I was but a tender eight "years young" when I first heard George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" bit. My parents were watching a VHS copy of that particular George Carlin stand-up routine. They tried to usher me out of the room to protect my sensitive young ears, but after I had heard the seven dirty words as spoken by George Carlin, they assumed no more damage could be done. I watched the rest of the bit, finding humor in the dirty words alone, not realizing how much of an impact that George's philosophy would have on the rest of my life.
Over the course of my life, I've always been a fan of George Carlin's. He's always been the comedian philosopher that has told it like it is. Much of my life philosophy is based on his insight and wisdom.
With his "Seven Dirty Words" monologue being my first experience of him, it's always remained my favorite - not to mention the impact it had on my life. Because of George, those words never seemed any different to me than any other word in the English language. Knowing their effect, sometimes I use them to enhance the sentiment in a statement, but they're still really just words to me - no different than any other. In my daily lexicon, I might use "fucking" in the same capacity as I use "great"
For those that many be uninitiated:
This is the routine (not live footage, but video placed against the original audio)
This monologue defined my youth.
Moving forward into my later years, George served to reinforce my political views, my views on society, my views on the world. Most importantly, George Carlin influenced my sense of humor. I've always been of the thought that anything can be made funny. George Carlin taught me this, as can be found in this clip:
(George Carlin's "Even Rape Can Be Funny" bit)
George Carlin was truly more than just a comedian. He was a philosopher. He was a cynic. He told everything just as it was.
George Carlin made more sense than any other person that could be called his contemporary.
He truly was a genius.
The fact that he no longer graces this world with his insight only challenges the rest of us to try and live up to his legacy.
George, you will be sorely missed.
