The Thinking Comedian

I find that I miss George Carlin. 

Over the years, I have found that his insights and comedy had a depth to them that wasn't fueled by a desire for a cheap laugh or for some kind of promotional deal.  He had a cynical view to life as well as an honest and straightforward approach to the world that made him wickedly funny in that he could point out some of the habits (good and many bad) of humanity that made us the perfect source material for his routines.

I find that in the various eras of Carlin's act, there is something to be found in all of them.  His early "hippy, dippy" weather man routines were great, but so were his much later scathing criticisms of politics and  the American psyche.  Especially airport security.  That one, which aired just a few years before 9-11 in his special "You Are All Diseased" has an eerie ring to it in retrospect.  So much so, you can hear Carlin himself sounding a little unsure about his opening remarks in the next special.

But his humor in his early acts was still good stuff.  In fact, his appreciation for and fascination with language is still one of the points I continually enjoy hearing from him.  "Get on the plane.  Get on the plane.  That's what they say.  Get on the plane.  F*ck you, I'm getting IN the plane.  Let Evel Knievel get on the plane!"

That kind of thing, while funny, is also the kind of thing that makes you realize that we do in fact talk in ways that do not make sense.  At least, not if we listen closely.

His later years his language got pretty graphic.  But this, of course, came from his belief that words were just words and it wasn't that a word was intrinsically bad or good.  It was how you used that word.  So profanity was only profane if you believed it to be. 

When I read (and have since re-read) the book "Last Words" I wonder what Carlin would have been like in his 80s.  Grouchy?  Grumpy?  Surly?  Or would he have been the voice out in the wilderness crying that there is madness aplenty in the human race and madness aplenty in the United States?  Probably a little of all.

But I think he would still be funny.  And insightful.  And what I miss most?  The idea of thinking for yourself.  We don't hear that too much it seems.

Carlin had little patience with people who hid or lived behind ideologies that weren't thought through.  He was something of an anarchist and and rationalist.  I appreciated that.  Actually, I didn't always appreciate that.  Sometimes I still don't.  One of his rants on golf still sticks in the back of my head as a genuine reason to quit playing the game.  Still others challenge me to be wary of politicians, the media, and religion. 

Those warnings seem to be as true today as they were in the times in which he said them.
And as a pastor, I have to admit, there are times when I wish he hadn't said certain things.  Sometimes because they were offensive, and other times because they were more true than I cared to admit. 

Yet his honesty is one of the things that I found attractive in his performances and in his writings.  He didn't think of himself as bigger or better.  He just did what he felt he could - and, I believe, he did it well.

And, in the midst of the political controversies, the statements that offended, and the language that would make Lenny Bruce proud, he was still pretty funny.

Here's to you, George.  May I think for myself in your honor!