Farewell, George

Legendary comedian George Carlin died this sunday, June 22nd. While we don't have absolutely everything he's released, Reckless Video has a large stack of Carlin standup DVDs. George Carlin has put on a steady stream of HBO specials over the years, beginning with 1977's On Location, which featured his famous Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Television- this show started his historical battle for freedom of speech with the FCC, a battle that took him all the way to the Supreme Court. The court case limited the Federal Communications Commission's ability to prohibit broadcasts, and Carlin continued to rail against censorship for the rest of his career.

George Carlin was more than a standard stand-up comedian. Much like Lenny Bruce before him, Carlin tended to focus on social commentary, with a specific focus on language and how it affects the way we think. Unlike Lenny Bruce or Bill Hicks, George Carlin didn't tend to improvise-- his shows are immaculately written, with both the timing and the phrasing specifically chosen... sometimes, veering from what could arguably be called comedy and into spoken-word or possibly poetry.

Originally coming up "clean," Carlin became more of a provocateur in the 1960s, dressing in all black and beginning to dissect American society (and end up at the Supreme Court). As the years wore on, the material become more aggressive and misanthropic, and began to reflect a gallows humor as he started to reflect on humanity pushing itself to the edge of extinction. In the most recent few shows, he even referred to himself as outside the human race, laughing with devilish glee as people found new ways to kill each other.

Mortality and the fear of death has come up in a few of his performances, as have cowardice and the absurdity of people trying to be fanatically safe and clean... as if they could avoid death. Though we'll probably never hear from anyone quite like him, I doubt he was unhappy about moving on. To quote the man himself:

No one wants to die. But we do. So we con ourselves. I started conning myself when I got in my forties. I'd look in the mirror and say, "Well ... I guess I'm getting ...older." Older sounds a little better than old, doesn't it? Sounds like it might even last a little longer.

I'm getting old. And it's okay. Because thanks to our fear of death in this country I won't have to die. I'll pass away. Or I'll expire, like a magazine subscription. If it happens in the hospital they'll call it a terminal episode.

Currently, Reckless Video has these George Carlin discs in the store:

• 1977: On Location
• 1984: On Campus
• 1986: Playing with Your Head
• 1988: What Am I Doing in New Jersey
• 1996: Back in Town
• 1999 You Are All Diseased
• 2001: Complaints and Grievances
• 2005: Life Is Worth Losing