RIP George Carlin

So I don’t know how much sass or snark you are going to get out of my this week… the serious side of Brandie is one I don’t think I’ve tapped into on here for you yet… but one of the greatest comedians to ever grace a seedy, dimly lit stage in a smoke filled room is no longer with us. I’m speaking of course, of Mr. Conductor himself, George Carlin.

I won’t get sappy and talk about how hearing he was gone was like a punch to my gut, how losing him felt a little like losing an uncle you always wished you had gotten to know better but always thought you would have the time for, how it immediately made every other aging comedian I love glaringly, terrifyingly mortal… that kind of sentimental hogwash wouldn’t go over with him, and I certainly don’t want to shit all over his memory just yet… I’ll leave that up to the news stations who are already putting together touching tributes to a man who giddily called out their every hypocritical flaw and Puritanical witchhunt.

I can’t honestly say that I’ve even seen every HBO special he’s done, nor do I have entire bits of his memorized… but I know what an influence he was on so many other comics that I know and adore, and how they might not have had the courage to find their voices without him, and I wouldn’t be nearly as articulate as I am without them, and him in turn. I have such a love affair with comedy, for people who dedicate their whole lives to perfecting and constantly giving the greatest gift you can give another person - laughter. And, in Carlin’s case and in that of many others, if you can make people think a little too, then all the better.

I grew up in Severna Park, MD - a small town outside of DC where everyone’s parents are white, conservative and spies. I’m not kidding, about 75% of my friends’ parents work for the government in one way or another… my own Aunt recently retired from NSA and hasn’t been able to tell us anything she’s been doing there for the last 20 years. So as a kid growing up, my view of the world was very sheltered, very safe, very restrained… appearances were to be kept up, at all cost. But in that white picket fence world, I remember watching George Carlin with my Dad, and although I didn’t understand everything and I wasn’t allowed to repeat 90% of it, I remember my father’s belly laugh, followed by the nod of recognition to the bullshit in the situations Carlin was peddling. I learned through Carlin’s comedy and those he’s inspired over the years, that people make mistakes and can be hateful and horrible bigots… but we can also change if we open ourselves to the possibility.

I’m going to stop now, because I feel like somewhere in hell he’s sharpening a pitchfork for me because I’m trying to lay so much meaning on a few silly, simple jokes.

But fuck you George Carlin, you cocksucker. You’re a hero even if you don’t want to be, you asshole. God rest your motherfucking soul.

Oh yeah, and eat shit.