A Tribute to George Carlin

Posted by Jerome Cusson on 06.23.2008

Words cannot describe the emotions of realizing I'll never be able to hear this crazy bastard perform live or on HBO. This is my tribute to one of the greatest comedians of all time. Please enjoy it.

The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating...

-George Carlin

It was only ten days ago that I wrote a tribute to Tim Russert, a true journalist and jovial man who loved what he did and brought a lot of heart to the heartless world of politics. Now I get to talk about someone that wasn't as easy to love. Yet, he should still be admired for his work as a comedian and one of the finest linguists I've ever had the pleasure of seeing live and in person.

The funniest part of Carlin dying is that he would probably hate the very idea of someone writing a tribute about him. But I feel the need to because of how often I find myself quoting myself. Not a day...for sure a week goes by without yours truly quoting Carlin. Some of my favorite quotes are about the people against abortion being people you wouldn't want to fuck anyway, his thoughts on reality television, and perhaps the most powerful quote of all. This is one that isn't funny to me, but it's become a philosophy of life for me.

Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself.

This is a quote that manages to contextualize my beliefs on religion. I know a lot of people will site him for essentially writing FCC rules on words you can't say on television. The mere fact "Seven Dirty Words" has its own wikipedia entry with details on these words and their different usages in a lot of mediums means that Carlin's impact goes beyond comedy clubs and movies.

Carlin began his life as a catholic, at least until the age of reason. But you would have to watch "Inside the Actor's Studio" to find out that Carlin loved the catholic school he went to because it allowed him a great deal of freedom. Carlin grew up in a racially integrated Harlem. Incredibly, Carlin was a member of the Air Force. After that adventure, Carlin would get his start as a disc jockey before becoming a relatively tame and mainstream comedian. He would perform on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show," where he introduced the world to Al Sleet, "the hippie-dippie weatherman."

In the 1970s, the George Carlin of the mainstream went away, to be replaced by a man who was unpredictable and increasingly angry about what he felt were the evils of American society. He began to dress in faded jeans and grew out his beard and hair. It was in 1972 where Carlin was arrested in Milwaukee for what would become the infamous act known as "Seven Dirty Words." Three years, later Carlin would host the first ever "Saturday Night Live." Despite being in existence since 1975, Carlin would never host the show ever again.

In the late 70s and 80s, Carlin suffered two heart attacks. He would continue to come with original acts such as "Places to Put my Stuff" and my personal favorite segment of all time "Airline Announcements." Here is the video. Please enjoy, especially if you've never seen Carlin perform.





In the last few years of his life, Carlin continued to perform live and appeared in a number of Kevin Smith films, including Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Dogma, and the movie he considered himself to have performed the best in, Jersey Girl.

The first time I ever witness Carlin's work was when I was a very young lad, no more than 10. No, my parents didn't let me listen to his albums or enjoy an HBO special. I watched him as Mr. Conductor on what was at that time a show I very much enjoyed, "Thomas and the Tank Engine." My parents always snickered at Carlin being Mr. Conductor, and it would be quite a number of years before I understood what they were laughing about. High school was when I started watching some of his specials on HBO. I also purchased a couple of books. From there I was hooked. I've seen all of his specials on DVD, HBO, and even YouTube.

I also had the pleasure of seeing Carlin live in the summer of 2004 at the Chicago Theatre. I've never gotten so much joy out of seeing a performance live then I did on that night. My stomach and face hurt from laughing so hard. I will never forget that night as long as I live. Even sadder, I already had my ticket to see Carlin this October back here in Chicago

On the one year anniversary of Chris Benoit, I just can't believe George Carlin is dead. To know that one of my favorite wrestlers and now my favorite comedians died one year apart. I will be reminded of Carlin everyday for the rest of 2008 as I own a calendar containing a quote of his everyday. I wish I had the linguistic abilities of Carlin because this tribute would come out a lot better than what you're reading. Of course Carlin swore a lot, but it's not swearing that makes you funny. It's performance combined with the ability to identify with your audience. This is why Carlin became so popular. This is why no other comedian with the possible exception of Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce have any business being mentioned in the same breath as Carlin.

Looking over these last few weeks and years, I see an incredible list of famous people that have had real impact dying. From Tim Russert to George Carlin to Stan Winston. I know how wonderful Winston and Russert are to those whose lives they touched. But for me, the Carlin death hurts the most. I can't say that he's now smiling from heaven because to say that would go against everything he seemed to believe. The only thing I hope is that if there is a God, he or she is willing to let Carlin in the door for at least keeping things on Earth just a little bit more fun and interesting.

George Carlin is dead at the age of 71. We will never replace him. No one could possibly do it. And really, if anyone tried, they'd just be a knockoff. To try and summarize his life in one sentence, even trying to conclude this piece is impossible. So I feel the words of Carlin are truly the only words that could possibly end this essay.

I wanna live. I don't wanna die. That's the whole meaning of life: Not dying! I figured that shit out by myself in the third grade.