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Log inBrash Carlin inspired, awed Maine comedians
Brash Carlin inspired, awed Maine comedians
by Outspoken on Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:46 am
Brash Carlin inspired, awed Maine comedians
They say the trailblazing comic, who died Sunday, was superb at his craft.
By RAY ROUTHIER
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
Maine comedians celebrated George Carlin on Monday as a funny man whose intelligent, daring and painstaking approach to his life's work made him a pop-culture icon.
"As a young kid, I remember seeing this guy on TV and saying, 'This is what I want to do,' " said stand-up comic Bob Marley. "As a working comedian, I look at Carlin and say, 'I would love to have one HBO special half as good as his worst one.'"
Carlin, whose career spanned more than 50 years and helped expand the scope and boundaries of popular comedy, died Sunday of heart failure. He was 71.
Karen Morgan, a stand-up hailed as "Maine's Funniest Mom," said Monday that above all else, she thinks Carlin's intelligence was what set him apart from other comedians.
A lot of Carlin's routines were observations of daily life – a staple of comedians' repertoires from Jack Benny to Jerry Seinfeld. But Carlin could be funny while taking a much deeper look at daily minutia than most, Morgan said.
"His observational stuff was very deep, not the 'Oh, look at all the cell phones and Starbucks' you get from a lot of people," she said.
One of Morgan's favorite Carlin routines was his epic, almost poetic comparison of football and baseball, in which he turned the two sports into symbols of eternal optimism and hard, cold reality.
"Football is concerned with downs – what down is it? Baseball is concerned with ups – who's up?" goes one part of the routine. "Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness. Baseball has the sacrifice."
Carlin traveled the country as a stand-up late into his life, including performances in Portland as late as 2007. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Carlin No. 2 behind Richard Pryor on its list of 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
Marley went a step further, calling Carlin "America's best comedian of all time." No one else had a career focused on stand-up comedy that was so long and so diverse, he said.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=195814&ac=PHnws
They say the trailblazing comic, who died Sunday, was superb at his craft.
By RAY ROUTHIER
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
Maine comedians celebrated George Carlin on Monday as a funny man whose intelligent, daring and painstaking approach to his life's work made him a pop-culture icon.
"As a young kid, I remember seeing this guy on TV and saying, 'This is what I want to do,' " said stand-up comic Bob Marley. "As a working comedian, I look at Carlin and say, 'I would love to have one HBO special half as good as his worst one.'"
Carlin, whose career spanned more than 50 years and helped expand the scope and boundaries of popular comedy, died Sunday of heart failure. He was 71.
Karen Morgan, a stand-up hailed as "Maine's Funniest Mom," said Monday that above all else, she thinks Carlin's intelligence was what set him apart from other comedians.
A lot of Carlin's routines were observations of daily life – a staple of comedians' repertoires from Jack Benny to Jerry Seinfeld. But Carlin could be funny while taking a much deeper look at daily minutia than most, Morgan said.
"His observational stuff was very deep, not the 'Oh, look at all the cell phones and Starbucks' you get from a lot of people," she said.
One of Morgan's favorite Carlin routines was his epic, almost poetic comparison of football and baseball, in which he turned the two sports into symbols of eternal optimism and hard, cold reality.
"Football is concerned with downs – what down is it? Baseball is concerned with ups – who's up?" goes one part of the routine. "Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness. Baseball has the sacrifice."
Carlin traveled the country as a stand-up late into his life, including performances in Portland as late as 2007. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Carlin No. 2 behind Richard Pryor on its list of 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
Marley went a step further, calling Carlin "America's best comedian of all time." No one else had a career focused on stand-up comedy that was so long and so diverse, he said.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=195814&ac=PHnws
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
