# I used to like George Carlin until... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 29, 2001, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982 "2001-11-29T19:53:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BuddhaDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@BuddhaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuddhaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/1 "2001-11-29T19:53:16Z")
I was laying around the home and caught his new bit on HBO. I admit that I may have missed the first ten or fifteen minutes of his gig, but what I did witness was not very good. At all. It was awful. I can really only remember two segments, the rest being consiously blacked out from memory. One part I remember clearly was about ten minutes of fart jokes, jokes that are **not new** _or_ **funny**. Fart jokes!? Where has his high brow humour gone? Is this all he has left? Fart jokes stopped being funny when I entered **Jr.** High. This is how it started and I will leave the end to your imagination. It was ten minutes of "His fart was so smelly that…[include punch line here]. But I digress. This is not why I put this in the Pit. There is another segment towards the end of the show where he goes into his typical rant about things that _piss him off_. Anyone who has seen the show can back me up on this, and while I admit that I am paraphrasing what he said, it was damn close to what you are about to read. And when I say paraphrasing, it means I am leaving some of the cuss words out - not putting them in. So the bit starts with him listing the things that _piss him off_. Fine. It’s old, he’s done it before (like a million times) but it can be funny nonetheless. Boy was I wrong. He starts in on answering machines. Okay, yes they can be a little annoying at times - ha ha - I get your point, move on to the next topic. But no, he pushes it a little further and says that it annoys him even more when the answering machine message “Hi were not in right now etc etc” is done using the voice of the young child who lives in house. Right, I nod in agreement, yeah, whatever George, sure, and then he says something to the point of how (and remember I am paraphrasing here) Uncle George is going to come over and stick his _who-ha_ into the childs _beep_ (_beep_ said like it was to sound like the beep at the end of an answering machine _and_ the _beep_ of a censor). WTF!? And the crowd goes ape shit for this!! THIS IS COMEDY? Talking about pedophilia and saying how he is going to fuck an eight year old girl is funny? George, George, George. I am sorry my boy but that is downright disgusting. This is not funny. Repeat this with me George, not. N-O-T. not NOT **NOT** funny. Not even a little. Maybe youve spent your whole life in and out of comedy circles and after hearing and telling zillions of jokes your whole life you have lost perspective, but I’ll betcha dollars to donuts you have other people write your shit and you decide what to keep and what to toss out. WHAT THE FUCK ever made you think that this was funny? I don’t get it. Maybe I am the one being prudish and if someone else can explain it I’ll gladly back down off my soapbox but I have to say it again, "_What in fucks fuck where you fucking thinking you fuck fucker?_ I’ve got a big fucking hunch you know the answer. Somebody actually had the fucking nerve to fuckin’ tell you that this bullshit was funny? Only satan knows. And the fucking fact that the fucking audience thought so too makes my stupid ass think that I am missing something, but NO, I dont think so god-damn, I think that you and your hemorrhoids have a pensity to push the fucking envelope and this time you went to fuckin’ far without realizing that _joke_ is a piece of shit. Just because you are one goddamn piece of shit, and a few other god-damn pervs in cell block 7 think its GOOD material dont make that piece of shit joke so god-damn good, does it!? Really, I just want to add, fuckin’ what were you and your jive council thinking? I say again: you are a fuckmonster. And why did other people think that this bullshit is funny, too? Motherfuck. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/2 "2001-11-29T20:01:35Z")
I’d just like to comment: fucking fuck fuck fuckety fuck, and the fucking fuck you fucked in on. ---
**Author:** ![saepiroth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@saepiroth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saepiroth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/3 "2001-11-29T20:05:44Z")
i know. i watched some of that, and really, all i had was pity. he’s totally lost the touch. didn’t he have some major traumatic event recently and for a good while just didn’t care about much of anything? ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/4 "2001-11-29T20:13:35Z")
I saw that show and I really couldn’t believe my ears when he said what he’d like to do with the kid. It was one of those things that didn’t even shock me because I truly couldn’t process it. Now I’m shocked. ---
**Author:** ![cheezit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@cheezit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheezit)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/5 "2001-11-29T20:30:27Z")
I watched the whole show and I knew it was going to be pretty bad when the first joke he did went something like…“You know what ya don’t hear much about anymore? Pussy farts.” Went downhill from there. I agree, He’s lost his touch. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/6 "2001-11-29T20:38:31Z")
Okay, this is coming from a biased perspective, because I consider George Carlin kind of an un-official mentor to me. He was the reason I got into stand-up. When I see his specials, I have to think of something that Stephen King said about himself and Robin Yount (King’s first novel was published the year the Yount made his major league baseball debut). > [@](#): > > When the Brewers won the pennant in 1982, Robin Yount was playing shortstop. Now he’s in center field. I suppose that means he’s slowed down a little…but he still catches almost everything that’s hit in his direction. > That will do for me. That will do just fine. I laughed at Carlin’s joke. It was funny. Part of humor comes from taking the audience someplace that they wouldn’t necessarily go on their own. The obvious is never as funny as the unexpected. And whether you found it funny or not, you have to admit that that’s not where your mind was going. Have Carlin’s skills diminished? Yeah, a little. But he’s still catching just about everything that’s hit in his direction. I don’t expect to change anyone’s opinion, but I’d like to think that people shouldn’t take things so seriously. Yes, it was a horrible thought. But horrible things happen to good people every single day. Laughter is stress-relief. Ever heard the phrase “it’s either laugh or go crazy?” And if we can make a joke about it, then we (the comedians) have done our job. I guess you all were unaware that Carlin once said that he could prove rape was funny. Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd. Redirection. Going someplace the audience wasn’t thinking. And it works. Yeah, maybe he missed the mark on his answering machine joke. But, you gotta admit, even if the Stones’ songs aren’t as great as they used to be, watching them in concert’s still a blast. ---
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/7 "2001-11-29T20:41:52Z")
IMHO, “A Place For My Stuff” had a few glimmers of humor in it. After that, nothing. For the last 15 years or so George Carlin has been not much more than a dirty old guy with a potty mouth. I wrote him off a long time ago and just listened to “FM and AM” and “Occupation: Foole.” I didn’t even bother to tune in for his new special. What you guys are saying just confirms my feelings; he’s lost it. He should stick to shepherding Bill and Ted around. Zap! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/8 "2001-11-29T20:56:48Z")
My sister gave me his new book—I think she’s still nostalgic for when he was a funny young hippie. There was some hit-and-miss humor in there, but then I’d come across something like (I am paraphrasing, but not by much), “You know what would be really neat? To have sex with a grieving widow.” WTF? ---
**Author:** ![More\_Cowbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@More\_Cowbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/More_Cowbell)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/10 "2001-11-29T22:14:44Z")
Very very disturbing indeed. The part where he went on about kids on christmas cards and then so casually mentioned through his bitching about having the 10 year old girl send a picture of her breasts to him. I could hardly believe it until the phone bit about having sex with the child. He may have been very funny and cutting edge at one time, now he’s just down right creepy. ---
**Author:** ![SylverOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/11 "2001-11-29T22:31:03Z")
Thunderbug wrote: > [@](#): > > He may have been very funny and cutting edge at one time, now he’s just down right creepy. My sentiments exactly. I used to love watching and listening to him. I have some of his old vinyl comedy albums… _Seven words you can’t say on television_ and _Urinals are 50% universal_ are a couple that come to mind. But lately (in about the last 10 years) he has really gone downhill. That HBO episode just confirms the fact. And he’s starting to look like the stereotypical **perverted dirty old man** too! :eek: Syl ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/12 "2001-11-29T22:45:44Z")
I believe he got mean after his wife died. His last 3-4 specials were downright sadistic. In this last special, I’m guessing he was trying to get back to his glory days of talking about petty bullshit we all run into on a daily basis. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. If you want classic Carlin, check out his box set of the Little David Records days. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/13 "2001-11-29T22:53:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Superdude \* > \*\*Okay, this is coming from a biased perspective, because I consider George Carlin kind of an un-official mentor to me. He was the reason I got into stand-up. \*\* Ditto, and ditto ( I haven’t been a comic for years, but I was once, and I was good.) Anyway, George was my hero. But he’s gotten really, really lazy. Or he’s just burned out. I eagerly switched it on the night it debuted, and 15 minutes into it I was doing dishes. Even though I worshipped him for years, starting in 1970, I never, ever liked his potty mouth stuff or his absurdist stuff. But when he decides to do topical commentary, there’s nobody better. (It helps that I agree with virtually every word he utters.) But never count him out…there was a period in the mid-late 80’s when he was just as bad, and he bounced back. Ya never know… stoid ---
**Author:** ![Hibbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ce73a5/32.png) [@Hibbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hibbins)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/14 "2001-11-30T16:04:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Somebody actually had the fucking nerve to fuckin’ tell you that this bullshit was funny? Only satan knows. And he ain’t talking 'cause he was banned. :eek: I agree, the material was bad. I think Carlin’s better days are behind him. In the “good ole days” of George he was shocking **and** funny. Now a lot of the humor is missing and the shock value has increasingly diminished with each repetition. ---
**Author:** ![BuddhaDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@BuddhaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuddhaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/15 "2001-11-30T19:57:43Z")
Some of my friends look at Carlin like he is some sort of icon in American comedy, and everything he says is funny and true. For this reason alone I watched this episode of shinanigans the other day and I was floored by his _unfunniness_. It seems to me he is sticking to the same ol schtick that worked for him 30 yrs ago or whatever, but I say its time to move on and do something else. After witnessing this last episode I guarantee you that I will never think that he is funny again (like he cares). For someone as _hip_ as he thinks he is I believe that he has truly lost touch. ---
**Author:** ![NutWrench](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nutwrench/32/20193_2.png) [@NutWrench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutWrench)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/16 "2001-11-30T22:36:39Z")
I guess it’s official: _Jammin in New York_ was not funny. I think part of the reason he isn’t as funny as he used to be is because thanks to him, any stand-up comic can now say the ‘Seven dirty words’ or talk about abortion, religion or politics without being banned or arrested. ---
**Author:** ![dietrologia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@dietrologia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dietrologia)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/17 "2001-11-30T22:45:59Z")
Carlin’s bit years ago about how the rape of an 80-year old woman can be a funny subject… …that’s when I thought he was no longer insightful, just fucked in the head. ---
**Author:** ![tradesilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tradesilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tradesilicon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/18 "2001-11-30T23:03:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoid \* > I haven’t been a comic for years, but I was once, and I was good.) And you’re still good! Some of the stuff you write on the boards is heee-larious! [sub](this explains a lot about all that stuff you say in the political debates - I knew you weren’t serious about most if that) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2001, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-george-carlin-until/95982/19 "2001-12-01T02:59:36Z")
I used to like George Carlin until about ten years ago.