Last Wednesday, when the the Kennedy Center announced that it was awarding the Mark Twain Prize for Comedy to George Carlin (The Post) and I thought he was an surprising choice. For one thing, I thought it would be odd celebrating the comedian of the “seven-dirty words” fame at the Kennedy Center and perhaps even weirder, Carlin going along with it. Doesn’t the President and First Lady usually show up at that event? That would not have worked too well methinks. Carlin did have a good quip about though — “Thank you Mr. Twain, have your people call my people.”
Carlin died yesterday of heart disease in Santa Monica.
When he was on, Carlin was as good as it got, but since around 2000, he had not been that good, mostly repetitive and angry for the sake of being angry without being funny. His first book, Brain Droppings was great, but his last two have pretty much rehashed it.
His contributions to comedy and satire are great, just not lately.
Comedian George Carlin Dies in Los Angeles at 71 – The Post
George Carlin, 71, Irreverent Standup Comedian, Is Dead – The Times
Humorist George Carlin Dies at 71 – NPR
