Maremy's Blog

A sad news day. My all-time favorite comedian, George Carlin, passed away yesterday from heart failure at the age of 71. I had the good fortune of seeing him live twice. Even though some of the material was stuff I'd heard on CD, it was still well worth it hearing him perform it in front of me.

As far as I can remember, I started listening to his comedy part-way through highschool. What Am I Doing In New Jersey? and Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics were the first two specials I heard. I borrowed the cassette from a friend and loved it. In retrospect, I guess his material wasn't exactly age appropriate for me. I don't believe I advertised the fact to my parents that I had this stuff either. :) Over the years, I've collected a number of his shows on CD, such as Jammin' In New York (his favorite HBO special), Back In Town, You Are All Diseased and Life Is Worth Losing. My sister got me two LPs of his earlier comedy for Christmas a few years ago. Nice to have! His last HBO special, It's Bad For Ya, was recorded on March 1, 2008 (it has yet to be released on CD). I watched it the day after and thought it was great. He was in fine form right to the end.

I remember a few years ago lending a portable cassette player that sitting around to my uncle Wayne so he could listen to the radio while he was in the hospital. It had a tape in it of some Carlin stuff (probably New Jersey and Parental Advisory). I guess he came across it and had some good laughs!

It's sad he's gone, but at least there's hours of comedy to remember him by. Think I'll throw on Jammin' In New York right now...