Legendary Comedian George Carlin Dies at 71

[Zoneboy]

Link

LOS ANGELES -- Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.

Carlin, who had a history of heart and drug-dependency problems, died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters.

Known for his edgy, provocative material, Carlin achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits full of drug references and a routine called "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television." A regulatory battle over a radio broadcast of the routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the 1978 case, Federal Communications Commission vs. Pacifica Foundation, the top U.S. court ruled that the words cited in Carlin's routine were indecent, and that the government's broadcast regulator could ban them from being aired at times when children might be listening.

Carlin's comedic sensibility often came back to a central theme: humanity is doomed.

"I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas," he told Reuters in a 2001 interview.

Carlin, who wrote several books and performed in many television comedy specials, is survived by his wife Sally Wade, and daughter Kelly Carlin McCall.

[Zoneboy]

Another voice from The Simpsons is now silent.

George

[TJL]

Oh my god.

I loved this man.

I grew up watching his HBO specials. I had the privilage of seeing him perform once.. After Lenny Bruce, Carlin took up the whole idea of pushing the envelope; he was never afraid of saying what he wanted to say.

The man was a legend. I cannot say enough about him.

[dawsongirl]

Aww...yeah, he could be a little dirty, but he was an honest and funny guy. Comedians like that now are hard to find. Such sad news.

[Cactus Jack]

Oh wow RIP

[Chelsea]

This is just sad, sad news. RIP.

In honor of the man, I present some of Mr. Carlin's various musings (well, some of the ones safe to reprint here, anyway)

2. When cheese gets it's picture taken, what does it say?
3. When someone asks you, A penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?
4. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?
5. When someone is impatient and says, "I haven't got all day," I always wonder, How can that be? How can you not have all day?
6. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered, what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?
7. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
8. Is a vegetarian permitted to eat animal crackers?
9. What if there were no hypothetical questions?
10. Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
11. Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
13. Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?
14. Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
15. Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread to begin with.
16. I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.
17. May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
18. Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
19. If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
20. I think it would be interesting if old people got anti-Alzheimer's disease where they slowly began to recover other people's lost memories.
21. Electricity is really just organized lightning.
22. Women like silent men, they think they're listening.
23. "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
24. Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it.
25. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
26. Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?
27. Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
28. I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.
29. Why is the man (or woman) who invests all your money called a broker?
30. I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
31. There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.
32. At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.
33. As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything.
34. The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.
35. Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.
36. Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
37. I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

[dawsongirl]

Originally Posted by Seth

This is just sad, sad news. RIP.

In honor of the man, I present some of Mr. Carlin's various musings (well, some of the ones safe to reprint here, anyway)

2. When cheese gets it's picture taken, what does it say?
3. When someone asks you, A penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?
4. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?
5. When someone is impatient and says, "I haven't got all day," I always wonder, How can that be? How can you not have all day?
6. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered, what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?
7. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
8. Is a vegetarian permitted to eat animal crackers?
9. What if there were no hypothetical questions?
10. Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
11. Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
13. Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?
14. Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
15. Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread to begin with.
16. I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.
17. May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
18. Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
19. If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
20. I think it would be interesting if old people got anti-Alzheimer's disease where they slowly began to recover other people's lost memories.
21. Electricity is really just organized lightning.
22. Women like silent men, they think they're listening.
23. "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
24. Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it.
25. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
26. Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?
27. Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
28. I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.
29. Why is the man (or woman) who invests all your money called a broker?
30. I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
31. There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.
32. At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.
33. As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything.
34. The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.
35. Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.
36. Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
37. I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

Good stuff.

[Cactus Jack]

Originally Posted by Seth

This is just sad, sad news. RIP.

In honor of the man, I present some of Mr. Carlin's various musings (well, some of the ones safe to reprint here, anyway)

2. When cheese gets it's picture taken, what does it say?
3. When someone asks you, A penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?
4. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?
5. When someone is impatient and says, "I haven't got all day," I always wonder, How can that be? How can you not have all day?
6. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered, what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?
7. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
8. Is a vegetarian permitted to eat animal crackers?
9. What if there were no hypothetical questions?
10. Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
11. Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
13. Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?
14. Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
15. Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread to begin with.
16. I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.
17. May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
18. Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
19. If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
20. I think it would be interesting if old people got anti-Alzheimer's disease where they slowly began to recover other people's lost memories.
21. Electricity is really just organized lightning.
22. Women like silent men, they think they're listening.
23. "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
24. Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it.
25. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
26. Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?
27. Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
28. I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.
29. Why is the man (or woman) who invests all your money called a broker?
30. I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
31. There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.
32. At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.
33. As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything.
34. The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.
35. Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.
36. Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
37. I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

May he

[TJL]

^ Good stuff Seth.

My favorite Carlin quote is this:

Did you ever fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon, and then you wake up later and it's dark out, and you have no idea what God damn day it is?

[HuntingtonM15]

[Yooch]

RIP to a very funny man.

(I just wanted to add that, regardless as to whether people agreed with all his views or not, it has to be admitted that 1) He was a gifted comedian who loved his life's work. 2) He had no pretense about him. 3) He was an astute cultural critic and keen observer of human nature. 4) For many, including me, his material is 'laugh out loud' funny.

Off the record, from what I gather from family and close friends, privately George Carlin was an extremely generous and empathetic person who never put on any airs whatsoever.)

[AKA]

Almost ten years ago, in September of 1998, two friends and I went to see George Carlin perform stand-up at Spokane Opera House.

He was getting ready to film You Are All Diseased (which, in my opinion, was his last great HBO special). And I bought an inappropriate t-shirt and even more inappropriate poster at the event.

That I'm not much of a "seven words you can't say on television" kind of guy anymore doesn't disqualify me from mourning his passing. The soft spot in my heart for his comedic genius has never waned. His ability to take something as simple as clipping one's toenails and making it hilariously funny is irreplaceable.

[Chelsea]

http://www.youtube.com/profile_play_...r=DiavoloDiAno
Nearly all of his specials, plus several albums and more.

[OH Nuts!]

We've lot a great comedian. What a perfect choice he was to start off as the first host on Saturday Night Live. Still can't believe it.

l

[Mr. Television]

Wow...I'm in shock..