R.I.P. Geroge Carlin...
From cbc.ca:
George Carlin, the dean of counterculture comedians whose biting insights on life and language were immortalized in his Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV routine, died of heart failure Sunday at the age of 71.
Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham.
He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.
"He was a genius and I will miss him dearly," Jack Burns, who was the other half of a comedy duo with Carlin in the early 1960s, said.
Carlin's jokes constantly pushed accepted boundaries of comedy and language, particularly with his routine on the Seven Words — all of which are more or less taboo on broadcast TV and radio to this day.
When he uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, freed on $150 bail — and typically unapologetic on his release.
A Wisconsin judge dismissed the case, saying the language was indecent but citing free speech and the lack of any disturbance.
When the words were later played on a New York City radio station, they resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1978 upholding the government's authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language during hours when children might be listening.
"So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," Carlin said earlier this year.
George Carlin, the dean of counterculture comedians whose biting insights on life and language were immortalized in his Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV routine, died of heart failure Sunday at the age of 71.
Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham.
He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.
"He was a genius and I will miss him dearly," Jack Burns, who was the other half of a comedy duo with Carlin in the early 1960s, said.
Carlin's jokes constantly pushed accepted boundaries of comedy and language, particularly with his routine on the Seven Words — all of which are more or less taboo on broadcast TV and radio to this day.
When he uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, freed on $150 bail — and typically unapologetic on his release.
A Wisconsin judge dismissed the case, saying the language was indecent but citing free speech and the lack of any disturbance.
When the words were later played on a New York City radio station, they resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1978 upholding the government's authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language during hours when children might be listening.
"So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," Carlin said earlier this year.
Comments
Also the narrator for the American version of Thomas the Tank Engine for those with kids.
The famous 7 words you can't say on radio.
RIP George.
I remember playing this record as a teenager just to piss off my mother. Classic album. Save me a seat George.
YouTube - George Carlin - Religion is bullshit.
Teacher wanted to enter me in the regional public speaking. Little did she know, I had forgotten when I was supposed to do my speech, and just took a shot in the dark.
Milton Slim
P.S.
Funniest speech that year was by a girl in my class, Who did the life cycle of the common house fly. She did the regular intro, then started emitting a buzzing sound as she moved her head around as if following the flight of a fly.
Then suddenly slapped her hands together, stopped the buzzing at the same time and proudly said thank you and sat down. I'll have what she's smokin'!
Bet we're glad we opted against that swear filter now aren't we?
Mark