George Carlin has passed away at the age of 71 of heart failure. He was one of my all time favorite comics, alongside Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy, and Tom Lehrer. Carlin's style was unique and his wordsmithing was unparalleled. Indeed, it was his use of language and questioning the way that words got used that resulted in a legal case that went all the way to the US Supreme Court. The FCC v. Pacifica case set the limits for what you could or couldn't say on television, which I find highly disagreeable. Still, Carlin mined those words for comedy genius.
Ann Althouse has a bunch of his funniest clips, including his riff on stuff:
I had the opportunity to see Carlin perform a few years back in Las Vegas. Front row seats, and you could really see this man's mind working at 1,000 mph - choosing the words for emphasis and humor.
He made you think. About all kinds of things. Like religion:
Things you never see:
He will be missed.
No comments:
Post a Comment