George Carlin A Master of Words

I unfortunately got to George Carlin a little too late. When he was touring, he was around my neck of the woods a few times, going to Edmonton and Calgary, and I never went to see him.

Now George Carlin is dead and I won't ever get to see him live in concert, which is a shame because I've come to the realization that he was indeed one of the funniest people who ever lived, not only that but he had such an exciting mind that worked overtime when he was performing.

Carlin was the type of comedian who used words, he loved words, and was able to use them to his advantage. I usually think the smartest person in the room is usually the funniest. The thing about Carlin was he wasn't so much a comedian as he was a poet, there was a rythm to his speaking, it was something he was always trying to find, it was like music.

Take a look at his routine above where he talks about time, he seems to savour the different concepts of time, and the different connotations we relate time with.

Below I've included an interview Carlin does with Jon Stewart (A man who I think is his one true heir especially when it comes to articulate comedy). Stewart is very young, but at the end of the interview Carlin mentions that he expects great things from the young comic. But also listen to the part where Carlin talks about what a nun says to his mother about the words he uses in his act. Carlin never used a word badly, like he once said, "There are no bad words". He used words to his advantage, to get across important subjects, he was one of the great modern wordsmiths.



Earlier tonight I watched a program where Carlin received the Mark Twain award posthumously. I have no doubt Twain would've agreed with this recipient, I guess it just got me thinking of how great Carlin was.