The Modern Man.

    George Carlin was unlike many others. He took thoughts and ideas to another level and blew people away once he stepped foot on stage. He was a comedian who made you think and also made you simply laugh without thinking. He could dig deep and go to some dark places in his act but at the same time make you laugh just as hard with more lighter jokes about farts and airlines and not come off as some run of the mill hack. Hack and Carlin are about as closely related as, lets say, Hitler and MLK's ideas were.
   
     I was about 11 years old when I first got into George's stuff. He was infact the first stand up comedian I started listening to and watching. I also heard "Cunt" for the first time by listening to George. I'll never forget the first special of his that I rented. It was "Doing It Again". I some how managed to distract my mom at the checkout line at our local Block Buster well enough so that the clerk could ring it up and her not notice. My parents weren't strict in every way but they did pick and choose their battles, so I didn't want to risk not being able to rent this. I had heard about him briefly before and was very intrigued, so I had to get a copy of his work. As soon as I got home, I ran upstairs and popped it in the vhs player( you'll be seeing them on American Pickers soon) and didn't stop laughing until it was over. From then on I got into the rest of his specials and records. In late 2007, I finally got to see him live. It was nothing short of amazing. He was working on  material for what would become his next special, Its Bad For Ya. Every so often he would go back and forth between his note book, trying out ideas and such. Some of what I saw him do made it, some of it didnt. A few months later he filmed Its Bad For Ya and sadly a few month after that, he passed away. It made seeing him when I did that much more special. So, in case you havent, buy his books, watch his specials, and enjoy.

                                            George Carlin 1937-2008. RIP.