While it hasn’t been confirmed by any of the big news outlets yet (Update at 1:21 am: It’s been confirmed), reports are surfacing that revolutionary comedy legend George Carlin has passed away at only 71 years of age from heart failure. Carlin’s long and successful career is extraordinary by any standards, as he began performing in the 1960s on The Ed Sullivan Show, and continued his remarkable career with various trademark routines, from the classic “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television”, to appearing at Carnegie Hall in the early 80s; from his more recent HBO specials, to winning a Grammy. Carlin’s genius was pretty much a fact, and only a few days ago it was announced that he would be receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in November. It should be noted he is only the 11th person to receive such an award.
Carlin, for me, was a legend and, unbeknownst to him of course, a mentor, thanks to his 1992 HBO special Jammin’ in New York. When I was only 11 years old, I memorized the entire album, word for word, the cadence almost exact — my specialty being his airplane routine, 15 minutes of pure hilarity for anyone who had ever been shuttled 30,000 feet into the air. The Collins household had very strict rules when company came over: Once dessert was finished, I would have to run upstairs and fetch my violin, with which to entertain the likely uncomfortable audience of my parents’ friends with various Mozart and Bach pieces I was working on. Once the sawing of my incessant broomery was complete, I would then win them over by launching into this Carlin Airplane routine, replete with all the eff words an 11-year-old could muster. Needless to say, I slayed. That Carlin routine would be my first foray into stand-up comedy, and yes, it was a sweet one.
So, in what has been a difficult year in celebrity deaths, let us raise our glasses to Mr. Carlin, a bonafide brilliant brain wrapped in a greying ponytail. Carlin was the best. If you’re not familiar with the man’s work, might we suggest you spend the rest of your day watching Carlin’s old routines on Youtube, and laughing along with a one of a kind whose void will likely never be filled. And if you need us to tell you that it’s pretty much all NSFW, then you have a lot to learn, kid.
After the jump, my favorite Carlin routine.
