George Carlin – A Great Genius of Comedy

            George Denis Patrick Carlin was born in New York City on May 12, 1937. He was a famous American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, author, and in my opinion a great genius and philosopher. With Lenny Bruce, George Carlin was the pioneer of the social critic humor, which made ​​him famous and at the same time made him being arrested several times while acting in the seventies.

            Carlin was noted for his black humor as well as his thoughts on politics, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects. Although raised in the Roman Catholic faith, Carlin was an atheist and a staunch critic of religion that defended secular values. He pointed out the flaws of organized religion in interviews and performances.

Language was a frequent focus of Carlin's work. Euphemisms that in his view seek to distort and lie and the use of language he felt was pompous, presumptuous, or silly were often the target of Carlin's routines. Carlin also gave special attention to prominent topics in American and Western Culture, such as obsession with fame and celebrity, consumerism, Christianity, political alienation, corporate control, hypocrisy, child raising, fast food diet, news stations, self-help publications, blind patriotism, sexual taboos, certain uses of technology and surveillance, and the pro-life position, among many others.

''Seven Dirty Words'' is one of the most famous and polemic comedy routines of George Carlin. The ''Seven Dirty Words'' are seven English-language words that George Carlin first listed in 1972 in his monologue "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television". At the time, the words were considered highly inappropriate and unsuitable for broadcast on the public airwaves in the United States, whether radio or television. As such, they were avoided in scripted material, and bleep-censored in the rare cases in which they were used. The list wasn't an official enumeration of forbidden words, but rather was compiled by Carlin. The original seven words were: shit; piss; fuck; cunt; cocksucker; motherfucker; and tits. Carlin and his "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine were central to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1978 that in a narrow decision by the justices affirmed the government's power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves. In recent years, all of the words on Carlin's list have come into commonplace usage in many sitcoms and film productions.

George Carlin had a history of cardiac problems spanning several decades. In early 2005 he entered a drug rehabilitation facility for treatment of addictions to alcohol and Vicodin. On June 22, 2008, Carlin was admitted to Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica after experiencing chest pain, and he died later that day of heart failure. He was 71 years old. His death occurred one week after his last performance at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In accordance with his wishes, he was cremated, his ashes scattered, and no public or religious services of any kind were held.

During his long and successful career George Carlin appeared in several films and TV series. He has also voiced animated films like ''Cars'' and ''Happily N'Ever After''. He starred fourteen stand-up comedy specials for HBO. The first one was filmed in 1977 and his final HBO special, ‘’It's Bad for Ya’’, was filmed less than four months before his death.

George Carlin won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums. In 2004, Carlin placed second on the Comedy Central list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time, ahead of Lenny Bruce and behind Richard Pryor. In 2008, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which made him the first posthumous recipient.

Some Quotes from George Carlin

‘Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.’

‘Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.’

‘So I say, “Live and let live.” That’s my motto. “Live and let live.”

‘By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.’

‘I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.’

‘I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.’

‘Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.’

‘People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think.’

‘The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answers I accept.’

‘There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.’

Curiosities about George Carlin

-       Carlin didn't vote and often criticized elections as an illusion of choice. He said he last voted for George McGovern, who ran for President against Richard Nixon in 1972.

-       Carlin openly communicated in his shows and in his interviews that his purpose for existence was entertainment, that he was "here for the show’’. He used to say: "I have always been willing to put myself at great personal risk for the sake of entertainment. And I've always been willing to put you at great personal risk, for the same reason!"