Monday, June 23, 2008

George Carlin

I know every blogger and news outlet on the planet is talking about it, but I thought I'd mention the passing of George Carlin as well. I'm not going to go on about what a great comedian he was (because if you don't think so, you simply lack a sense of humor), but wanted to acknowledge his passing.

It's a little weird reading about his death considering that I was watching excerpts of one of his HBO specials on my Zune while I was in Chicago last week. Since it was the last exposure I had to him before his death, it'll always be a memory I'll remember. I had ran down past Navy Pier and was running along the lake when I found a nice, grassy area to sit down and chill for a while. I sat and watched some of the stand up comedy I had on my Zune while enjoying the breeze and doing some people watching.

The last bit that I watched before flipping some tunes back on and running back to the hotel was Carlin. He was doing a piece on farting on a bus or other form of public transportation. It wasn't just raunchy humor, but a reflection of how people actually approach the situation (at least it's close to how I would). The bit comes down to him explaining that you need to take a test fart at about 10-15% strength to see what kind of fart it is. It was really quite hilarious, and will always be the comedic bit I remember when his name is mentioned. Most people think of his 7 words you can't say on TV bit (which was giggle-rific for its time), but I'll always have the fart bit.

A great comedian has passed today. It's not often you find someone as interesting or truly funny as Carlin in today's comedic environment. Instead we're bombarded by the likes of Dane Cook and George Lopez and the no-talent hacks of SNL. Comparing Carlin to today's big names is quite the eye opener. They just don't make them like they used to...

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