Monday, June 23, 2008

George Carlin Remembered



I regret to say that George Carlin, one of the funniest guys EVER - died of heart problems at the age of 1971. Carlin was an early maverick of comedy, in the same vein as a Lenny Bruce, or a Bill Hicks, George Carlin could be very funny, while at the same time being able to "hit that nerve" that made you feel a bit uncomfortable. We have an early example from the Johnny Carson Show, where he did the role of the Hippy Dippy Weatherman, who was a very mellow hippy character who just happened to be a meteorologist. For you youngsters, during the time this clip was made, everyone was VERY worries about getting blown up by the Atomic Bomb, dropped by the Russians. (The 60's equivalent of global terror, Al Qaeda style). And an ICBM ... was an Inter-continental Ballistic Missile. Here's the clip - Carlin is a very young guy in the clip, no beard, why he almost looks like he voted for Barry Goldwater and Eisenhower.