George Carlin Funny? Not to me.

[alteran]

I used to like him years ago but last time he performed here he seemed to rely on cussing to be funny instead of good material. I'm no prude but listening to someone swear isn't my idea of entertainment.

Sounds like he is getting funny in his old age. And not funny ha ha.

CARLIN TO VEGAS: I HATE YOU
NY Post
December 7, 2004 -- GEORGE Carlin ended his relationship with the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with a devastating diss the other night. The caustic comic finished his four-year run with a dark set that included riffs on suicides and beheadings, and made it clear that he couldn't wait to get out of "this [bleeping] hotel" and Sin City. The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Norm Clarke reports that Carlin told the crowd of 700 that he was looking forward to going back east "where the real people are." He added, "People who go to Las Vegas, you've got to question their [bleeping] intellect . . . Traveling hundreds and thousands of miles to essentially give your money to a large corporation is kind of [bleeping] moronic. That's what I'm always getting here is these kind of [bleeping] people with very limited intellects." When a woman yelled something that sounded like "stop degrading us," Carlin fired back, "Thank you very much, whatever that was. I hope it was positive; if not, well, [bleep] me," using slang for oral sex. Strangely, though, Carlin isn't ready to leave town yet: He's jumping to the Stardust in February after a falling out with the MGM Grand.

[Concordia..41]

I saw a little bit of an interview on one of the talkshows the other night. He wasn't vulgar (not that I watched much), but he wasn't even making sense or able to complete a sentence.

- M

[km gresham]

Too many drugs?

[LeeG]

no not too many drugs. Some people like to be abused to be entertained,,it's a small segment of the market but the market satisfies that need. I was never a fan of Don Rickles.

[Concordia..41]

Yeah, kindof had the Ozzie Osborne thing going...

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Hey if you don't like his show don't go. Seems simple enough choice to me. Enough red state’s out there and from what I hear Vegas is a red state, so he might be playing to an empty house. Then again he has been popular for a long time, I don’t see it affecting his bottom line ;)

[km gresham]

Haven't heard Carlin in many (at least 20) years. He was funny for about 15 minutes. Once comedians start relying on filthy language and potty humor, they have run out of talent or material or both. They appeal to the 13-18 year old male demographic at that point. (That can be maturity level, not just age).

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

your entitled to yer opinion Karen. The paying public is not in full agreement with you ;) Classic case of supply and demand. Haven't heard from Morton Downey Jr recently have ya ? :D

http://www.morbid-curiosity.com/1cb1b640.jpg

Dead Lung Cancer - Wonder why? :rolleyes:

[km gresham]

I'll take Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Bill Cosby over Robin Williams, George Carlin, or Whoopie Goldburg any day.

They were very funny and little children could watch them, too.

I've always found it interesting that they refer to filthy language as "adult" language. Most adults I know don't talk that way.

[ 12-07-2004, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: km gresham ]

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Dead
Jack Benny

Field:
Entertainment
Info:
Comedian/actor, had both a long-running radio program and a long-running TV show, starred in the movie "To Be or Not to Be", known for his inept violin playing

Date of Birth:
02/14/1894
Date of Death:
12/26/1974
Age at Death:
80
Cause of Death:
Cancer

-------------------

** Dead
Red Skelton
Field:
Entertainment

Info:
Comedian and clown, host of the TV series "The Red Skelton Show" for many years, known for his many characters, including Clem Kaddiddlehopper and the seagulls Gertrude and Heathcliffe

Date of Birth:
07/18/1913
Date of Death:
09/17/1997
Age at Death:
84
Cause of Death:
Pneumonia

Cosby is still alive and we already know how much you like him ;)

But I suspect Williams and Woopie and even dear old George will be coming up with new material LONG after Jack & Red ever go on the road again

LOL :D :D

Karen 2/3 of the comics you like not only Killed they are DEAD LOL How old are you ??? :D :D :D

Me personally no one comes close to Robin Williiams timing or speed, Jonathan Winters it great. I LOVE watching New Young Comedians work their material. Comedy is all about timing and if yer dead your timing is umm a bit off LOL :D

[ 12-07-2004, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) ]

[TGP]

" He added, "People who go to Las Vegas, you've got to question their [bleeping] intellect . . . Traveling hundreds and thousands of miles to essentially give your money to a large corporation is kind of [bleeping] moronic."

I completely agree with him on that.

[km gresham]

He could have said the same without the "bleeps". smile.gif There are other adjectives in the English language. I'm fairly certain of it.

[Bob Adams]

He used to be funny, lately he's gotten too caustic, and too damn POLITICAL. We all know how argumenitive politics can be! :rolleyes:

[LeeG]

Could you imagine Phylis Diller without the hair and makeup?

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Originally posted by km gresham:
He could have said the same without the "bleeps". smile.gif There are other adjectives in the English language. I'm fairly certain of it.Karen have your read yer Sons Awesome Report lately ?? :rolleyes: Such Funny people these Greshams.

[km gresham]

I think a lot of these people just get lazy, too. They can throw out a few (or a string of them) foul words or grab their crotch and get laughs from the crowd that pays to see them. They don't have to work for it that way.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

From the Awesome report
Im sure the WBF filter will edit the vulgarity
http://awesomereport.com/tristan.html


"A Penny for my thoughts? I oughta charge five bucks a piece"

*

Hey all you Awesome Report junkies - you want the blog, well we got the blog. And I can hook you up. I'm Tristan, one of John's buddies, and I'm here to give you my own style of Awesome.

Let's start with this joke of a jobless recovery everybody's talking about. Jobless recovery is the biggest pile of **** oxymoron since "Microsoft Works" or "exact estimate". It isn't a recovery until Americans have jobs - and good ones, not just flipping burgers. And the only way this is going to happen is if we quit the hemmoraging of jobs from outsourcing, H1B visas, and illegal immigrants.

Yeah, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. Not Undocumented workers. ILLEGAL. Against the law. Lawbreakers. Criminal. Broke our laws. If you want in, do it by the rules, otherwise STAY THE **** OUT! All these "illegal immigrants is a racial slur" people make me want to hurl. The US with its lax borders is acting as enabler and codependent to Mexico's dysfunctionality. Yeah, if we throw them all out we won't have anybody to change the sheets at the hotels or tend to the rich snob's gardens. Let me let you in on a little secret - there's always college students who need some kaching. President Bush's guest worker program sucks big time and is among the reasons I doubt I'll vote for him. (I wouldn't vote for Hanoi John either, so I'm going third party, but that's another blog there)

H1B's and Outsourcing - that's where it hurts me as a computer professional, watching all these nerds from India and Pakistan take my job, either by coming here and doing it, or by having the company send the work down to them. To those who approve the H1-B's: If American's don't have jobs, they can't pay their taxes, can't spend any kaching, can't keep this economy going. To those corporate bastards who outsource - where's your sense of patriotism? If you guys don't take care of your fellow Americans, then you shouldn't be allowed to do business with your fellow americans. And to the asshole Mankiw who said that the outsourcing trend was "something that we should realize is probably a plus for the economy in the long run", you can kiss my ass (after I've eaten at Taco Bell)

[km gresham]

I don't usually respond to you, Joe, because I don't care for spitting contests, but yes I often read Johns web site, as you know. And I don't approve of the "colorful" language and have told him so. However, John is an adult and as you should know, your children don't always do what you think they should. I will say that the frequency of the ugly words has decreased since I've stated my displeasure. The language detracts from the message. It's lazy and not representative of the intelligence of the writers there. But they are very young. smile.gif

I imagine we must allow for youth and understand that in most cases they outgrow the attraction to startling language.

[dmede]

What’s the matter, you never heard the word "****" before? You guys act like this is a revelation, that a comic uses foul language. I personally don't like the heavy reliance on it either, but I'm no shut in, I don't find it shocking or revealing. I agree with the idea that you just don't have to go.

As for good comics you can't beat Sid Caesar or his writers. Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and the others. Damn funny people! Oh, sorry did I offend anybody with that last expletive?

Well, you can try to clean my language but don't you dare take away my alcohol again. : )

[LeeG]

I daresay that a few folks have uttered an expletive or two while experiencing a revelation.
HOLY ****!

Isn't that what's great about humor, a revelation of underlying truth behind a pain or fear that makes it managable.

[ 12-07-2004, 12:32 PM: Message edited by: LeeG ]

[dmede]

Hey Karren, do you still go to this guys shows?

Bush: "There's Adam Clymer, major league a..hole from the New York Times"

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

http://www.chiprowe.com/articles/swear.html

Caution ADULT language :eek:

[Meerkat]

Karen; If you don't think Robin Williams can be vulger, don't go see one of his live shows. Here's a clue: his production company is called Mr. Happy Productions. "Mr. Happy" is his name for his penis! :D

Mr. Happy Holidays! ;) tongue.gif :D

[Garrett Lowell]

I admit, I still pull out my Sam Kennison tapes and listen to them. He was too funny, particularly the Jesus jokes, and the marriage jokes.

"Jesus could never have been married. I mean, really, what guy leaves on a Friday with 12 of his buddies, comes back on Sunday and says: Oh, sorry. I was dead!"

[km gresham]

I'm going to drop my assumptions about the intelligence level of fellow forumites. ;)

I am not referring to the occasional dirty word uttered in frustration or anger or irritation. I am talking about entertainers who have become dependent on such language (usually a great deal of it) for the majority of their comedic material.

I thought that was pretty clear, but I'll try to type more slowly next time. smile.gif

Meer, what made you think I don't find Robin Williams to be filthy? He is one of the worst. He has huge talent (or had) but I don't want to listen to all the garbage to get the few bits of humor burried in it. :rolleyes:

[ 12-07-2004, 12:44 PM: Message edited by: km gresham ]

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Kinda like Bush Flipping the bird at the camera in that old press conference ? Hmmm Karen. Or your own son's website ? Ya know the occasional NON funny vulgarity like that ???

Come on Carlin has made a very funny successful career over the 7 dirty words and then some that you can not say on the air. Man how come even I miss the free thinking 60's and I was born in 64 ;)

To a larger extent this double standard still exist. There are shows on TV and Radio that ALLOW nudity or expletives, but now the FCC has gotten on the Jesusland rant and they are fining everyone. Thats why Howard Stern is moving to satellite radio, and the networks would not show "Private Ryan" on veterans day for fear of the FCC.

[alteran]

"Traveling hundreds and thousands of miles to essentially give your money to a large corporation is kind of moronic."

He neglects to mention that corporation is paying him so he might as well say, "Traveling hundreds and thousands of miles to essentially give your money to [b]ME is kind of [bleeping] moronic.

And I could agree with that.

[km gresham]

People will pay for the darndest things!

[dmede]

ahh, so your selectively intollerent of foul language. Politically speaking it's ok, just a slip right? I'm sure that was a one off kinda thing. He's probably an angel. But a comic, that you complain about? The thing is, I agree with you, I think it is a sign of imaturity to fling such phrases around with so little provocation.

It's funny. I think the one place I am most ok with hearing foul language would be in entertainment while I think "real" people should show more restraint.

[Elco's]

He sounds "burnt out and past his prime"

perfect for Las Vegas

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

George Carlin is one of my hero's. ;)
I can understand why the conservatives don't get his humor. :D

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

How topical In todays Sunday NY Times " Sunday Styles Section " ;)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/fashion/12CARL.html

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2004/12/12/fashion/12carl.xl.jpg

December 12, 2004
Cancer? Suicide? Politics? That's Hilarious!
By WARREN ST. JOHN

FOR sheer energy, few performers — perhaps few people — can match George Carlin, the prince of outrage, a man for whom the hypocrisy of politicians, the callowness of the masses and of course the absurd details of modern life have served as comedic rocket fuel for more than 40 years. So it's a little disconcerting when on a wet early winter day in Manhattan, Mr. Carlin shuffles into a Midtown hotel, unravels himself from his hat, coat, dark glasses and scarf, and rushes to sit down.

"I'm feeling a little wobbly," Mr. Carlin said by way of explanation. "It's this low blood pressure thing."

At 67, Mr. Carlin is a survivor, though, he might add, barely. He has suffered three heart attacks — "events," he calls them — and a number of angioplasties, so that these days, besides monitoring the world, he spends no small amount of energy monitoring fractionated cholesterol and lipids panels. Mr. Carlin has battled through cocaine addiction, a $3 million debt to the I.R.S. that took him 15 years to pay off, and in 1997, the death of his wife of 36 years from liver cancer.

None of which, it seems, has mellowed him. As much as ever, Mr. Carlin builds his humor around the taboo — his current routine includes long riffs on cancer, natural disasters and teenage suicide and yet somehow manages to get laughs.

"Right now somewhere around the world, someone is about to kill himself," Mr. Carlin declared cheerily toward the beginning of a sold-out show on Dec. 3 at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. "Every 30 seconds — there goes another guy." After pointing out that suicide was the third-leading cause of death for young men in the United States, Mr. Carlin told the crowd, "You gals, if you want to be truly equal, you're going to have to start killing yourselves in greater numbers."

"Somebody has to think about these things," Mr. Carlin said under his breath later in the show, as he prowled the stage in his trademark black T-shirt, bluejeans and New Balance running shoes. "Apparently I've been appointed."

Of course, Mr. Carlin appointed himself. Since at least 1973, when he performed his famous routine "Filthy Words," describing the seven words you can never say on television, Mr. Carlin has made a point of saying things no one else would dare and mocking the sacred — religion, patriotism and every conceivable political group and ideology. Along the way, he has managed to find the holy grail of show business: a constantly renewing audience, a steady stream of moderately disaffected people with a high threshold for being offended.

His shows — he still performs roughly 150 times a year — regularly sell out. Since 1977 he has performed a new HBO special every two years or so; his next is scheduled for November 2005. Mr. Carlin has published three best-selling books; his latest, "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?" has been on the New York Times best-seller list for six weeks. The book was taken off the shelves at Wal-Mart after complaints from customers about the cover, which shows Mr. Carlin in the seat normally occupied by Jesus in da Vinci's "Last Supper." (Mocking religion is a staple of Mr. Carlin's repertory: he once proselytized for "Frisbeetarianism," which held that when a person dies, "his soul gets flung onto a roof and just stays there.")

"George has a vulnerability and a likability that lets him get away clean with saying certain things other people can't say," said Jerry Hamza, Mr. Carlin's best friend and manager for more than 20 years, when asked how his friend had managed to keep his career going so long. "That's where he lives — he believes he can make anything funny."

Mr. Carlin said the trick to enjoying his later years was caring less about things.

"I don't have a stake in this adventure now — the cultural, historical adventure of America and the biological adventure of this species on the planet," he said. "I don't care what happens to this country. There's no changing the way this planet is headed. So I kind of watch it as entertainment."

"I say it this way," Mr. Carlin added. "When you're born in this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America you're given a front row seat."

For all his talk of disengagement, however, Mr. Carlin is by all accounts an obsessive worker. He splits his time between California and Las Vegas, and takes limousines over planes whenever possible, Mr. Hamza said, because he finds it easier to work on his laptop in a car. Mr. Carlin is constantly scribbling notions down in a notebook or recording them on a small voice recorder, and he spends most of his time typing, organizing and reorganizing his ideas in a library of 2,300 files he keeps on his computer — raw material he may someday forge into actual jokes, monologues or material for his books. And as soon as he has recorded a new HBO routine, he begins cycling in fresh material, so that over the course of two years, his entire routine is replaced, and he's ready to record another.

"It's like a sock," Mr. Carlin said. "I darn the sock so much that none of the original material is left. It's the same sock — it's my show — but the old material is gone."

"I have no hobbies and I have no leisure activities," Mr. Carlin added. "My greatest joy is working at the computer with my ideas."

Mr. Carlin grew up on West 121st Street in Manhattan, with his mother, who worked in advertising and who left her hard-drinking husband when Mr. Carlin was 2 months old. He dropped out of school in the ninth grade and at 17 joined the Air Force, which stationed him in Shreveport, La., and set him to work repairing bombing systems on B-47's. Mr. Carlin's first job in entertainment was as a disc jockey at a station there.

Mr. Carlin still speaks adoringly of his mother and says that the stigma of having dropped out of school has fueled his career.

"When you quit school in ninth grade and you're smart, you spend your life in some small or large way proving yourself," he said.

Mr. Carlin worked comedy clubs, eventually found his way onto the variety show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" as a regular, and was the host of the debut of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975. He honed his personal style, blending quick — and usually profanity-laced — jokes with what he called style pieces, longer, carefully crafted monologues of high-speed word play meant to dazzle more than simply bust guts.

Along the way, Mr. Carlin — addled during those years on cocaine — courted controversy. He was arrested in Milwaukee on indecency charges after a show there in 1972. In 1973, his "Filthy Words" routine was aired on WBAI in New York City, resulting in an obscenity charge by the Federal Communications Commission against the station, which resulted in a long legal battle that eventually made it to the Supreme Court. (The court upheld restrictions on broadcasting profanities at times when children were likely to be tuned in.) The profanity in his routine limited his opportunities on network TV, but fortunately for Mr. Carlin, cable came along; he did his first HBO special in 1977. He had his first heart attack a year later.

Mr. Carlin said his material typically fits into three categories — jokes about language, and about what he calls the small world and the big world.

"The small world is what's in your refrigerator, how you drive, your pet's behavior, your stuff," Mr. Carlin said. "Those are things we share, that we all agree on. The large world is the big issues that will never be solved — race, politics, government, religion, business, culture. That's where I've headed more."

Lewis Black, the comedian, said he believes Mr. Carlin's longevity can be attributed to the themes of his work. "One of the major topics he deals with is timeless — stupidity," Mr. Black said. "It's something everyone relates to. And he relates to his younger audience in terms of frustration and rage — which appeals to them because young people live through an extended period of frustration and rage."

Mr. Carlin's books will not be confused with his routines for polish and forethought. Rather they are loose compendiums of the ideas — many not fully formed — that percolate through the more honed performances. His first, "Braindroppings" in 1997, was a surprise best seller. Helped perhaps by the Wal-Mart controversy, his new book made its debut at No. 5 on the New York Times best-seller list.

"I used to always describe myself as a comedian who wrote his own material," he added. "Now I describe myself as a writer who performs his own material." Mr. Carlin said that when he turns 70, he wants to begin work on a Broadway show — not a one-man performance, but what he called a "single creature show" — about growing up in Manhattan. "It would be a sweet reminiscence," he said.

For now, there's little that is sweet in Mr. Carlin's comedic repertory. As much as ever, he mocks everything he can think of, it seems, including his audience. At his Westbury show, Mr. Carlin spewed venom at Americans with "short pants, fat thighs, dumb kids, eating corn dogs and triple cheeseburgers and fried butter dipped in cheese." He looked up at the crowd and said, "That doesn't include this audience."

He also knows how to use an off-speed pitch. After a profanity-packed riff on a subject too vulgar for any newspaper, Mr. Carlin, hunched and prowling, peered up from the stage and asked, "You know what really gets me?" The audience braced itself for something truly outrageous. "I think there's too many songs," Mr. Carlin said, sounding for a moment like Jerry Seinfeld.

Pretty soon, though, Mr. Carlin had gone dark again.

"Most songs are love songs," he said. "How about a song about cancer? I'd listen to that. Everybody's got cancer in this country — nobody's singing about it."

[ 12-12-2004, 01:24 PM: Message edited by: Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) ]

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

Nice post Joe. :D

My favorite quote by George Carlin.....

"I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death."

[ion barnes]

Well, you have to brand your humour, be it abusive, put-down, politically incorrect, vulgar, needling, or poke-in-the-ribs. There were a couple of old time comics that were put-downs,Don Rickles for one, but for the most part, the rest were polite. Loved Phylis Diller, and I did not think her use of her husband "Fang" as put-down humour though if it were turned around, some narrow minded female could take exception.

There are some good new talent available these days but probably because of TV media we see a much larger offering than was available in the past. Remember that the older ones came from the stage and theatre, before TV. They were the cream. WC Field and Mae West, now that was humor at its best! Sexy without gratuitous sex. The best!

I remember Johney Carson had one of his skits cancelled because the censor said it was too suggestive. Well he was furious, and to demonstrate, he pulled out a book of nursery rhymes and proceeded to 'edit' with a duck horn. As an example; "The farmers wife cut off their ---- with a carving knife" Its the audience that completed the phrase in their own terms.

[Russell Sova]

I always thought Gallagher was much funnier. I've seen some funny ones on Letterman, but I can't remember their names. They seem to be on once then you never see them again. The comics mentioned in this thread were always on and you could get to know them. Carlin was always on, too.

[Victor]

Bob Hope once told his audience his critics didn't think he was funny, then said "What do you say to that, ladies and gentlemen?" There was an uncomfortable silence for about 5 seconds.
"Well," said Hope, "I guess we have a concensus!"

And Will Rogers giving an econium to Calvin Coolidge: "The American people want to thank you for what you're doin, Mr. Coolidge - nothin!"

[brad9798]

My God, Joe ... you are too damned stupid or arrogant or immature to see it ...

Karen's got more class than you could hope to ever have ... based on your rabid greyhound chasing the
Gresham rabbit on the post over the last several weeks.

You keep telling yourself you don't harbor any animosity, keep telling yourself spelling doesn't matter, keep telling yourself that being a hypocrite is okay ... okay only if you are in ther right!

Go sell some houses ... and spend time with your family ... if not for your ballsy, bulldog perseverance, you'd be destitute- your success is obviously not based on compassion, humility, or intellect.

How's that for dogging someone? Good, thought you'd like it ... it's just about a C&P/paraphrase of your childlike hounding of the Greshams.

Thank God I haven't eaten yet ... :rolleyes: