I had an interesting conversation with someone over the holidays. We were talking about comedy and the topic of George Carlin came up. I admit that the guy has definitely lost a step or two and is really just going through the motions at this point. He's not had anything particularly brilliant in the past few years. But I like the old fart anyway.
But that's not why my fellow converser didn't like Carlin. He didn't like Carlin because he swore too much. Of course he liked him when he wasn't swearing, but that was a LOOOOOONG time ago. The whole conversation got me thinking, though. In the hands of a skilled orator, profanity is nothing more than an exclamation point. It's a lagniappe, an afterthought.
I love comedy albums. I will listen to comedy and spoken word stuff over music any old day of the week. I don't care if it's blue or not, just that it's funny and/or relevant. I understand that that you may not like a comedian because he's not funny. Lord knows there's plenty of those out there. But if you are just going to disregard EVERYTHING a person says because he/she likes to pepper their monologues with profanity, maybe you should re-evaluate how you think about some things. Judging a comedian based on the amount of profanity in his routine is silly. Judge them on how funny they are. Stop fixating on the occassional four letter word and listen to what the person is saying.
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2 comments:
Used to love Carlin. I have records of his from the 60s I believe. Frankly I don't know when he wasn't scatological. He had a lot of kid from the neighborhood humor. One of his little bits was about getting introduced by black friends to "playing the dozens." "You want to play the dozens well the dozens is a game but the way I f*ck your mother is a goddamn shame." Then of course he went into detailed ramblings on the 7 verboten words on radio. God that guy could have fun with words.
Of course if you really wanted your humor raw then you bought Red Fox records - How Tarzan got his yell is a riot. Or Mom's Mabley; the ultimate dirty old lady - "I'm telling you Mr. robber I aint got no money, but keep feeling around and I'll right you a check." Actually it's in the delivery. lol Can't forget Bella Barth.
The amazing thing is these folks were on stage with this stuff during the Ozzie and Harriet era.
No to be religious my dear (especially on your blog) - but Amen to what you said.
We really do need to get past things and learn how to listen. It's a dying art I fear.
As ever,
Colette
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