GEORGE CARLIN'S LIFE IS WORTH LOSING

From an unfavorble review in Stage Time magazine:

Carlin's signature brashness is still alive and well, even if the 69 year-old relies on the outmoded beatnik-style recitation of lists as punchlines and allows his audience to withstand long passages of socio-political left-wing rhetoric that they applaud rather than laugh at.

When Carlin steps out onto the stage of the Beacon Theatre, he appears a bit frail and taken aback by how excited the audience is to see him. He repeats the first line of his piece "A Modern Man" (the opening passage of his most recent book, "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?") a few times, but by the end seems confident and ready to rock; the Mick Jagger of comedy there to give his fans a night of bliss.

But much like Margaret Cho, Carlin has been criticized of late for focusing more on his message than on producing tight material. Unlike Cho, however, whose mostly gay following eats her act and her politics right up, Carlin leaves his audience in the dark multiple times, especially during his long rants about suicide, assassination, genocide, torture, human sacrifice, cannibalism, necrophilia and beheadings.

Funny stuff, huh? Well, not as funny as "Stuff," or any other of his classic routines. Most of his jokes go over as if he were telling them at a funeral, and in a way, he is, since the stage is littered with headstones. Accordingly, the audience is dead silent for much of the show.

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No, the audience is not "dead silent for much of the show."

Obviously, the reviewer just didn't get it. Carlin, with his decades of standup experience, has earned the right to push against the edges of his genre, and that's exactly what he does in his thirteenth HBO special, recorded last year and now out on DVD. If you use only the "is it funny?" test, then yeah, he's done some funnier routines in the past. But if that's the only standard employed, one totally misses out on some really sublime material. And it is funny. Hilarious, even. But it's also dark, reflecting Carlin's recent statements that he's "given up on the human race."

If you have no appreciation for existentialism, you're better off with the latest outing from Tim Allen or Jim Carrey, you know, something stupid that requires no thought. But if you like mixing a bit of substance with your comedy, then check this out. Carlin hasn't had me laughing this much since I first encountered him when I was a kid--the "Stuff" routine mentioned in the review is no longer funny to me; I've moved on and so has our culture. You know, in many ways, George Carlin hasn't changed that much at all. Our culture has. He's just doing what he's always done, looking at reality for what it really is. It's certainly not his fault if reality has taken a turn for the worse. And what changes have occured within Carlin's approach to standup are entirely welcome. His maturity has made him bolder, but without any kind of crazed frenzy that often comes from younger artists. Carlin knows exactly what he's doing. His risks are calculated but breathtaking.

It is fortunate, indeed, that some internet uploading pirate has made the entire special available for online viewing, courtesy of Throw away your TV.

Check it out here. It's well worth it.



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