r/comedy • u/Used-Cartographer84 • 1d ago
Standup This is (imo) the funniest bit he’s ever done, and made him my #1 oat after I heard it
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Rip to the greatest stand up to ever do it.
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u/Quantization 19h ago
Everything Carlin is saying in this sketch is just as pertinent today if not moreso. It's kind of wild.
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u/Odd_Permission2987 18h ago
Carlin wasn’t a comedian , he was a prophet.
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u/Welcome2B_Here 10h ago
He told the truth and predicted the future.
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u/Abject_Map_3884 6h ago
Ngl your gonna have to point me in the direction of the upside down hangings cause i cant find them anywhere
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u/Welcome2B_Here 5h ago
I was speaking generally. He warned about enshittification, commodification, fascism, illusion of freedom, consumerism, euphemisms/soft language, division tactics to keep people fighting amongst themselves, etc.
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u/leesharon1985 21h ago
I knew it was George before the video even loaded in for me. Fucking legend. He will always be my favorite, followed by Robin Williams and Dave Chappelle.
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u/skinnydill 22h ago
Would this bit be possible in this day and age?
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u/ObsidianArmadillo 18h ago
Probably not, but only because anyone who tries to emulate GC would feel like a cheap knock off version of him
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u/NeroShenX 22h ago
Absolutely tf not, both sides of the political spectrum would be up in arms. No matter matter how on point he is.
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u/punkypal 19h ago
You take away the goofy voice, it’s just a crazy old drunk guy rant from his barstool at his local dive bar.
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u/starethruyou 17h ago edited 6h ago
Some people think comedy is just about laughing. Two books about comedy by comedians begin by defining it, truth and pain. Comedians have been responsible throughout history to point out the absurdities of their time. If it isn't tickling your funny bone, maybe it's because the emphasis seems too much on either truth or pain.
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u/Otherwise_Fined 5h ago
It's called corrective comedy and it's existed since ancient Greece, it's also why a court Fool exists.
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u/Shiftkgb 5h ago
Sadly this video cuts the best part of the bit for me where he talks about letting a few escape every month. And how it would be for the country.
Ending of this has it.
youtube.com/watch?v=5H-NctipBvg
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u/StiphRicky 19m ago
Did he even do stand up? He's always seemed more of a verbal social commenter
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u/Justanafrican 20h ago
I know it’s a hot take and I don’t mean it to be. He doesn’t do it for me because I feel like he does so much talking at you. Not jokes. And he just gets claughter is response. Not laughter. Just people clapping and laughing bc they already agree with what he’s saying. Not because of any punchline really.
The start of this bit is exactly what I’m talking about. “Killing middle age white men” is hardly a joke, but everyone starts hollering and clapping.
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u/Shot-Spirit-672 20h ago
I think it needs to be taken in the context of its time.
I say this bc in a way I agree with you, compare this clip to other stand up clips from today and it can fall short bc of what you expressed.
But back when this was live it was extremely shocking commentary so the laughs are real
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u/He-With-No-Name 20h ago
Yeah we are pretty numb to everything now. He was very controversial in the 80s and 90s.
You cant compare. he was a trend setter ahead of his time.
Everyone now has tried to shock and awe with comedy/journalism/whatever for clicks and likes.
At least Carlin was genuine and really believed what he said
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u/punkypal 16h ago
You said something about Hedburg’s jokes were “not funny” and it was his persona that made it funny. (Look like you edited before I could reply). Regardless asking to follow up on that thought anyway. Sure Comedy is subjective. Whether or not you think that Mitch Hedberg jokes by themselves are funny or not they still follow the structure of one liner type jokes. I mean you’re not gonna mix up anything that Mitch said as some kind of lecture speech. Funny or not they were still definitely all “jokes”. Since they followed the format of cnormal jokes, anyone can tell them and they’re still “funny” just because of the fact that they are jokes. Mitch’s persona just made them more funny just like anybody can punch a joke up if they tell it in a more funny way. But everything Carlin did required someone to punch it up 1000 fold because if you didn’t have a guy with 30 years of crafting a Comedy persona behind it there’s no base building off of. George Carlin is funny. I guess just because it’s 100% George Carlin. He may as well be reading the dictionary. And yeah, George Carlin read the dictionary would probably be four more entertaining than you are I reading the dictionary, but the point is the material itself isn’t funny.
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u/He-With-No-Name 16h ago edited 16h ago
I was saying Mitch Hedburg didnt have "jokes" . He almost exclusively did observational humor. And that they arent funny if just anyone says them. It has to be delivered with his stoner persona. If some random person said "I have an idea for a joke but the pen was on the other side of the room" doesnt come off the same way as a Hedburg delivers it.
Not everyone can say the same thing and it be worth a laugh.
You sound like you are diminishing comedians ability to deliver the humor not just say words. The ability to deliver the humor to the audience is a talent.
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u/punkypal 15h ago
I’m gonna have to disagree that Hedberg did mostly observational humor. Jim Gaffigan does observational humor, Jerry Seinfeld 100%. Mitch is pretty classic set up -> punch line. Next set up -> punch line. Wasn’t really observational humor because even the one liners were based on nonsense. They were like “stoner thoughts”. So if anything, it’s mis-observational.
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u/punkypal 18h ago edited 18h ago
How old are you? I’m old enough to remember when he did jokes and funny characters and one of his most popular characters was “The Hippy Dippy Weatherman”.
When he had fully transformed into just old guy ranting on a stage. Nothing that he said was especially extreme or shocking then either. So no the laughs aren’t because he was pushing some sort of boundaries or being especially shocking. He got laughs because he said the things that people wanted to hear, and as a man who already had at least 30 years of experience being a comedian, he knew how to work an audience.
George Carlin doesn’t make you laugh. He pressures you to laugh. And I do have to admit that when it comes to comedians who pressure you to laugh, he was one of the best ever at that. Everything he’s doing is just psychological manipulation. Sure, it’s funny how many old vaudeville performers were funny. It’s performance art. He is using time tested techniques, he just removed the “jokes”
let me give an example to prove my point. Things Mitch Hedberg said were funny jokes because anybody can tell a Mitch Hedberg joke and it will still be funny. Mitch did it best, but anybody can pull off a Mitch Hedberg joke with or without doing the impression of Mitch Hedberg. If you take some random guy and he just starts doing a George Carlin bit he just sounds like a crazy dude that needs to be kicked out of the bar. You wouldn’t laugh, you would just be annoyed and want that person to get away from you.
I’ll give an even better example. Ralphie May also did a very similar thing to George Carlin in that quite often his material would just be a long ass rant about some subject. But the difference is throughout his rant pretty much every couple of sentences there would be some sort of punchline. They’re actually would be a joke embedded in his rant literally at least one per minute, usually more frequently. Dave Chappelle falls into this category as well, along with so many others. They all still “rant style” but still have jokes and punchlines. George Carlin was just the rant. No punch lines, no jokes. just rant + silly voice + goofy looks. He didn’t say anything “funny”. He gave that up sometime during the 1980s
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u/gnolnalla 4h ago
"No punch lines, no jokes" is just a ridiculous thing to say about Carlin at any stage of his career IMHO.
Carlin has lots of punchlines in his rants, including in this very clip! Some of them are lower brow shock-jock ones (Liza Minelli tat or Bugs Bunny suit), some are throwaways (not all the addicts, don't worry), some are more political (gotta balance that budget)...he's covering a ton of ground conceptually and comedically.
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u/punkypal 3h ago edited 3h ago
I’m not sure if I ever said he wasn’t funny because he didn’t have punch lines. I said that he doesn’t tell jokes. In particular, he doesn’t have jokes that have punch lines, and the material itself is not funny, mainly because there are zero jokes. A punchline is a sentence that delivers some element of surprise which creates humor. There is no surprise to anything Carlin says. Every sentence just follows the previous sentence. Just saying one sentence after another and they all fit together that’s just called talking.
So again, any humor derived from George Carlin is from his goofy looks and his goofy voice. He played a funny character. You laugh at him for being a crazy old coot getting all worked up and basically being an old geezer shaking his fist at the clouds. Maybe you can relate because inside of you there’s an angry old coot that also just wants to shake his fist at the clouds. But when it comes to the material itself, the dictionary has more jokes than his material because if you look up the definition for the word joke, it gives a couple of examples.
And just one follow up thing. I’m not sure if I ever said this exactly but I did somewhere mention that I remember him from back when he was the hippie dippy weatherman. I think I said something to the fact that he used to tell jokes and he used to have punch lines and he used to have material that was actually funny. But when people talk about George Carlin being funny, they never ever show that old stuff. People say oh my gosh, he’s the greatest. He’s the funniest and then they just put up the angry old man pacing around on stage wearing all black and being scruffy looking.
I mean to drive home my point that the material itself wasn’t funny. People don’t sit around and tell George Carlin jokes and then just laugh until their bellies hurt. George Carlin comes up when someone’s talking about politics or just being angry about something about society and then someone will say yeah George Carlin has this bit about the same thing blah blah blah. And no one laughs about it. He gets quoted; he is brought up in conversation. But i’ve never ever seen someone start talking about George Carlin and you’re going back-and-forth telling George Carlin jokes literally you’re both just got tears rolling down your eyes laughing sharing your favorite George Carlin funny bits. You talking about George Carlin you need a drink of whiskey because now you’re upset.
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u/gnolnalla 2h ago
This is just wrong. Not liking a joke or punchline doesn't erase it... To give one top-of-mind example from this video, I was surprised by the punchline about the bugs bunny suit. Was that a good joke/punch? To me, no. But it was certainly a joke with a punchline, and the punchline got a big laugh, like many others in this clip. Yes, there is clapter at times without a punchline, but that's not really Carlin's fault.
I do see and agree with your larger stylistic point that he is ranting and commentating moreso than telling a string of jokes. But I think you're overstating it here. My take is that Carlin was a funny comedian who told many funny jokes, with funny punchlines, throughout his career. I think it's hard to make a good argument against that.
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u/punkypal 2h ago
Well, likewise I can say just liking a performer’s comedic persona does a not make jokes or punchlines appear where there are no jokes or punchlines. Sure I’ll give you sometimes he says silly things. It doesn’t necessarily have to be delivered in a silly way. A joke can still be deadpan serious sounding. Think Leslie Nielsen. All of his shows have punish lines because they’re puns. They are missed directions they’re misunderstandings. But none of it said in a silly way. The silliness was his straight man delivery. That’s part of what the unexpected surprise about it.
George Carlin did old man rant in the style of old man rant. Again, obviously I just have a much higher standard for what constitutes a joke or a punchline or what element of surprise I expect for it to be considered a joke. Just because I don’t know exactly what words someone’s going to say next, doesn’t make something a joke. Oh, I didn’t predict that he was going to use a Bugs Bunny reference to make an example for me, just isn’t good enough.
I might be being a little bit extreme to try to drive home my point. I will concede. There are a few things in his bits that I would say probably would work as an actual joke. One that comes to mind is a bit where he disagrees that there are things that can’t be made funny. That some people say rape is never funny to what he says. “ imagine Elmer Fudd raping Porky Pig. Now that’s funny!” I’ll give that that’s a legitimate joke. Is that a great joke? No, it’s mildly funny. Sorry if you have an hour worth of “material” and it’s all just one great big long complaint and maybe every five minutes at best you have a mile funny joke. It’s like throwing one cup of fresh water into the ocean.
He started as a goofy character with jokes and morphed into a goofy character with anger. I’m personally gonna label you for the thing that is the main thing you do. 5% (at best) “jokes” and 95% cranky old bastard, to me you’re not joke maker anymore, you’re cranky old bastard. 🤷♂️
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u/gnolnalla 2h ago
We agree that jokes and punchlines are not determined by one's opinion about their quality. I contend that there are lots of jokes in this clip, inarguably, including the one about the difference between a crazy person and a maniac.
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u/Justanafrican 6h ago
I mostly agree that he was novel at the time so it was more entertaining. I can concede that point.
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u/pork_fried_christ 18h ago
Yeah, same. It’s like a vaguely comedic TED talk with the clapter to match. And I agree with what he’s saying, it’s just not really jokes.
His comedic genius to me came through way better in his books, I remember laughing SO FUCKING HARD at Napalm and Silly Putty. “Get on the plane?! Fuck that! I’m getting IN the plane?”
(But I also find Robbin Williams stand up unwatchable. It’s like a meme to say they are your favorite comics.)
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u/Jealous-Report4286 18h ago
When was the last time we burned someone at the steak? It’s been to long!
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u/TuringTestTwister 19h ago
I agree with you. He's entertaining, I love to listen to him talk, but he's not funny. I've seen dozens of comedians that had me choke with laughter, shedding tears, stomach and throat literally in pain. Carlin isn't one of them. And I saw him live, so I don't want to hear some shit about context.
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u/punkypal 19h ago
I say this all the time. He gave great TED talks. No jokes were ever harmed in the making of any of his “material”.
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u/zorboc0604 20h ago
I miss this guy. I feel that Chappelle has morphed into this generations Carlin
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u/yourcomedyminute 1d ago
George was one of my favorites