Today is a sad day for people who like to laugh. George Carlin, the legendary comedian and one of my favorite all-time performers, has died at 71, from heart failure. When I was growing up, I listened to Bill Cosby non-stop; my Mom had a ton of his records. They really helped to shape my sense of humor and got me interested in how to entertain a crowd with simply the power of words. As I grew older, my tastes broadened, and I got into Carlin, whose counter-culture rants really hit a chord with me. I identified with his ‘don’t like what I have to say? Fine, fuck you!’ way of looking at things, and – again – my sense of humor and outlook on life was shaped in a small way by his tapes. He wasn’t only anti-authority, he was intelligent, a combination that has for centuries been terrifying those who use fear to retain power (religion, repressive governments, etc). He eloquently spoke the truth, in all its painful glory, and didn’t give a shit what you thought. He was the first person I knew of to take what I felt about religion and put is as eloquently as anyone ever has, in his tour-de-force HBO special You Are All Diseased, which I count as one of my favorite stand up specials of all time. A particularly relevant part – for me – below:
Rest In Peace, you miserable old bastard. And thanks for the laughs.
The Man.
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