George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor, and author.
George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor, and author. ◦ He was known for his dark comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and taboo subjects. ◦ Carlin's parents separated when he was two months old because his father was an alcoholic who, according to Carlin, was "never around"; his mother raised him and his brother on her own, and his father died when Carlin was eight years old. ◦ He grew up in the rough Morningside Heights section of New York City with a Catholic upbringing. ◦ Carlin was present at Lenny Bruce's arrest for obscenity at the Gate of Horn club in Chicago on December 5, 1962, and when police asked Carlin for identification, he responded that he did not believe in government-issued IDs, and was arrested and taken to jail with Bruce in the same vehicle. ◦ In 1970, Carlin changed his routines and his appearance: he grew his hair long, sported a beard and earrings, and typically dressed in T-shirts and blue jeans, losing TV bookings at a time when clean-cut, well-dressed comedians were the norm. ◦ His manager later said Carlin's income declined by 90 percent but his later career arc was greatly improved. ◦ He won five Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album and recorded 14 one-man HBO specials over his career. ◦ It's Bad for Ya was his final comedy special, filmed less than four months before his death from cardiac failure. ◦ Carlin's drug use became so heavy in the mid-1970s that it affected his health and his career, and he had a heart attack in 1978. ◦ In the early 1980s, after kicking his drug habit, he revived his career. ◦
Carlin saw the stand-up comic as a social commentator, rebel, and truth teller, challenging conventional wisdom and tweaking the hypocrisies of middle-class America. ◦ He argued his intention with the seven words was not just to shock but to question our irrational fear of language. ◦ Carlin made a personal target of euphemisms, which he called "that soft language that takes the life out of life" and hides the fact that people are getting royally screwed over. ◦ Beneath the darkest material lay a disappointed idealist. ◦ He said, "People are just wonderful as individuals. You can see the whole universe in their eyes if you look carefully" - but, as he went on to explain, in groups people shed their individuality and often lose their innate capacity to be honest, decent, and square with each other. ◦ He said, "I sort of gave up on the human race," which gave him a lot of freedom from a distant platform to watch the whole thing with a combination of wonder and pity. ◦ He said, "I sort of gave up on this whole human adventure a long time ago," and he thought the human race had squandered its gift, that this country had squandered its promise, and that people in America sold out very cheaply, for sneakers and cheeseburgers, and he did not think it was fixable. ◦
When police asked Carlin for identification at Lenny Bruce's arrest, he responded that he did not believe in government-issued IDs, and was arrested and taken to jail with Bruce in the same vehicle. ◦ In 1970, he changed his routines and his appearance, losing TV bookings at a time when clean-cut, well-dressed comedians were the norm, and his income declined by 90 percent. ◦ On July 21, 1972, he was arrested for performing the "seven dirty words" routine at Milwaukee's Summerfest. ◦ His drug use became so heavy in the mid-1970s that it affected his health and his career, but in the early 1980s, after kicking his drug habit, he revived his career. ◦ His material grew increasingly dark in later years. ◦ He explained his comedic method: "People bring these amorphous things called values to the theater, and I like to find out where their line may be and deliberately cross it ... and make them glad they came." ◦
Carlin argued his intention with the seven words was not just to shock but to question our irrational fear of language. ◦ He pointed out the social uses of euphemism, asking when toilet paper became "bathroom tissue" and when house trailers became "mobile homes." ◦ He traced "shell shock" from its post-WWI origins to its modern form "posttraumatic stress disorder," concluding that veterans might be looked after better if the condition were still called shell shock. ◦ He said, "People are just wonderful as individuals. You can see the whole universe in their eyes if you look carefully" - but, as he went on to explain, in groups people shed their individuality and often lose their innate capacity to be honest, decent, and square with each other. ◦ He said, "I sort of gave up on the human race," which gave him a lot of freedom from a distant platform to watch the whole thing with a combination of wonder and pity. ◦ He thought the human race had squandered its gift, that this country had squandered its promise, and that people in America sold out very cheaply, for sneakers and cheeseburgers, and he did not think it was fixable. ◦
Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor, and author known for reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and taboo subjects. ◦ He perfected the "seven dirty words" routine, which appears on Class Clown. ◦ He idolized Lenny Bruce, who helped him get his first agent and whom he saw as a social commentator, rebel, and truth teller. ◦ He won five Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album. ◦
Carlin was known for dark comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and taboo subjects. ◦ Fuzzy language and fuzzy thinking were among his favorite topics. ◦ He marveled at oxymorons like "jumbo shrimp" and "military intelligence," and pointed out the social uses of euphemism. ◦ He took on all taboos, even God. ◦ He traced "shell shock" from its post-WWI origins to its modern form "posttraumatic stress disorder," concluding that veterans might be looked after better if the condition were still called shell shock. ◦ His later 1990s material railed against everything from the environmental movement to the middle-class obsession with golf, and he remained perceptive on the cliches and buzzwords of the era. ◦
Beneath the darkest material lay a disappointed idealist. ◦ He said, "People are just wonderful as individuals. You can see the whole universe in their eyes if you look carefully." ◦ Yet he also said, "I sort of gave up on the human race." ◦ Carlin's drug use became so heavy in the mid-1970s that it affected his health and his career, and he admitted years later, "I really wasn't being as creative... I lost years." ◦ In 1970, his manager later said Carlin's income declined by 90 percent but his later career arc was greatly improved. ◦
Carlin saw the stand-up comic as a social commentator, rebel, and truth teller, challenging conventional wisdom and tweaking the hypocrisies of middle-class America. ◦ He explained, "People bring these amorphous things called values to the theater, and I like to find out where their line may be and deliberately cross it ... and make them glad they came." ◦