Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin
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204 “I realized I had to raise my voice”: The Onion A.V. Club and Stephen Thompson, eds., The Tenacity of the Cockroach: Conversations with Entertainment’s Most Enduring Outsiders (Three Rivers Press, 2002), 24-25.
10. Squeamish
206 “I heard a sound that, for children”: Britt Allcroft, “The George Carlin I Knew,” Los Angeles Times, June 26, 2008.
206 “always sounded as if he were”: Seinfeld, “Dying Is Hard.”
207 “I just felt terrific in that role”: Interview, Archive of American Television.
208 “nice, controlled anger”: Jefferson Graham, “Carlin Swaps Stand-Up for Sitcom,” USA Today, January 13, 1994.
208 “Carlin’s aging hipster character”: Todd Everett, “Unexpected Things Happen to George,” Daily Variety, January 14, 1994.
209 “He was my kind of guy”: Interview, Archive of American Television.
210 “I’m doing my best work”: Ronald L. Smith, Who’s Who in Comedy (Facts on File, 1992), 92.
211 “I knew I’d found my voice”: Interview, Archive of American Television.
215 “I’m very much a realist and a practical person”: Hochman, “Playboy Interview.”
216 “Carlin replaced Catholicism”: Kevin Smith, A God Who Cussed,” Newsweek, June 23, 2008.
216 “convincingly gruff and blue-collar portrayal”: Mick LaSalle, “Down and Out in New Jersey, Without Jennifer Lopez By His Side,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 26, 2004.
216 “so understated and devoid of sentimentality”: Stephanie Zacharek, “Jersey Girl,” Salon, March 26, 2004.
217 “a Gucci shirt or a McDonald’s hat”: Onion Club and Thompson, Tenacity of the Cockroach, 23-24.
218 “it was a little embarrassing to be placed ahead of Lenny Bruce”: Joseph P. Kahn, “From 7 Words to Endless Ideas,” Boston Globe, July 20, 2006.
219 “I find out where they draw the line”: Make ’Em Laugh.
220 “it’s not only bad prose and poetry”: www.georgecarlin.com.
220 “If you’re born in America”: Appearance on Tavis Smiley (PBS), April 8, 2004.
221 “just one more bullshit political philosophy”: George Carlin, Napalm & Silly Putty (Hyperion, 2001), 261.
221 “I belong to no party”: Teachout, The Skeptic, 236.
221 “I read somewhere that every atom in us”: James A. Haught, “God, Life, and Avocado-Colored Kitchen Appliances: A Chat with George Carlin,” Free Inquiry (Summer 1999).
224 “picketers and counter-picketers”: Phil Grecian, “Carlin’s Complaints Not Shocking, for Him,” Topeka Capital-Journal, October 5, 2001.
224 “Riffs included suicide”: Norm Clarke, “Dark Carlin,” Las Vegas Review-Journal , December 4, 2004.
224 “punch up the writing”: Richard Cusick, “High Times Interview: The Clown’s Dark Genius,” High Times, November 1997.
224 “Some of the guys in there”: Hochman, “Playboy Interview.”
225 “the most dispiriting, soul-deadening city on earth”: Richard Abowitz, “George Carlin Hates Vegas,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2007.
226 “an apocalypse that is part Steven King”: Joshua David Mann, “The Complete Carlin: What You Can Learn by Watching 800 Minutes of George Carlin,” Slate, June 26, 2008.
226 “try to outwit the inner censor”: Jim Holt, Stop Me If You’ve Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes (W.W. Norton, 2008), 70.
226 “There are a lot of comics working forty years”: Jacques Steinberg, “Refusing to Coast on 7 Infamous Words,” New York Times, November 4, 2005.
228 “Thank you, Mr. Twain”: Paul Harris, “George Carlin to Take Twain Prize,” Variety, June 18, 2008.
228 “There’s always hope for comedians”: Hochman, “Playboy Interview.”
Kicker
231 “the filthiest piece of legislation”: Steven Pinker The Stuff of Thought: Language As a Window into Human Nature (Penguin Books, 2007), 360.
232 “to be fruitful and multiply”: Pinker, Stuff of Thought, 20.
232 “the word that’s probably the Queen Mother”: Glenn Garvin, “Carlin May Be Gone, But the Flap Over His Seven Words Isn’t,” Miami Herald, June 24, 2008.
232 “People have been telling me”: Joan Biskupic, “Supreme Court Ruling Bans Broadcast ‘Fleeting Expletives,’” USA Today, April 28, 2009.
233 “What can I say about George Carlin”: The Eleventh Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (PBS), 2009.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The one thing George Carlin took seriously was refusing to take anything seriously. In making a case for his comic philosophy, I am indebted to the many friends and acquaintances who shared their memories of him with me. Particular thanks to Jenni Matz, Ken Harris, Nick Zaino, David Tillotson, Trevon Blondet, and John Lewis Puff for their help with source materials.
Thanks to Paul Bresnick, my agent, for helping me cast a wide net. Thanks to Ben Schafer, my editor, for his enthusiasm and encouragement. Thanks again to Billie Porter for her keen eye.
I would like to thank Kelly Carlin-McCall for her kindness and willingness to make some room on the shelf.
Much like standup comedy, writing is a solitary pursuit, but I’ve been blessed with many funny people to brighten my life. In particular, old friends David Marmer and Jay Ablondi have always been comedians without going pro. My friend Jeremy Cowan carries a big shtick. And Rick D’Elia is, in fact, the coolest cousin-in-law.
My father, Al Sullivan, who was born five years to the day before Carlin, still loves to say that he raised an R-rated kid. More importantly, he gave me a critical survival skill: a cracked sense of humor. And my wonderful wife, Monica, and our three beautiful boys—Sam, Will, and Owen—remind me every day that nothing beats a smile and a laugh.
INDEX
ABC
Abortion
ACLU. See American Civil Liberties Union
The Act of Creation (Koestler)
Advertising
Agnew, Spiro
Ajaye, Franklin
Albee, Edward
Alexander, Shana
Ali, Muhammad
Allen, Fred
Allen, Steve
All in the Family
Altman, Bob
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Americathon (film)
Amsterdam, Morey
Anderson, Robert
The Andy Griffith Show
Apt. 2C
Arbogast, Bob
Arbogast, Peter
Ass
Atlantic Records
Atomic Age
Authority
Authors League of America
Away We Go
Aykroyd, Dan
Back in Town (HBO special)
Ballou, Wally
Banner, Bob
Barris, Chuck
Bastard
Bearey, Mary. See Carlin, Mary (mother)
Beat Generation
Becker, Murray
Belafonte, Harry
Belushi, John
Bennett, Tony
Benny, Jack
Berle, Marshall
Berle, Milton
Berman, Shelley
Bernacchi, Donald
Biafra, Jello
Bible
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (film)
Birth control
Bitch
Black, Hugo
Black, Lewis
Blackmun, Harry
Blair, Dennis
Bob and Ray
The Bob Newhart Show
Book, Stephen
Borge, Victor
Brain Droppings (Carlin)
Brennan, Bill
Brennan, William J.
Brenner, David
Brezner, Larry
Brinkley, David
Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act
Brooks, Albert
Brown, James
Brown, Oscar, Jr.
Bruce, Lenny
Buckley, Lord
<
br /> Burger, Warren E.
Burnett, Carol
Burns, Biff
Burns, George
Burns, Jack
Burns & Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight (album) (Carlin and Burns)
The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart (album) (Newhart)
Buttons, Red
Butz, Earl
Café Au Go Go, N.Y.
Café Wha?, N.Y.
Cannon, Freddy “Boom Boom,”
Cantrell, Lana
Carl, Dick
Carlin, Brenda
Carlin, George
as actor
appearance of
arrests of
awards received by
Copacabana meltdown of
death of
drug use of
early years of
education of
family background of
film roles of
financial problems of
health of
management of
military service of
as nightclub headliner
as radio announcer
in rehab
reviews of
Village years of
writing of
See also comedy albums; HBO specials
Carlin-McCall, Kelly (daughter)
Carlin, Mary (mother)
Carlin, Patrick (brother)
Carlin, Patrick (father)
Carlin at Carnegie (HBO special)
The Carlin Case (radio show)
Carlin’s Corner (radio show)
Carnegie Hall
Carroll, Johnny
Cars (film)
Carson, Johnny
Castro, Fidel
Catholic Church, Catholicism
CBS
Censorship
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Characters
Barf, Biff
Breckenridge, Congolia
Burns, Biff
Hippie-Dippy Postman
Hippie-Dippy Weatherman
“The Indian Sergeant,”
Lame, Scott
media
O’Grady, George
Pouch, Al
Sleet, Al
West, Willie
Cheech and Chong
Cheney, Dick
CIA. See Central Intelligence Agency
Civil rights movement
Class Clown (album) (Carlin)
Clay, Andrew “Dice,”
Clean Airwaves Act
Clerks (film)
The Coca-Cola Hi-Fi Club (radio show)
Cocksucker
Cohen, Herb
Cohen, Myron
Columbia University
Columbine High School shooting
Comedy
1950s
1970s
changes in
Dada
dark
“meta,”
music and
observational
physical
political
stand-up
underground
Comedy albums
Burns & Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight
Class Clown
Complaints and Grievances
FM & AM
Indecent Exposure
The Little David Years
Occupation: Foole
A Place for My Stuff
On the Road
Take-Offs and Put-Ons
Toledo Window Box
What Am I Doing in New Jersey
Comedy Central
Communism
Como, Perry
Complaints and Grievances (album) (Carlin)
Constitution, U.S.
Coolidge, Rita
Cooper, Pat
Copacabana
Corey, Irwin
Corpus Christi School, N.Y.
Cosby, Bill
Costello, Frank
Counterculture
Crockett, Theophilus “Ted,”
Crosby, Norm
Crosby Boys
Crystal, Billy
Cullum, John E.
Cullum, Leo
Culture
1960s
counter-
language and
popular
Saturday Night Live and
standards of
Cunt
Cushing, Richard Cardinal
Damone
Dana, Bill
Dangerfield, Rodney
The Danny Kaye Show
Darkness at Noon (Koestler)
Davidson, John
The David Susskind Show
Davis, Miles
Davis, Sammy, Jr.
Day, Doris
The Dean Martin Show
Death, dying
The Death of a President (Manchester)
Death of a Salesman (Miller)
The Debbie Reynolds Show
De Blasio, Ron
DeGeneres, Ellen
Democritus
Denver, Bob
The Dick Cavett Show
Dillards
Diller, Phyllis
Dogma (film)
Doin’ It Again (HBO special)
Don’t Smoke Dope, Fry Your Hair! (album) (Ajaye)
Doublespeak (Lutz)
Douglas, John H.
Douglas, Mike
Drawing on My Mind (film)
Drug use
Durante, Jimmy
Dylan, Bob
Easy Money (film)
Ebbins, Milt
Ebersol, Dick
Eden, Barbara
The Ed Sullivan Show
Edwards, Blake
Einstein, Bob
Elliott, Bob
Emmy Awards
Erlichman, Marty
Ertegun, Ahmet and Nesuhi
Esar, Evan
Esar’s Comic Dictionary
Evans, Bill
An Evening with Robert Klein (HBO special)
Everly Brothers
Fargas, Antonio
Farr, Jamie
Farrell, James T.
Fass, Bob
Fat Albert (Cosby)
FBI. See Federal Bureau of Investigation
FCC. See Federal Communications Commission
FCC v. Pacifica
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)