Growing up, George Carlin was a staple in our household. My brother--a good ten years older than me--listened to the Class Clown record album non-stop. Obviously, not getting the references at such a young age, I would laugh when others laughed. And it wasn't until a good ten years later when I listened to it when I fully realized his comedic genius.
It broke my heart to hear that George Carlin passed away yesterday, from heart failure. He was 71.
His raw humor, coupled with his nicotine-laced, gritty New York attitude can never be matched (although honestly, my Dad's Jamaica-Queens accent comes a close second). He taught me a lot about words and how, if we just stood still to ponder for just a moment, certain words in the English language seemed so ridiculous and filled with double-meanings. But moreover, he broke through major tenets regarding organized religion, claiming, at one point, that he worshiped the sun because it was the one thing he could actually see. But his sensibility about the world in which we lived gave proof that he was so much more than a rable rouser.
Just as he was a staple in my early childhood, he returned to be a part of my son's. His cheeky narration on many episodes of Thomas the Tank gave the stories a whole new dimension of humor, and his hippie-ish character in the Pixar movie Cars, Filmore the VW minibus, reminded me of his 70s stand-up material.
George will truly be missed.
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2 comments:
Did you happen to listen to Fresh Air on Monday? (you can get the podcast if not). They featured excerpts from two Carlin interviews - from 1990 and 2004. You can really hear in his voice how much his health declined in those 14 years. FWIW, my favorite Carlin routing is the football vs. baseball one!
Thanks, Dan I'll have to check out the podcast.
The baseball vs. football schtick is classic, I agree!
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