George Carlin Dead at 71

RIP.

Acerbic standup comedian and satirist George Carlin, whose staunch defense of free speech in his most famous routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, has died.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. He was 71.

1. Never thought this guy was funny at all. All he did was swear a lot to get attention. Real comedians can make people laugh without using every swear word in the book.

   Hopefully he’s in a better place now.

   Posted by on June 23, 2008 at 0914 hrs




2. I did like one of his jokes about children.  He didn’t want to have any because he didn’t like inviting strangers in the house.

   Anyone who has watched their little darlings turn into teenagers can relate to this.

   Posted by on June 23, 2008 at 1006 hrs




3. Bill,
   You obviously missed the genious of Carlin.  He didn’t just swear.  It was his ability to seamlessly mix highbrow and lowbrow together and his complete honesty and willingness to offend those that he felt deserved to be offended that made him great.  Plus, I loved his work on Shining Time Station

   Posted by jesusisjustalrightwithme on June 23, 2008 at 1401 hrs




4. I remember discovering George Carlin when I was 11 or 12 years old. He was much more than the seven dirty words. A lot of his comedy touched on the wonderful and bizarre truths of daily life. There’s one routine where he talks about hearing “where are the good scissors?!?” at home. That was something I heard growing up all the time too--for some reason we had lots of crappy scissors back in the 70s and only one pair that actually worked. Carlin helped me realize how similar a lot of us really are, and the unique power of storytelling to reveal those similarities.

   Later on I heard his infamous routine about the seven dirty words, and I had a even stronger revelation about the power of words and language, and the bizarre weight we give to a few silly words. No doubt it was one of the many things that led to me becoming a writer when I grew up.

   Posted by on June 23, 2008 at 2005 hrs