George Carlin HBO Special

[Scott]

GEORGE CARLIN - Just picked up HBO recently for only $1 a month for 3 months with no obligation to continue in January, so I'm giving it a shot. Haven't seen George Carlin since I had HBO back in the mid-80's. He's looking a lot older now, but he's really on the mark and funny. This was a live broadcast of his latest HBO special. Great show.

[peter johnson]

Ah, George --
The single most mis-attributed quoteable on the Internet --
The one time Firesign Theatre was up for a comedy Emmy in '00, Carlin won instead.
I will never forgive him . . .
Of course he's looking older!!  The man is nearly 70 for God's sake!!
Let's all hope we do as well . . .
Love his riff on "stuff".
peter johnson/denny crane

[Ash]

I actually found it kinda boring and filled with negativity.
I've watched most of his HBO shows over the years and agree that he has done some truly hilarious stuff.  
I am very familiar with his type of humor but this latest performance struck me as being particularly negative...and not in a funny way.

Carlin likes to offend everybody, usually in a funny way that makes you laugh.  
In this most recent show, he just offends.

Sure, there were a few laughs here and there, but quite frankly, this time around, Carlin just came across to me as a nasty grumpy old man.

I found myself frowning 75% of the time instead of laughing.

Thumbs down.



(scott, you beat me to the punch on this thread, I was planning to write about it too)



Post Edited (11-08-05 02:22)

[Scott]

I thought he hit the mark on the subject of people and things in general a couple nights ago. You have to admit the world is one messed up place at this time.

[Mofo Rising]

I'm a huge George Carlin fan, as well as a fan of stand-up in general.  I had the chance to see him live a few years back, and it was one goddamn hilarious show.

I'll agree that his last two HBO specials have had him edging off the mark, though.

There's a thin line between comedian and social commentator.  I have no problem with somebody ranting against the evils and complacencies of society, or pointing out hard, uncomfortable truths, but the difference between being a comedian and a mere commentator is that the comedian has jokes, or at least the ability to make you laugh.  Making somebody laugh is its own thing, and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with subject matter.  It's an ability I hold in the highest regard.

In Carlin's last two specials, more noticeably in the latest one, he has slowly abandoned trying to make people laugh in favor of "social commentary".  That wouldn't be too bad, but heretofore he had being doing both with remarkable aplomb.

Don't get me wrong, I can have a very, very bleak sense of humor.  But there has to be a joke, otherwise it's just mean-spirited.

I don't know.  I was just beginning a mean case of food poisoning when I watched the special Saturday night.  That may have tinged my perceptions a bit.

[AndyC]

I agree. I love Carlin. He's one of my favourite comedians, but in recent years (since at least the early 90s), he's been noticeably crossing the line between poking fun and putting down. Rather than someone who points out the foolishness in an amusing way, he just seems to have a hate on for certain things.

[peter johnson]

Sort of like Lenny Bruce before he OD'd --
Toward the end, in his final San Francisco appearances, Bruce had abandoned all semblance of an act & simply read transcripts of his obscenity trials from the stage.
peter johnson/denny crane

[Flangepart]

Sad, realy.
But, i guess everybody starts to run down eventualy.

[The Burgomaster]

I have seen Carlin on HBO numersous times and I have seen him live in concert twice:

The first time was back around 1991 or 1992 and he was hilarious.  The second time was about 4 or 5 years ago and I was diappointed.  The first 75% of the show was pretty good, but then he went into a VERY long anti-religion tirade that was very personal and mostly serious . . . not much humor involved.  I could feel the audience getting restless and uncomfortable and I was waiting for a big punch-line that never came.  It was sort of like when Lenny Bruce got very preachy and personal toward the end of his career and his fans started to lose interest.

[Scott]

Where was Carlin when you saw the show Burgomaster. Boston?