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Noooooooooooooooooo... George Carlin, R.I.P.

MONDAY JUNE 23 2008 2:30 PM

Submitted by JekyllAndHyde. Edited By erin_broadley.

TAGS: George Carlin, death, Lenny Bruce

George Carlin, the legendary comedian who was once arrested for obscenity for his "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television" skit (the case went all the way to the Supreme Court) has died. He was 71.

Do I even need to say anything about him? I'll just leave it to everyone else to share their own thoughts on his landmark comedy routines and add my own: I was a sophomore in high school when I first heard one of Carlin's full shows, "You Are All Diseased." Aside from laughing to the point of tears, my perceptions on the world were forever changed. I had never heard anyone speak so profanely and yet so eloquently. I immediately scrambled to find more albums from the guy I had previously only known as the comedian who played Rufus in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Carlin's humor had the same effect on me as Lenny Bruce's sketches had had on Carlin.

I'll close with some classic clips:

George, you will be sorely missed.

28 Comments

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Cassiel

Aurora, CO

September 2004

JUN 23, 2008 02:55 PM

I liked how in his last stand-up "It's Bad For Ya" he talked about how when people refer to loved ones that have passed away, they always say "He's up there, looking down on all of us and smiling." and how no one ever said, "He's down there, screaming up at all of us."

PointBlank

New York, NY

November 2004

JUN 23, 2008 03:09 PM

Partial Score: George Carlin, 71

SockPuppet

I'm lost

July 2006

JUN 23, 2008 03:18 PM

Cassiel said:
I liked how in his last stand-up "It's Bad For Ya" he talked about how when people refer to loved ones that have passed away, they always say "He's up there, looking down on all of us and smiling." and how no one ever said, "He's down there, screaming up at all of us."

Kod

United Kingdom

January 2005

JUN 23, 2008 03:25 PM

I feel so bad, I feel like I lost someone from my family.
The guy was just amazing.
RIP George Carlin, one of the few people who can think and say what on their mind at the same time.

hk85

Guerneville, CA

October 2007

JUN 23, 2008 03:45 PM

RIP Mr. Conductor.

AceT

Portland, OR

April 2004

JUN 23, 2008 03:47 PM

This man had a profound outlook on the way I look at life and when I found out last night I was more bummed than I have been of anyone passing away since my grandmother died.

The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating ...and you finish off as an orgasm.

LarsDR

I'm lost

April 2006

JUN 23, 2008 05:21 PM

I saw Carlin live once. My brother and I went for my birthday a few years ago. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life. His albums, his books, and everything else he did was hilarious. Without him, comedy would not be where it is today.

Does this mean I can delete him from my address book...?

401kboy

Woodbridge, NJ

May 2007

JUN 23, 2008 06:40 PM

with all due respect, and I was a huge fan, he should either have died or stopped performing years ago.

mamet

Charleston, SC

March 2005

JUN 23, 2008 06:48 PM

After my initial heart-sinking, that's the second thought I had. Even in death George still made me laugh.

Honestly, though, it's been a long time since I've been this broken up about someone's death who wasn't related.

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

JUN 23, 2008 07:14 PM

401kboy said:
with all due respect, and I was a huge fan, he should either have died or stopped performing years ago.

No way. I think he only got angrier and, therefore, better w/age.

-TM

TheFox

Carrboro, NC

February 2006

JUN 23, 2008 08:06 PM

Man... we didn't need to lose another great skeptic - especially a funny one.

I was so sad to hear the news. Like an uncle I hadn't thought about in a while had been hit by a car or something.

Thanks for posting teh funneh. He will be missed by many.

AceT

Portland, OR

April 2004

JUN 23, 2008 08:44 PM

401kboy said:
with all due respect, and I was a huge fan, he should either have died or stopped performing years ago.

His last HBO special was his best of the decade.

BellyJack

I'm lost

May 2005

JUN 23, 2008 08:52 PM

Being scarcely a year old when he appeared on Jack Parr's 'The Tonight Show' I don't recollect the full arc, but he's been breaking me up since I can remember. Rest now, George.

Elenor

AWESOME

Chicago, IL

JUN 23, 2008 09:32 PM

AceT said:

401kboy said:
with all due respect, and I was a huge fan, he should either have died or stopped performing years ago.

His last HBO special was his best of the decade.

Agreed. I saw his latest show live at least 5 times and every single time I left the theatre with my face sore from laughing and smiling so much. The same goes for the previous show as well. They were brilliant.

He will most definitely be missed. Not only for his comedy, but because he was an amazingly kind person. I'm grateful that I got a chance to say goodbye, although I didn't realize it would be so permanent at the time.

meggle

Berkeley, CA

November 2002

JUN 23, 2008 09:48 PM

First heard him in the '70's as a kid. Didn't get all the jokes, but the ones I did, I laughed for days, secretly in my room so my parents didn't know. Then rediscovered him in the 80's, lost touch with him in the mid-late 90's, then started listening again the last several years after he and I both strangely and coincidentally came out of a dark, dry spell. Was really looking forward to him coming around this fall. My wife even recently remarked about going to see him live. Sad to say I never saw him in person. He was one of the good ones over the years. Always came back around to piss off and on the man. Court Jester Extraordinaire. His rant on Fox News was classic, and they cut his mic. The Euphemism bit is like Orwell's "Politics and the English Language." Only more biting and brief. You'll be long remembered, George. As he'd hate to have said about himself, "what a guy."

John Nichols' piece at The Nation was pretty good...linked at my blog here with some added links:

http://mythinfo.blogspot.com/2008/06/rip-george-carlin-american-radical.html

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