I just finished listening to all 22 George Carlin albums in chronological order

Cafe Society
21

His work in the Bill and Ted movies has not been mentioned, and probably was not a career highlight from his perspective either.

Can I take this chance to ask the OP [heroic effort by the way] and others whether it was George Carlin doing a skit i heard only part of on a radio show some time last century?

It was something about scripture/bible class and testing the absolute boundaries of what the teacher was saying in the ultra-obsessive way teenage boys often do. The teacher said you had a finite time betwen committing a sin and going to confession, so the students created elaborate scenarios, like if you were within that time but crossed the International Date Line and all of a sudden lost a day, would you go to hell, and so on.

Hilariously funny at the time, but now I’m worried it will never be as good as I remembered it, and I’ve turned another golden memory to the base metal of reality.

22

I might, just out of curiosity. I was never a huge Cosby fan, though, so that would be more of a chore.

Maybe I’ll see if they’re on Spotify.

Nope, that isn’t George. At least not from any of his albums or anything else I’ve heard from him.
mmm

23

I think “The Two Minute Warning” is one of his most unique. Just as in football, before you die you should get a two-minute warning. “Two minutes, get your shit together.” “What, now? Here on the freeway?” “Mm-hm…”

24

It’s from Class Clown, not sure which of the tracks on Side Two.
That one was if you had meat on Friday in Lent accidentally and then crossed the International Date Line was it still a sin.
His version much more elaborate and funny.

25

I love that bit, especially the punchline. “Give a 2 minute speech and at the end state ‘if I am full of shit, then may God strike me dead’”

Most of his material I am familiar with were his HBO specials in the 80s & 90s. I should get bold this weekend and try to find/watch them all, there are like 11 or 12 of them I think, I recall reading that he held the record for most televised stand-up specials.

26

I liked his mid-career best, and absolutely could not stand his later angry old man rants. Not funny in the least.

27

Many thanks. I’ll hunt it down when I get a chance.

28

Cosby has, I see, more than 20 albums on Spotify. I did listen to his first (well, most of it) yesterday and decided that was enough.

Not particularly funny despite the title (“Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow”).

I know it’s his first, so I’ll give a listen to a later random, peak of career album when I get a chance.
mmm

29

I’ll disagree in the early-mid Carlin.

I think the earlier stuff is better and Occupation: Foole (it’s the E at the end that makes it) is unlistenable. He’s so obviously coked out of his mind, especially on Seven Words, that it’s unlistenable to me. It rambles, it makes references to things that make sense only in Carlin’s head. It’s not funny, it’s painful.

And I still can listen to Cosby’s “…is a Funny Guy Right”. He was. I still like Stranglehold, even though were Ted Nugent in front of my car I wouldn’t hit the brakes, so to speak.

30

That had the Noah story on it, didn’t it? I’m surprised you didn’t like it.

31

IMHO his best album. (Note: actual title Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow…Right!)

How long can you tread water?

But I’ll never listen to it again.

32

^^This. My mom had all of his albums and I grew up listening to them. I bought CDs of my favorites and they’re still here somewhere; the tracks have been copied to iTunes, of course.

33

Cosby’s alleged criminal behavior has Zero to do with why I didn’t care for the album.

Yes, there are 3 or 4 Noah bits. It was mildly amusing, but not something I would recommend to others.

I remember liking, years ago, his dentist bit. Not sure which album that one is on.
mmm

34

Himself, which also has, IMO, the single funniest sequence he’s ever done - Brain Damage, Kill the Boy, and Chocolate Cake For Breakfast.

35

I agree with you. For a while his specials followed a formula. Part of it would be an exploration of the oddities of human existence. Like his bit about stuff. Part would be a rapid fire routine that was more beat poetry than comedy. Then rest would be a rant in which he was looking for clapter rather than laughs. I hate clapter. As he got older the funny bits got less funny and the rants got less entertaining. But the audience choir he was preaching to clapped.

I am as far from a hippie as possible but I thought in his prime there was no one better. He was much different than most comics now. His sets were extremely scripted. By the time a special got to HBO there was not a word out of place.

36

I was young but my parents took me to see him on this tour before the movie came out. It still may be the hardest I’ve laughed in my life. Too bad that memory is tarnished now.

37

I think one of his best is the Burns & Carlin Playboy album. I also especially love “Jammin’ in NY” and “You Are All Diseased”

I saw him live twice, towards his end, and it wasn’t funny. I like someone angry, but George repeated the introductions of 2 specials in a row, and just kept saying how much he loved people dying and things blowing up, without the humor.

I’m just soooo glad Mort Sahl at 91, who does a live show on Periscope (with house audience), while embittered, is still funny and truthful.

38

Remember the 60’s TV series That Girl, starring Marlo Thomas? Co-creator Bill Persky told me they cast George Carlin as Marlo’s first agent. In Bill’s words,“…[Carlin] was the most uptight, straight-laced person in the world – just the most conservative guy. And then one day he didn’t show up for work. He disappeared for a year and a half, and nobody knew where he was. He came back as the George Carlin he went on to be.”

39

I saw him live on Campus in the 1990s. Carlin was a brilliant thinker, social critic, and one very funny guy. Some of this quotes to this day ring true.

40

Yes, I believe I’ve heard an interview where George Carlin talked about this time. He said, “At one point I realized, I wasn’t in my own act.” So he went away and re-thought the whole thing, tapped into the counter-culture, and was able to come back as himself and develop into the comedian we remember fondly.

So true. Celebrities that have died that I miss to this day:

  • George Carlin - really a national treasure
  • Roger Ebert - as much for his twitter and social essays as movie reviews
  • Anthony Bourdain - still can’t watch his show at this point