George Carlin, one of the great standup comics of the last 40 years, died yesterday at a Santa Monica hospital. He’d checked in complaining of chest pains.My earliest memory of Carlin was his appearance on “The Flip Wilson Show” when I was about 10 years old. I followed his career ever since.
Only in recent years did I learn that George Carlin began as part of a two-man team: Burns & Carlin. The Burns was Jack Burns, who later found fame in the duo Burns & Schreiber.
Carlin’s first comedy album was actually a Burns & Carlin album, released in 1963. To hear one of their routines – “Killer Carlin” – click here.
Carlin discussed his partnership with Burns in a conversation with humorist Larry Wilde back in the 1980s. It’s part of an album called “George Carlin on Comedy.”
Click here to hear Carlin tell the story of how he and Jack Burns arrived in California in 1960, hoping to make it big, and how they were helped by Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl.
(My previous blog posts about George Carlin are here, here and here.)
10 comments:
George Carlin (1937-2008)
Wow. When I saw this I knew that it could mean only one thing, but I still had to do a doubletake.
R.I.P. Mr. Carlin.
Oh man. I just loved this guy. His finest cameo in a movie was in 'Dogma' as the Catholic Cardinal introducing 'thumbs-up' Jesus. Indeed, R.I.P. Mr. Carlin.
Well, shit.
When I read the news I watched the Seven Words You Can't Say on Television bit. Classic. He seems to have led a full life. RIP.
George Carlin, Chris Rock, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor-- These comedians seem to be smarter than our recent presidents.
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/06/george-carlin-t.html#comments
I only discovered Carlin about 2-3 years ago. Spent hours and hours watching him on youtube. Was looking forward to his 14th HBO Special (still am). RIP
Oh man. I just loved this guy. His finest cameo in a movie was in 'Dogma' as the Catholic Cardinal introducing 'thumbs-up' Jesus.
Buddy Christ!
I will miss Mr. Carlin's trenchant social commentary. He was cantankerous, astute, and hilarious. R.I.P., George.
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/08/the-early-georg.html
Sorry, the proper url:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/08/
the-early-georg.html
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