When I was about 12 or 13 years old, my parents decided to take me to a George Carlin concert. They called the venue ahead of time to see if I was allowed to go. I think the person on the other end of the phone asked my Dad if he was aware of Carlin's material, and that it wasn't exactly kid-friendly. My Dad said something like "It's nothing he hasn't heard before; we own all of George Carlin's records." The only joke I still remember from the concert (because it wasn't on any of the records we owned) was "Did you ever notice that the kind of women who are against abortion are women you wouldn't want to fuck anyway?" He perfected the observational question as joke; Seinfeld neutered and marketed it.
Last week I decided that I'm going to play the seven words you can't say on television bit for Alexis' daughter. Partly because I think he is, sorry, was a genius, and changed comedy, humor, and society irrevocably, partly because I think his love of, and precise use of language will appeal to her, and partly because it's interesting to me that the bit isn't true any more. About ten years ago Grampa Simpson said 'I'm full of piss and vinegar! I used to just be full of vinegar.' That blew my mind--Grampa said one of the seven words! Then south park said 'shit' over a hundred times in one episode, and made fun of the fact that it didn't seem like a swear anymore; that probably doesn't really count, because it's cable, but it's a start. I think 'tits' is probably next--as Carlin said, it's such a cute, harmless sounding word, like a snack food brand name. But it'll have to be said idiomatically first, like some color commentator on the x games saying 'that 360 fakie was the tits!'
I don't know that any one can pick up the baton from Carlin; he grabbed it from Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor held the other end of it; Bill Hicks held onto it for a moment before falling--Denis Leary looked at it but decided to collect a paycheck instead. The next great groundbreaking comic will probably be a woman, or gay, or both. S/he'll need to be really great to be compared to George Carlin, and no one compares today, not yet.
Last week I decided that I'm going to play the seven words you can't say on television bit for Alexis' daughter. Partly because I think he is, sorry, was a genius, and changed comedy, humor, and society irrevocably, partly because I think his love of, and precise use of language will appeal to her, and partly because it's interesting to me that the bit isn't true any more. About ten years ago Grampa Simpson said 'I'm full of piss and vinegar! I used to just be full of vinegar.' That blew my mind--Grampa said one of the seven words! Then south park said 'shit' over a hundred times in one episode, and made fun of the fact that it didn't seem like a swear anymore; that probably doesn't really count, because it's cable, but it's a start. I think 'tits' is probably next--as Carlin said, it's such a cute, harmless sounding word, like a snack food brand name. But it'll have to be said idiomatically first, like some color commentator on the x games saying 'that 360 fakie was the tits!'
I don't know that any one can pick up the baton from Carlin; he grabbed it from Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor held the other end of it; Bill Hicks held onto it for a moment before falling--Denis Leary looked at it but decided to collect a paycheck instead. The next great groundbreaking comic will probably be a woman, or gay, or both. S/he'll need to be really great to be compared to George Carlin, and no one compares today, not yet.