George Carlin Passed Away Today

[Nicholas Carifo]

Sigh. Another one of my favorite entertainers passed away. The great George Carlin.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/ap_ ... e_carlin_3

[Dustin Stinett]

I just found out this terrible news and was going to post it here. I know it's not magic related, but please feel free to post your memories of this great entertainer.

I remember so well hearing FM & AM for the first time. It belonged to my older brother and my friends and I felt like we were sneaking a cigarette in the boys room.

My favorite aspect of his work related to the use of the English language. Carlin was remarkably knowledgeable in this regard (something he attributed to his mother).

But that said, my favorite of his observations was when he was talking about Richard Pryor:

"I lead Richard two to one in heart attacks. But he leads me one to nothing in burning yourself up."

Thanks a million Mr. Carlin: One for each laugh.

Dustin

[Pepka]

A very sad day. He was the very first comedian I ever heard that actually made me think. Before that it was just something to make you laugh and pass the time. You're so right Dustin about his observations on the English Language. (Drive on a parkway, and park in a driveway?) He was one of the best, a true "Aristocrat."

[Nicholas Carifo]

A Few Words By George Carlin:
-----------------------------

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

"I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."

"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."

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

"Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?"

"Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit."

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

"Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that."


For More Great Carlin Quotes:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/George_Carlin
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/autho ... arlin.html

[amp]

Jumbo Shrimp!
Man this sucks.
I met Mr.Carlin backstage after his show here in Toledo. He signed
my record album and I told him I was a magician he said,far out.

[Frank Dudgeon]

I had the pleasure of very briefly meeting George Carlin years ago. I knew his opening act, and so was able to go backstage and just shake his hand and tell him how much I enjoyed his work. He was very quiet, gentle and kind, and his thanks to me seemed very genuine. He's been part of my personal soundtrack for decades. I'm going to miss him.

[amp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h67k9eEw9AY
This is good for today. Enjoy!

[Gord]

The album was Class Clown.
The medium was an 8 track.
The guy playing it was my brother.
It was the first time I got stand up comedy. I fell in love with it. It is because of that man that I want to make people laugh.
Today my heart breaks. Goodbye George. You will be remembered in every joke I tell.

"I used to be Irish Catholic. Now I'm an American. You know, you grow."

Gord

[Rick Maue]

The passing of George Carlin means that one of my heroes is gone. He was the person that honestly introduced me to what Lenny Bruce was aboutthe idea of truthfully transforming craft into art, thus making it meaningful.

He was also the one that first showed me that words are nothing more than wordsfor as powerful as they appear, they actually have no power at all. The true strength is what lies behind our words: the thoughts, the passion, the drive, the love, the hate.

George taught me that we can only be hurt and/or offended by words if we allow ourselves to be. After all, they have no power, they are just words. Nothing more. And yet, his words changed the worldmost certainly, for the better. But now he is gone. To be honest, that thought leaves a very sad and empty feeling that is impossible to describethe only word of exasperation that really comes to mind is [censored].

I am so proud that I introduced my daughter to the work of George Carlin many years ago. Taking her to see him perform was one of the best ways that I could ever teach her about the thing that we, far too often and too nonchalantly, refer to as freedom of speech. I am very happy to say that George changed her life as well, and I know that because she called me early this morning to see if I heard the bad news. Her voice was cracking, and I could hear her tearsand I am certain that she heard mine as well.

George, thanks for making us laugh, and for making us think. Finally, thank you for the wisdom and truth behind your words.



Keep the change,
Rick

[Rennie]

George Carlin, my absolute favorite comedian. Scary thing to me was the stuff he spoke about actually made sense to me.
Loved his HBO specials..We definitely lost a genius in the comedy field.
One joke he told on TV and why I remember it I don't know. He was driving down the road with a passenger and when he came to a red light he would go through it,the passenger said "what are you doing?", George said "relax my brother does it all the time". They continued on like this and every red light he would go through. Finally they came to a green light and he stopped, the passenegr said "Now why are you stopping?", George said "my brother may be coming the other way"
Got to love the man..

[Jerry Harrell]

George Carlin on being an icon: "I don't want to go around describing myself as a 'groundbreaker' or a 'difference-maker' because I'm not and I wasn't. But I contributed to people who were saying things that weren't supposed to be said."

Mr. Carlin will be long remembered for his thought-provoking humor. Many of us who were lucky enough to see him perform live will also remember him like this:

I never laughed so hard...

Aloha good sir.

[Jeffrey Korst]

Not one of his deeper thoughts, but I did think of George Carlin a few weeks back when the name of Kimberly Wyatt's group could not be posted.

After all, "Even in a Disney movie you can say, 'We're gonna snatch the [censored] and put it in a box.'"

[Jon Racherbaumer]

CARLIN BIDS ADIEU

The class clown began by calling attention to himself.

Then he called attention to the words he spoke.

Then he called attention to us, forcing us to think about what the words he uttered.

Ultimately we realized that he was talking about the human condition.

He knew that in the beginning, before there was Light, was the Wordnot just the Word, but all words.

He made us love the words he made his ownthe bubbling babble, the unsentimental poetry, the hard-scrabble funny-peculiar phrases, the cool ambiguities and vexing paradoxes, the home-spun absurdities and subtle-serious truths, the rabbit-punch lines and lacerating asides, the [censored] put-downs and sweet valentines, the reverent postscripts and irreverent shout-outs within and between the lines, and of course the pure, pitiless curses and little-boy kisses

Like Robert Frost, George had a lovers quarrel with the world.

The big difference is this:

George wanted us to laugh long and loudly about it

and by laughing.

.discover truths that might console us when Darkness creeps about or coldly descends

Thanks for all this, George

and everything else than none of us can say for the moment.

June 23, 2008

[MaxNY]

The great thing about taking an ax to your forehead...is that before you feel the pain, there's a cool breeeeeeze....
I think that is his...great fun.

[Larry Barnowsky]

He was a genius. He'll be missed. I still remember him on the Ed Sullivan Show doing the Hippy Dippy Weatherman. Tonight's forcast: DARK

[castawaydave]

Man I'm bummed; what are we going to do now? Who's left to FEARLESSLY speak The Word?

"--Tell ya a little secret about the blues, it's not enough to know which notes to play, you gotta know WHY THEY NEED TO BE PLAYED."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYFNTUgz ... re=related

R.I.P. George.

[amp]

Man I'm bummed; what are we going to do now? Who's left to FEARLESSLY speak The Word?

"--Tell ya a little secret about the blues, it's not enough to know which notes to play, you gotta know WHY THEY NEED TO BE PLAYED."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYFNTUgz ... re=related

R.I.P. George.

Lewis Black?

[Naphtalia]

Man I'm bummed; what are we going to do now? Who's left to FEARLESSLY speak The Word?

"--Tell ya a little secret about the blues, it's not enough to know which notes to play, you gotta know WHY THEY NEED TO BE PLAYED."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYFNTUgz ... re=related

R.I.P. George.

Mort Sahl

[DrDanny]

Lewis Black?

Yep, that'd be my vote.

[castawaydave]

Thanks.
It is nice to be reminded All's not lost, and that Carlin's spirit goes on. We need more like him.

[Harry Lorayne]

I'm awfully sad today. I worked with and new George for decades. Let me backtrack a few of those decades. Merv Griffin used to take out a group of performers when he worked for Westinghouse. I was the MC, Arthur Treacher was on the show, an Israeli girl (singer, whose name I can't think of at the moment) and George. We traveled together, worked together, got to know each other quite well. At that time, George was clean shaven, dressed in suit, shirt and tie, wore glasses, and worked CLEAN. When we flew, George and I always managed to sit together because we liked each other and had things to talk about. We were FRIENDS. I'm awfully sad today. HL.

[Barbara Balducci]

My favorite is his routine about stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

[mai-ling]

Ironically, dad's been on my case about getting
one of his DVD sets for the past month. He saw
a new one I guess in the PBS catalog.

This morning, dad was remembered when he saw
him at Martha's Place (??) in Old Town.

Loved his insight on words.

[Lee Almond]

I will echo some of the above post. George you made a young teenager laugh his ass off with the Hippy Dippy Weather Man and the bit about farts, seven words you can never say on TV. Even my 70 year old grandmother loved you. Your words and expressions were ground breaking material. Rest in peace.

[Magic Newswire]

Beyond the friendships that he had with Magicians and the many of us that laughed our Asses (okay ... it may not be one of the seven words that shook the nation, but I hope it will be forgiven in his honor) off.. but, in an Obit from the Independent we came across a fun reference to Mandrake the Magician...

[amp]

I was just thinking if it wasn't for George Carlin I don't think there would be a Penn & Teller.

[NCMarsh]

http://www. nytimes. com/2008/06/24/arts/24appr. html?hp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTyzTJTNhNk (Seven Words: in case you have been under a rock for thirty years: this includes explicit language)

[NCMarsh]

Seinfeld on Carlin: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/opini ... ref=slogin

[Adrian Kuiper]

I think George would be upset about the subject of this thread.

In his own words, he didn't "pass away", he died!


Unfortunately.....for the rest of the world.

Adrian

[Terrence]

Very few people spoke truth to power as passionately.

Tomorrow's forecast: dark!

[Rennie]

I think George would be upset about the subject of this thread.

In his own words, he didn't "pass away", he died!


Unfortunately.....for the rest of the world.

Adrian

Adrian,
So true..That is the way he would have said it.
You are so right about the rest of the world. George Carlin was a comedic genius..

[Nicholas Carifo]

In his own words, he didn't "pass away", he died!

So true..That is the way he would have said it.

Haha.. ok, ok, you're right. I misworded this post:) Too PC for Carlin.

And, that's not the way he "would have" said it... it's the way he DID SAY IT:

George Carlin's Routine -- Soft Language:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h67k9eEw9AY

[Bill McFadden]

Harry, if I may interject, for some reason I've always remembered the "Israeli girl." Her name was, Aliza Kashi ("Hello People!"). I also remember her as being a big pain in the ass when we tuning in to Merv's show in the 60's because we wanted to see much hipper talent such as Harry Lorayne, George Carlin, Malachy McCourt, Richard Harris, Brother Theodore, Reni Santoni, Renee Taylor, and Totie Fields. Of course, we were very sophisticated for our age back then.

[Richard Kaufman]

Totie Fields! Omigod.

[amp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNrX0PXWW_4

[Darren Lawbuary]

Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, George Carlin...............

And then there were none...................

R.I.P

[erlandish]

Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, George Carlin...............

And then there were none...................

R.I.P

Yup. Doug Stanhope has a lot of pressure on him...

[Bill McFadden]

Totie Fields! Omigod.

You're right, RK: Totie was a lotta laffs, but not that hip. I must have been thinking of Selma Diamond, or maybe London Lee . . .

[Bill McFadden]

. . . and shame on me for omitting the name of Dody Goodman.

[Frank Dudgeon]

For those who don't know, Dody Goodman passed away last Sunday, the 22nd, at the age of 93. So many memories in this thread.