We lost another legend on Sunday. Dead, at age 71, is George Carlin, clown prince of my generation and comedian to the masses. George was a cultural renegade. His irreverent potshots at religion and politics, his open admission of his use of drugs, and the edgier, more biting comedy he developed cemented him as the “comic voice of the counterculture”. But we didn’t think of him as counterculture at all… he was us.
Who among the group commonly referred to as ‘boomers’ can ever forget the revolution George started with concepts such as the Hippy-Dippy Weatherman, Sister Mary Elephant and the Twelve Words You Can’t Say On Television? His affection for language and never-ending search for truth earned him the love and respect of an entire generation.
The penultimate stand-up comic, George stood on any stage that would have him, right to the end. And every performance yielded the master’s touch, leaving audiences wiping their eyes and holding their stomachs.
Who among the group commonly referred to as ‘boomers’ can ever forget the revolution George started with concepts such as the Hippy-Dippy Weatherman, Sister Mary Elephant and the Twelve Words You Can’t Say On Television? His affection for language and never-ending search for truth earned him the love and respect of an entire generation.
The penultimate stand-up comic, George stood on any stage that would have him, right to the end. And every performance yielded the master’s touch, leaving audiences wiping their eyes and holding their stomachs.
Many will eulogize him and rightly so, all more eloquently than me. I just wanted my readers to know how much I admire him and how much I’ll miss his humor and humanity.
10 comments:
I'm just going to say it sucks that he died. I don't feel the need to paint some portrait acting like he was my best friend or something :P.
Noah-- Well, I guess you told me.
Amen to a tremendous loss.
well he was our best friend--up until the time we quit being funny--growing up can screw up a good thing
He was a true clown prince. His command of language and the absurdities that can stem from obfuscation led more than one of us (including me) on our life-long journey and love of clear language. I'll miss Al Sleet...
9 years old... would steal Carlin's "Class Clown" and "AM/FM" from my big bro and play them until i memorized each bit...then i'd go to school and recite them for my friends and there'd always be some bitter, frustrated, confused teacher standing within earshot who'd haul my ass to the prinicpal's office...
never could stand a bad audience...
I like your eulogy. Sometimes simple and heartfelt is best.
hey big guy--come by and step up to my challenge/prompt
if there's an afterlife, I hope I get to hang out with Carlin and friends. If not, I don't even want to hear about it.
Amen to all you... thanks for your thoughts.
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