Most comedian feuds to me are lame. Most of them involve a bitter comic attacking a more famous comic that has lame material.
The only feud I ever found interesting was Rogan vs. Mencia. Rogan was attacking Mencia for stealing material. Even tho I dont like Rogan’s standup much, I appreciated what he was doing because stealing material is a cardinal sin in comedy.
I personally cant stand Larry the Cable guy, but hey the guy found a gimmick and a niche audience that works, so I’m not gonna attack him for making a good living for himself doing what he loves. I’ll just change the channel when his lame specials come on tv. End of story.
I love David Cross and his album “Shut up you fuckn baby” is one of my favorite. But he needs to stop ripping on other comics, even if they’re attacking him. Remember when he attacked Patton Oswalt for staring in Ratatouille, when he was in Alvin in the Chipmunks in the first place?!?!
I thought the Patton/Cross feud was supposed to be a joke. Like a ridiculousness/for publicity thing. Both are Death Ray guys, so I thought it was all in fun.
Oh yeah, and Brian. Good tribute.
Slight change in topic but when is the Willie Nelson roast on…….and do we think it’s going to be any good?
The worst in no particular order and definitely incomplete.
Adam Sandler
Janine Garofolo
Jim Kerry
Dane Cook
Whoopi Goldberg
Robin Williams
Ellen DeGeneres – She was really funny early on.
Tracy Ullman
Andrew Dice Clay
Spike Lee
Billy Crystal
Carlos Mencia
Kathy Griffin
Jackie the Joke Man
Ben Stiller
Mike Myers
Sarah Silverman
Saturday Night Live
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
RFig–
May I ask your reasoning behind SNL and The Daily Show?
I don’t think Dice by any means should be on a list of the worst famous comics. He certainly wasn’t brilliant by any means. But then again, I think some of the stuff he did was rather good. Today however, I think he should just quit.
Also, when was Spike Lee ever a comedian?
I don’t think Dice by any means should be on a list of the worst famous comics. He certainly wasn’t brilliant by any means. But then again, I think some of the stuff he did was rather good. Today however, I think he should just quit.
Also, when was Spike Lee ever a comedian?
Not only was Spike Lee not a comic, I never got the feeling that his movies were trying to be funny. I guess those Nike commercials with Jordan were witty…when I was 8.
ofcourse his films weren’t trying to be funny, they were about showing a black prospective on things. And by black, I mean pissed off. And by pissed off, I mean pissed off and New Yorker. And by…
By putting three dots in a row, I don’t need to write a punch line. How meaty is that?!
So, it was my birthday today and I recieved two brilliant presents.
First, was a can of fat, supposedly it’s gourmet $12 a can fat, so that’s something. The second present, was a front row ticket to Bill Bailey’s tour to New Zealand. As he is officially my favourite skulleted person, I am more than just a little stoked. It is going to be the bright spot in an otherwise bland and generic September.
Huzzah!
Sando - Happy Birthday. Enjoy Bill Bailey I have only seen him one time but it was one the best shows I have ever been to.
Charles- I really thought Spike Lee was supposed to be funny but maybe I missed something. SNL has so many horrible comedians I did not want to list them all and Jon Stewart is unwatchable(but maybe he is not meant to be funny).
Nice one on getting the Bill Bailey tickets Sando, and front row is even sweeter. His shows always seem to sell out before they are even announced here, he is one guy I deffo want to see pretty soon.
Where in New Zulland are you from? I’ll be over there in November, anything you recommend that I should check out while I’m there (comedy related or not). Been wracking my brains to think of famous Kiwi comedians other than Flight of the Conchords and Rhys Darby but I’m coming up blank. Maybe Tana Umaga could be considered a comedian, certainly made me laugh when he claimed that his spear tackle on Brian O’Driscoll was accidental
When it comes to worst comics of all time, I think these are comedians who have always been bad. For example, Ellen Degeneres and Billy Crystal may be not all that funny now, but they were phenominal comics when they were in their prime.
These kind of comics I’ll cut some slack. At one point they were brilliant and I can understand why its hard to be that brilliant 15-20 years later.
People like Carlos Mencia, Dane Cook, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy on the other hand have almost always been bad. They deserve no slack and should be publicly flogged. Nuff said.
Listened to the episode last weekend. Excellent stuff, thank you.