Some of you may have heard about Goerge Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) - a brilliant standup comedian. This American satirist not only won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums, but also was an excellent observer, social critic and a hillarious actor (he was the bishop from movie "Dogma" who introduced the famous "Buddy Christ").
What made George Carlin so unique, so precious for the society? It was his ability to talk about very serious matters in a funny way. His humor is harsh and uncompromising. The problems he talks about are inconvenient, controversial, but very, very real. Education, goverment, wars, religion, banking, advertising, society issues - you name it. Below I am presenting George Curlin's style:
George Carlin on war
George Curlin on soft language
George Carlin on religion
For some people language he uses during his performances may sound brutal, vulgar and obscene. However, this language is only a means of expression. It has nothing to do with mindless swearing on stage which is supposed to be funny these days. When you listen to George Carlin, you can hear a lonely voice of sane man who is forced to live in the jungle of insanity, hypocracy and greed.
Of course his opinions didn't make him popular among conservatives, governments, religious people, corporations and others. And he didn't care. He had something important to say and so he did. I don't know what you think of him, but I think there should always be somebody like him. In Poland during communism we had Zenon Laskowik making jokes on the system and Russians ( he couldn't say it straight, but everybody was reading between the lines at the time). Nowadays when you can say almost everything comedians can call things by their names. It's a pity that most of the time what we get is a poor performance of pseudo funny people talking gibberish.
1. What do you think of George Carlin's humor?
2. Do you agree with his perception of the world?
3. Do you know other stand-uppers you wish to present to us?
I do not know of him before. Must admit that I never heard about him, and now for the first time I watched this show. It's a very interesting man. His views are sometimes controversial and not political, but it probably is his charm.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author of the post, that in Poland one of the examples can be Laskowik as well as a large group of other comedians and satirists who have tried or are trying to show how the world is.
In some countries, where the government has a bigger impact on the cultural life as well as private citizens, can be a dangerous way to present their own views. Often such a person physically or financially responsible for the insult of power ....
I think any good joke is OK. Ability to laugh at our disadvantages definitely should learn in school. I think that in Poland has changed a lot but still have trouble making fun of own limitations.
I know this guy, and i know him quite a bit. I've seen his standups, some of them were funny, some of them were very annoying, some of them were really cheap and stupid (on the "american" level) just to spread the propaganda and some of them were really good. All in all i really respect this guy, he was a mentor for these american people, he tried to lead them and he did very well. They believed him, sometimes too much because he had a tendency to overcolour. This is why i can't tell if i liked his humour or not, i'd say fifty fifty. I've seen just a couple of his standups like 10 maybe? i guess there are tons of them, so i don't really know his perception of the world, but from the standups i have seen, i can't tell i agree with him completly, because he was american and i am polish, i see the world really different than him. Maybe if i watched more of his videos i would change my mind :) I am not a big fan of this type of art so i will keep these guys names in my mind because probably they are pseudo funny people talking gibberish with a poor performance :)
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ReplyDelete1. George Carlin was an incredibly talented comedian. His whole life was based on performing as a stand-up comedian.George Carlin was using comedy as his tool to express his views and opinion on politics,economy,life,and global issues. Even though,sometimes he was controversial and disrespectful he had his rights- freedom of the speech. I think speaking his mind and being so open are the two factors that made him so successful.
2. Carlin's perception of the world and life are a bit too controversial for me,yet,I agree with some of his points. I agree with the comments on politics and statement about America as a country,e.g. "In America everyone can be a president and this is a problem." I respect the man for always sticking to what he had believed.
3. There are many good stand-up comedians,especially the English ones who are famous for the black humor as well as profound language,e.g. Lee Evans,Alan Carr,etc. I like them because they talk about their own life making fun of day to day situations and current events.
1. George was clearly a brilliant man who challenged everything around him and then presented that to us in simple way. I absolutely love his shows and performances.
ReplyDelete2. Mostly yes, but its more like I like to hear what other people have to say just to have objective opinion on the matter.
3. Of course I do, I already pointed at Louis CK in my previous comment to Monty Python presentation. I hope someone will make a presentation about him as well :)
Carlin had a very specific sense of humour and expressed it with strong words. I watched few of his performances many times and I like them, but for some people who doesn’t like black humour it may be offensive. It’s really hard to make jokes about so delicate subjects as religion, politics, war, but Carlin was able to describe it in hilarious way.
ReplyDeleteDespite all there is a lot of truth in what he says, or maybe just stereotypes like when he said “I`m not a very good American, because I like to form my own opinions” .
I know few others stand-uppers, but the most amazing for me is Jeff Dunham. He is a ventriloquist and during his show he talks with puppets, and each of them has different character and opinions on the world.
ReplyDeleteI don't like his humor is not for me and I don't agree with his perception of the world. It is not really topic for me. From such style I only like Monty Python like some of you already know.
I have never heard about him but assuming from what I read in the presentation I must say that he is kind of special. I strongly appreciate people who have free will and do not consider others’ opinions as significant. They impress me. Moreover, the fact that George Calin’s way of presenting his comedies is a bit vulgar makes him attractive since people look for something extreme and show. In today’s world the number of people who say what they really think is not as big as it should be. I believe that thanks to people like George Calin this number increases. He expresses his thoughts on topics which are crucial for the society to work, people to cooperate and are called taboo. As I see it, there always must be someone who says what everyone of us thinks but does not have courage to talk about it out loud because it might be too controversial.
ReplyDeleteI didn't hear about George Carlin before reading this article. However, I must admit that I do not like his sense of humor. Maybe it’s all about language barrier and different ideologies, but, indeed, I do not like and understand his thoughts and jokes.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I have never seen any kind of stand-up comedy shows, and I do not think I will start watching that kinds of shows. It is just not my thing and sense of humor. Therefore, I am really sorry but I cannot recommend you any good stand-uppers.