George Carlin video is priceless around ImaSportsphile….for this man’s comic genius puts him at the top of our list of G.O.A.T. comedians along with the likes of Jonathon Winters, Red Skelton, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams.
George Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, and social critic….who was noted for his black comedy and thoughts on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects. Carlin and his “seven dirty words” comedy routine were central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation….in which a 5 – 4 decision affirmed the government’s power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves. George Carlin is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comics….as one newspaper called Carlin “the dean of counter-culture comedians”. In April 2004, he was voted # 2 on the Comedy Central list of “Top 10 Comedians of US Audiences”.
The first of Carlin’s 14 stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977….with comic routines which focused on socio-cultural criticism of American society….as he often commented on contemporary political issues in the USA….while making satirical humor of the excesses of American culture. He was a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show during the three-decade Johnny Carson era…. and hosted the first episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975. His final HBO special, It’s Bad for Ya, was filmed fewer than four months before his death….and in 2008 was posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him second (behind Richard Pryor) on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time….but you have to discount this Rolling Stone list that has Louis C.K. at #4….and doesn’t have Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Bob Hope or George Burns even on the list.
Simply put, this George Carlin stand-up routine for the 1985 Comic Relief fundraiser is MUST SEE TV for any fan of comedy….for it is truly wonderful footage of a very talented and funny man….who when asked on Inside the Actors Studio what turned him on, he responded, “Reading about language.”….and when asked what made him proudest of his career….he said the number of his books that have been sold, close to a million copies.
