Death Be Not Proud

Still reverberating from the stunning loss of the beloved Tim Russert along comes Mr. Death to twist the knife of unanticipated loss and drown us once again in grief.

George Carlin is in the rarefied pantheon of the few, too few, truly great stand-up comedians. Along with Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory and Richard Pryor, George Carlin embodied the Swiftian, Twainish culturally astute rapier wit and wisdom that every era needs. The love of language the horror, ecstasy and sublime ridiculousness of human behavior along with the sensibility to synthesize psychology and sociology into the unique poetry of joke-telling is the very recipe for comic greatness.

And now immortality...

Good night sweet Prince.

Comments

[SallyMutant]

What did George Carlin like? What he loved was words. The English language has lost a lover. Read his books.

[KidSister]

I was shocked to my inner bones when I read that one of my "big brothers" of comedy was gone -
I have not yet recovered...

Still, I will not give up eccentric observationism, nor will I give in to culturally puposeless whims. Thank you, George for clearing the path so the "different drummer" could follow your example. You were a rare bird, but thankfully, the "sacred fool" will never be exterminated. (So there, Orkin Man - go play Old Maid with the Maytag repair guy.)

The "foolish" will always confound the automated wise.

Katie Kat.
I Corinthians 1:27
=^..^=

[melakfilms]

Message Via The Great Electron:

George, you achieved immortality without the trappings of religion or a personal god. You will be missed. Never forgotten.

[bazokbros]

Well said Belz,

Saw you on "Morning Joe" when your dog barfed on Mika and the chaos it created was almost a perfect way to pay tribute to Carlin. You're reaction when they informed you that SNL was going to air the first time he hosted SNL this weekend was raw and real.

Belz, you are also a comic's comic and I'm glad you're out there talking so fondly about the iconic Carlin.

[im4ufur2]

Way to go Belz! Most eloquent goodbye I've read.

I can't help but to also lament the distant loss of Bill Hicks, who also may have aspired to the hall of fame.

I was happy to hear Jon Stewart declare George was a personal hero. I don't suffer heroes gladly, but George was heroic to me. And truly brilliant. My guess is his fluid effortless performances overshadow his underlying work ethic, which must have been tremendous. I'm just so grateful for the extraordinary body of work he gave us.

George, I know you'd think me a sentimental fool, but ... well ... you know.

[nyboomer]

Who will be America's next court jester? Who has the guts to speak truth to the public? Fuck authority! It knows it is a lying sack of doodoo and wallows inside that sack every day.

[TheBlackCat]

I think John Stewart and Stephen Colbert have taken up the court jester reigns.

[BlueZoo]

Anyone see the repeat of Carlin's appearance on Actor's Studio on Bravo? It was the real George Carlin, skepticism and all! When Lipton came to the Q&A, he said he'd been waiting all his life to ask this one man this one question: What's your favorite curse word? Carlin's answer: M*F*er because "it has such balance." The man was a genius! I hope he keeps his seat at the "freak show" - just because... I'll miss him terribly!

[cclose]

George Carlin was great because he told it like is not some fanasty like some politicans say but like it really is and was. it is sadly he is already being missed. He may have used some words that weren't approriate for children but he never felt threatened by mass media nor by the powers that be.

[vflog]

I wept as the car radio informed me -- by the way, George Carlin died.
I said "oh well, no more stupid questions" when I heard Russert died.

George, words can not do you justice. A team captain. Bigger than life. We the people could never get it together to make the play, seal the deal. The Great Pussification of America. Sorry us. Sorry loss. I'm am sadder now than I will be when my blood relatives die. An energy that can not be matched.

Russerts name shouldn't be on the same page as George Carlin's. Carlin spoke truth. The more 'popular' TR became, the stupider he/we became. After hearing him waste 1 of only 3 questions to Dennis Kucinich in the 'debates' to Do you believe in UFO's ? was about as dumbed down as I could stand. He also did NOTHING on impeachment. He joined the opposite team of Carlin, thats why everyone knew him, his team owns the airwaves.

[jackwaddington]

He was so f***in serious it was funny ... now we can try to see it seriously too.

[DarkWitch]

P.S. Mr. Belzer, I also wanted to say thanks for posting this. Truth is, I was totally crushed when I saw George Carlin had died. When the heros of our youth die, it's a shock to realize how much they meant to our lives, how sad it makes us and how much we will miss them.

As I cried and perused the web yesterday, I watched again George's 7 words. And it still made me laugh. That man was so full of life. That's the way I will always remember him.

Thanks for giving me a place to say it.

[DLSteinhardt]

Dearest The Belz,

Thank you so much for this succinct and fitting tribute. Mr. Carlin changed our minds while he gave us punchlines we've recited, within and to others, forever after.

Thank you for mentioning the seminal Mr. Gregory as well, who is so often overlooked when mentioning those who reinvented standup performance in the last half of the 20th century. I had the honor of running into him in DC recently and am gratified to know he's alive and well.

And you, sir, belong in that company as well. I bust a gut watching you perform at the comedy festival in Montreal several years ago.

George Carlin was an essential figure in our culture, and will continue to inspire through his immense body of work. I miss him already.

Your fan,

David

[puppymom]

I am deeply saddened that we will no longer recieve a weather report from the Hippy Dippy Weatherman. He will be missed by all who were lucky enough to see and listen to his comic look on life! :(

[JTyroler]

Mr. Belzer - that was well said and another reason you need to be performing more frequently. People like George Carlin are very much needed in our country - a country that has a presidential candidate who has changed his mind on just about everything he ever believed in (McCain) calling his opponent a "flip-flopper" because he opted out of public campaign financing, which is probably a good thing since the only way the federal government can find $80+ million is selling more stuff to China. China, by the way, is a Communist nation, but they're ok because we can sell KFC to people there who make very little money, but, another Communist nation, Cuba, is a major risk to our national security.

[CindySue]

We've lost a few notables, favorites from earlier, far different Times lately.. Each generated that little pang of, "Oh, noooo.." when the notice appeared..

George, though.. Had just started to rediscover *and* enjoy the Rebel in him via the Net.. Makes our loss of him feel more untimely somehow..

In Love and Peace from Talking Rock..