since i don't know what to say

[ediblemonster]

George Carlin: American Radical
by Greg Nichols (www.The Nation.com)

I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately. -- George Carlin.The last vote that George Carlin said he cast in a presidential race was for George McGovern in 1972

Comments

[jessreuter]

Thanks so much for this. I've been so upset about it all day I haven't even wanted to talk about it. Kinda silly since I never met him, huh?

Great article - I love The Nation.

[ediblemonster]

thanks, jessica. i posted this because, honestly, i can't even gather my thoughts on george yet. you don't have to have met the guy for his work to have affected your life. his words are the closest thing i've ever had to religion anyway, so his sudden silence has been deafening. if you know what i mean ;-)

[_jeremiad]

I've never heard anything by him.

[ediblemonster]

george carlin was to the english language what john coltrane was to the saxophone. what the man did with words was brilliant.

[_jeremiad]

I'd have to listen to him.

That whole quote about finding the line and crossing it is throwing up red flags for me because some things, no matter what folks say, really aren't funny.

[ediblemonster]

indeed. george's material wasn't about shock like so many comics who have come after him, which goes a long way with me in terms of the words and language he used. in fact, i would say a lot of his act centered around the power we give to words, among other things. fascinated by entropy, he was a keen observer of human behavior, and had a very original way of expressing his views.