tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9908604.post8732040578191672077..comments2024-03-01T00:27:42.852-08:00Comments on Hammer Of The Blogs: Jesus Brings the Pork ChopsHeywood J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05627748699423939682noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9908604.post-7652596710264471402008-06-27T05:56:00.000-07:002008-06-27T05:56:00.000-07:00Oh, yeah, I remember an interview he did in The Pr...Oh, yeah, I remember an interview he did in <I>The Progressive</I> probably about ten years ago, where the writer asked him about the reactions he got to his scathing attacks on religion, and I remember George saying something to the effect of how he liked to get that stuff right out of the way in his shows to flush out all the well-I-never!-types, so that he and the true audience could get down to having some fun. He said something about waiting to hear those auditorium doors start banging open as people storm out in a huff, and I just loved it.<BR/><BR/>The guy also asked him about people accusing him of being "bigoted" against religion, and that was actually the first time I ever heard someone just eloquently steamroll that shit by pointing out that you're not born believing this mythology, it's a choice, and it's also a choice to keep believing it against all evidence to the contrary, so if you don't like being called an idiot, quit believing in idiotic things, and if you don't want to do that, go fuck yourself. I recall just cracking up right there at the magazine rack in Barnes & Noble, so happy that someone had finally refused to back down to that intimidation.<BR/><BR/>And Dennis Perrin also had <A HREF="http://dennisperrin.blogspot.com/2008/06/sinical.html" REL="nofollow">a good post</A> about him; this part parallels what you're saying: <I>The great comedy writer George Meyer once observed, "If people think you’re coming from a place of smugness or viciousness, it won’t be as funny to them . . . George Carlin gets away with murder in his stand-up, because people sense that he’s honestly hurt that the world isn’t a saner place." </I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9908604.post-34407850373152353072008-06-26T17:03:00.000-07:002008-06-26T17:03:00.000-07:00I hadn't seen that, thanks for the link. I like Lo...I hadn't seen that, thanks for the link. I like Louis C.K.'s standup a lot; unfortunately, his HBO show was a mess. Great tribute though. It's good to see the fan come out in people who are established in their own right.<BR/><BR/>And you're right about Carlin not being "funny" per se; it was never about jokes. That's the hidden irony of the public misanthrope -- the whole act may revolve around how stupid and apathetic everyone else is (ahem), but if there weren't at least a subliminal nugget of, I dunno, hope, sympathy, the primal urge to start up a food fight or just fuck with people, they'd keep it to themselves. Frank Zappa was another guy like that, a virtuosic purveyor of bemused contempt (or is it contemptuous bemusement?).<BR/><BR/>The main thing was the fearlessness. Everyone's afraid of being blackballed or marginalized, and Carlin's not-so-secret weapon was that he just didn't give a shit. Because anyone who would marginalize him, why would he want their respect anyway? They'll try to eulogize him as some sort of lovable, harmless curmudgeon, but fortunately he was prolific enough to set the record straight.Heywood J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05627748699423939682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9908604.post-69314375057687710592008-06-25T12:50:00.000-07:002008-06-25T12:50:00.000-07:00You might have seen Louis C.K.'s tribute to him; i...You might have seen Louis C.K.'s <A HREF="http://www.louisck.net/2008/06/goodbye-george-carlin.html" REL="nofollow">tribute</A> to him; it's pretty good. I also loved him for his complete fearlessness; it was so inspiring to see this little old guy get up there and simply give no fucks.<BR/><BR/>He wasn't really <I>funny</I> to me, not in a side-splitting way - seeing his shows would make me smirk appreciatively rather than laugh out loud, but his observations had enough substance to keep them in my mind for a long time. It was more like hearing a plain-spoken, irascible, entertaining philosopher than a funnyman per se. Which is just fine with me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com