George Carlin - egy legenda emlékére

Mindenekelőtt megemlítem, hogy sok lesz az angol szöveg, de Carlin mesterien bánik a nyelvvel, én meg nem akarok belekontárkodni, tehát egy pici nyelvtudás nem árt. :)

George Carlin életrajza a honlapjáról (részlet):

August, 1936 - Conceived, Curley's Hotel, Rockaway Beach, NY. May 12, 1937 - Born. God winces. (teljes név: George Denis Patrick Carlin)
1943 - Started Corpus Christi grade school. - Tehát vallásos neveltetésben részesült és egészen addig hitt Istenben, míg el nem érte az értelem korát (age of reason).
July, 1956 - Starts off-base disc jockey job at radio station KJOE, Shreveport, La. Now officially in show business. Nineteen years old. The pussy scene improves.
1960 - Juggles four temporary jobs: poor sport, man-in-the-middle, carnival organist and marketing director for a leading peanut brittle. Nothing works; attempts suicide by inhaling blimp exhaust. No luck there, either.
February, 1960 - With radio buddy, Jack Burns, flees Texas for Hollywood to pursue nightclub career as comedy team, Burns & Carlin. Leave with $300. and brand-new Dodge Dart Pioneer.
October 10, 1960 - First television appearance ever. Burns & Carlin on the (Jack Paar) Tonight Show.
June 1965 - Does show at Blue Dog in Baltimore. No one in the audience. Show is much shorter without bothersome laughter.
July 20,1965 - First Merv Griffin Show appearance. Performed "The Indian Sergeant." (Eventually 29 Griffin shows.)
November 25,26,27, 1966 - Records first solo album, "Take Offs and Put Ons" at The Roostertail, Detroit (RCA Victor LSP-3772). Released 1967, receives Grammy nomination. Includes "Indian Sergeant," "Wonderful WINO," "Daytime Television."
1969 - Fired from Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas for using the word "ass" on stage. Audience composed solely of golfing assholes from Howard Hughes Invitational Tournament. Deep, well-deserved hatred for golfers begins to take hold.
October 1969 - Drops acid. Things are looking up.
1970 - Grows beard during hospital stay for bilateral inguinal hernia. Surgeon fixes hernia, beard covers acne pits.
June 25, 26, 1971 - Album "FM & AM recorded at Cellar Door, Washington, D.C. (Little David 7214). Released January, 1972. Album goes Gold and wins Grammy award.
1972-1975 - Developing a really nice cocaine habit.
July 8, 1972 - First appearance at Carnegie Hall, New York City. Mother appalled that people applaud filthy, blasphemous, anti-American material.
July 21, 1972 - Arrested at Summerfest in Milwaukee for using indecent language in front of wheelchair-bound children. Narrowly escape big cocaine bust by giving shit to the Siegal-Schwall Band while exiting stage. Band thrilled.
March, 1973 - Receives Grammy award for album "FM & AM."
May 27, 1972 - Album "Class Clown" recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, California (Little David 1004). Released, September, 1972. Includes "How Much is That Dog Crap in the Window"," "I Used to Be Irish Catholic," and "Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV." Gold album.
March 2, 3, 1973 - Album "Occupation: Foole" recorded at Circle Star Theater, San Carlos, California (Little David 1005). Released October, 1973. Nominated for Grammy award. Includes "White Harlem," "New York Voices," and "Childhood Cliches." Gold album.
October 30, 1973 - WBAI-FM radio in New York plays "Filthy Words" cut from "Occupation Foole" album. Lone professional moralist complains to FCC which issues a Declaratory Order against station. Station goes to court.
March 18, 1975 - Album "An Evening with Wally Londo, Featuring Bill Slazso" recorded at (Little David 1008). Released October, 1975. Nominated for Grammy award. Includes "Teenage Masturbation," "Bodily Functions," "High on the Plane," and an early, incomplete version of "Baseball and Football." No more gold.
October 11, 1975 - Hosted the very first broadcast of "Saturday Night Live." Loaded on cocaine all week long.
1976 - Plays taxi driver searching for "tall, black, blonde chick" in "Car Wash." Acting not an issue, does familiar "character".
March 5, 1977 - First George Carlin HBO stand-up concert special, "On Location: George Carlin at USC," taped at USC, Los Angeles, complete with elaborate "language disclaimer" by Shana Alexander. Includes, "Monopoly," "Dogs & Cats," "Names," "Supermarkets," and "Words."
July 3, 1978 - Supreme Court rules 5-4 (Stevens, Burger, Rehnquist, Blackmun, Powell ) in favor of FCC. Dissenting justices: Brennan, Stewart, White and Marshall. Court basically says "Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits" are "indecent," and the FCC can ban them from radio & tv during hours when children might hear them.
1978 - First heart attack. Small-time shit. Septal branch artery, treated medically.
1980 - Yanks out longest nose hair ever (two and a half inches). Specimen has completely intact nose-hair root attached to the nose end. Proudly places it in scrapbook next to big scab shaped like Peru pulled off neck two years earlier.
August, 1981 - Album "A Place for My Stuff" recorded in Las Vegas (live) and New York (studio) (Atlantic 19326). Released November, 1981. Nominated for Grammy award. Only GC album with specially written studio material. Includes, "Have A Nice Day," "Asshole, Jackoff, Scumbag," "Interview With Jesus," and an early, incomplete version of "A Place for My Stuff."
1982 - Second heart attack (Dodger Stadium during Mets game). This time God doesn't fuck around. Pulse drops to 20 beats per minute. Streptokinase breaks up the clot. Angioplasty later performed at Emory Univ. Hospital, Atlanta. (Mets win. Fuck the Dodgers.)
1983 - "Sometimes A Little Brain Damage Can Help" is published by Running Press. Thirty-two page, magazine format. Great art work, good comedy material.
March 29, 1986 - Performs at first ever "Comic Relief." Did the "Stuff" routine.
January, 1987 - Receives Hollywood Walk of Fame star at corner of Vine and Selma Sts., between Sunset and Hollywood Blvds. Milton Berle presides. Nice star, I hope no one throws up on it.
1987 - Appears with Bette Midler and Shelley Long in "Outrageous Fortune." Plays Frank Madras, a drunken, ex-hippie tracker. Acting getting better.
1988 - Stars with Molly Hagan in NBC TV movie "Justin Case." Directed by Blake Edwards, it is intended as a two-hour pilot. Plays title character, a private detective. Acting ok.
February, 1989 - Appears with Keanu Reeves and Alex Winters in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure." Plays Rufus, a futuristic mentor to Bill & Ted. Acting acceptable, not there yet. (Shot in March 1987)
February 28, 1990 - Purchases all of Little David Record Company except for company name. Now owns all masters of George Carlin record albums since 1971.
August 1990 - Star with Ben Stiller in "Working Trash," a made-for-tv movie for Fox network. Acting getting better again.
February 28 - March 7, 1991 - Filmed "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey." Acting bogus. Forgettable all the way around.
1991 - Appears with Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte in "Prince of Tides," playing Eddie, the gay neighbor. Really good job; best acting so far. (Shot July, 1990)
September, 1991 - Begins portrayal of Mister Conductor on "Shining Time Station," children's show on PBS. (15 episodes)
A magical fellow indeed. Receives Emmy nomination ('91-'92 season)
April 24-25, 1992 - Eighth HBO stand-up concert special, "Jammin' in New York," taped and aired as live broadcast from Paramount Theater in Madison Square Garden, New York. Includes "Golf Courses for the Homeless. "Rockets and Penises in the Persian Gulf" and "The Planet is Fine, the People Are Fucked." Wins CableACE award. Released as album (same name) November 11, 1992 (Eardrum Records 92221). Album wins a Grammy award.
December, 1992 - More tapings as Mr. Conductor on "Shining Time Station," PBS. (15 more episodes) Receives second daytime Emmy nomination ('93-'94 Season).
January, 1994 - "The George Carlin Show" premieres on Fox Television. Lasts 27 episodes. Lesson learned: always check mental health of creative partner beforehand. Loved the actors, loved the crew. Had a great time. Couldn't wait to get the fuck out of there. Cancelled December, 1995.
February, 1994 - Wins Grammy award for CD version of "Jammin' in New York."
November, 1994 - Inducted into "Comedy Hall of Fame." Not a real hall of fame, just a television show on ABC-TV. Fellow inductees: Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Mary Tyler Moore, Shirley MacLaine, Sid Ceasar.
January, 1995 - Tape miniseries "Streets of Laredo," playing Billy Williams, aging tracker. Airs on CBS. Absolutely best acting so far; lots of things to do.
February 27-28, 1997 - Tenth HBO special, "George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy," taped and aired from Wheeler Theater, Aspen, Colorado, as part of Aspen Comedy Arts Festival. Contains 15-minute segment of career television clips, interview of George conducted by comedian Jon Stewart, and two new stand-up bits: "Moe the Dog Fucks Vern the Cat," and "American Bullshit." Nominated for two Emmy awards, wins two CableACE awards.
May 1, 1997 - First real book, "Braindroppings," is published by Hyperion. Stays on NY Times bestseller list for 18 weeks. Sells very well, surprises everyone.
May 12, 1997 - Completes sixtieth year on planet.
May 1998 - "Braindroppings" published in paperback. Stays on NY Times bestseller list for 20 weeks. In hardcover and paperback, book sells over 600,000 copies in less than two years. Sells 750,000 as of Jan. 2001.
March-April, 1998 - Films motion picture "Dogma" in Pittsburgh with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Linda Fiorentino. Plays part of Cardinal Glick, a religious marketing hustler. Enjoyed ridiculing Catholic clergy.
February 6, 1999 - Eleventh HBO stand-up concert special, "You Are All Diseased," taped and aired as live broadcast from Beacon Theater, New York. Includes "Airport Security," "Fear of Germs," "Kids and Parents," "Advertising Lullabye," "American Bullshit" and "There Is No God." Nominated for two Emmy awards. Released as album (same name) May 14, 1999 (Eardrum Records 92828). Album nominated for Grammy.
January, 2000 - Fake millennium starts.
February, 2001 - "Braindroppings" book on tape/CD wins Grammy. George's third Grammy.
March 26, 2001 - Official launch of Laugh.com, the Internet's premiere comedy site, with Carlin as founding co-partner.
April 22, 2001 - Received Lifetime Achievement Award at 15^th Annual American Comedy Awards on Comedy Central.
April, 24, 2001 - Second book, "Napalm & Silly Putty," published by Hyperion.  Sequel to "Braindroppings" includes a number of HBO monologues plus brand-new observations on God, language, death, pets, driving, food, abortion, suicide, sports, airplanes, advertising, news, businessmen and other topics.
February 27, 2002 - "Napalm & Silly Putty" (part 1) book on tape/CD wins Grammy Award. George's fourth Grammy.
March 2, 2002 - Receives Free Speech Award from First Amendment Center at US Comedy Arts Festival 2002, held at Aspen, Colo. Basically awarded for swearing a lot in public and getting away with it.
April 10, 2002 - "Napalm & Silly Putty" published in paperback by Hyperion Publishing. Hardcover version sales now up to 375,000 copies, spending 20 weeks on NY Times best seller list.
Summer, 2002 - Filming "Jersey Girl," Kevin Smith's new film for Miramax. Playing Ben Affleck's father. Largest acting role so far. Fairly dramatic part.


- Carlin adta Fillmore hangját a Disney/Pixar Cars című animációs filmjében, ami 2006-ban jelent meg. A karakter a rendszerrel szembenálló hippi volt, egy VW Mikrobusz, pszichedelikus festéssel, a rendszámtábláján pedig "51237" volt, Carlin születésnapja.
- Carlin utolsó HBO Special-jét, az It's Bad for Ya-t, 2008 március 1-én adták le.
- 2008 június 18-án, négy nappal halála előtt, a Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts bejelentette, hogy Carlin kapja a 2008-as Mark Twain Prize for American Humor-t, amit november 10-én adtak át. Carlin lett az első posztumusz díjazott, ezt a döntést a Kennedy Center a családdal és az eseményt közvetítő PBS csatornával is megbeszélte. A komikusok közt voltak, akik tisztelegtek Carlin előtt: Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Lily Tomlin (korábbi Twain Humor Prize nyertes), Lewis Black, Denis Leary, Joan Rivers és Margaret Cho.
- 2008 június 22-én került Carlin egy Santa Barbara-i kórházba, miután mellkasi fájdalomra panaszkodott. Még aznap, délután 5 óra 55 perckor megállt a szíve és ezúttal már nem tért vissza az élők sorába. Egy héttel korábban még Las Vegas-ban lépett fel és természetesen további fellépéseket tervezett.
- Utolsó kívánságának megfelelően elhamvasztották, hamvait szétszórták és sem polgári, sem vallásos szertartás nem volt.
- Halálának hírére az HBO és az NBC is megváltoztatta a műsorrendjét és előbbi Carlin Special-öket adott, utóbbi pedig az első Saturday Night Live-ot ismételte meg, amit maga Carlin vezetett.
- 22-én a Larry King Live műsort Carlin emlékének szentelték és King beszélgetett Jerry Seinfeld-del, Bill Maher-ral, Lewis Black-kel és Roseanne Barr-ral is, valamint Carlin lányával és bátyjával is. Másnap a New York Times-ban megjelent róla egy cikk Jerry Seinfeld tollából, aki néhány nappal korábban még telefonon beszélgetett vele és pont a halálról viccelődtek.
- Az előbbieken kívül természetesen számtalan megemlékezés bukkant fel a nagy híroldalaktól kezdve a magazinok honlapjain át, egészen a különféle blogokig mindenhol. Szerencsére a többség nem csak a "7 szó" köré fonta a szövegét, hanem megemlítették munkásságának nagyobb részét is.
- 2009-ben várható a megjelenése egy olyan gyűjteménynek, melyben Carlin családja és barátai mesélnek majd történeteket, ezt lánya, Kelly szerkeszti.

Carlin karrierje számokban: 14 HBO Special műsor, 25 album, 3 gyűjtemény album, 6 könyv, 5 hangoskönyv, 5 Grammy díj, Hollywood Walk of Fame csillag, Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy, 2 American Comedy Award, 2 CableACE díj és egy jelölés, 2 Daytime Emmy és 5 Emmy jelölés, bestseller könyvek, és másodiknak választották (Richard Pryor mögött, de Lenny Bruce előtt) a Comedy Central 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time választásán 2004 áprilisában. Ezen kívül rengeteg filmes és Tv-s szereplés, elő fellépés és egyebek.

Miért szenvedtem azzal, hogy ezt a sok adatot összegyűjtsem? Nos, nálam nem második, hanem a #1 George Carlin, ha komikusokról van szó. Zseniális volt ez a fickó. Volt, de szomorú ezt leírni. Nélküle sokkal kevésbé vidám ez a világ és vele együtt kihunyt egy olyan fény a nagy sötétségben, amire pedig nagy szükség lenne. Carlin halála nagy veszteség. Nem csak nevettetett, hanem el is gondolkodtatott és rávilágott sok butaságra és furcsaságra. Igazi mestere volt a nyelvnek és nem állhatott semmi az útjába, ha valamit el akart mondani. És nem is fogta vissza magát, hiszen ahogy mondta, egy komikus dolga az, hogy megtalálja hol van az a bizonyos vonal és szándékosan lépje azt át. George Carlin pedig meg is tette, számtalanszor, és ezért rengeteg ember lesz hálás, hiszen sok komikusra volt nagy hatással az, amit csinált és az úttörő munkája is elévülhetetlen.

Én először a Dogma című filmben találkoztam vele, majd mikor a Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back-ben is láttam, elhatároztam, utánanézek, ki ez a pasas. Akkor bukkantam rá tőle pár videóra a neten és majd' szétszakadtam a röhögéstől. Aztán újranézve néhány rutinját rájöttem, nem csak nagyon humoros, hanem okos is és remek meglátásai vannak, melyekkel egyet is értettem. Nagy öröm volt olyat találni, aki sok dologról ugyanúgy vélekedett és ki is merte mondani a véleményét. Mik ezek a dolgok? Például a vallás vagy a politikai korrektség, Georgie mind a kettőt darabokra cincálta, nem is egyszer. De más komoly és sokkal triviálisabb témákba belemélyesztette a karmait, mint a nemi erőszak, ami bizony lehet vicces is, vagy mondjuk a repülőn elhangző biztonsági oktatás. De a tízparancsolatot is lefaragta úgy, hogy csak kettő maradt a végén. Végül alább található pár videó, melyek átfogó képet biztos nem adnak ennek a fantasztikus embernek a tehetségéről/tudásáról, de ízelítőként remek szolgálatot tehetnek.































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