Do you think George Carlin would be popular today if he was still alive?

[Jayson1]

I just watched a documentary about stand up comedy in the modern age and it made me curious to see what everyone thinks. I think the internet would tear him to shreads or at least try. Carlin never seemed like someone who ever backed down. I think he would really be tearing into both Trump and everything connected to that but also social media.. I mean this is the guy who made a joke about finding it fun to watch natural disasters. Granted it was making commentary about how people look at the terrible things in the media and how they are sort of watching a disaster from a safe distance on tv and also how people see trajedy and part of them is relieved that it's not happening to them. Not sure if that would matter to some people.

Jason

 

[RJDiogenes]

I do not think Carlin would be a fan of the trolls and slacktivists infesting social media. His brand of anti-establishment humor would probably not be as popular, but we could sure use him.

 

[Tenacity]

think he would really be tearing into both Trump and

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[JirinPanthosa]

100%. He'd be making fun of all the crap about culture that aggravates everyone.

 

[gblews]

I just watched a documentary about stand up comedy in the modern age and it made me curious to see what everyone thinks. I think the internet would tear him to shreads or at least try. Carlin never seemed like someone who ever backed down. I think he would really be tearing into both Trump and everything connected to that but also social media..

He'd be in his late 70's or early 80's, but I have no doubt he'd be skewering the current president. One of Carlin's main things was hypocrisy.

But if he were brand new on the scene, I mean born 50 to 60 years later, I think he'd still great because he was truly a talented and funny guy.

I also think he might do very well on the internet, especially on Twitter which is a great platform for short takes and one liners. But I don't think his humor overall would have the same impact it did back in the day. There are lots of comedians who do observational humor, a style he practically invented.

It would also be interesting hearing what he thought about the Raiders' move to Las Vegas, as well.

 

[Forbin]

Jerry Seinfeld said that lately, his classic routines are falling flat, and getting tsks rather than laughs. People are getting too uptight these days. One of the roots of comedy is making fun of people, even in irreverent and sometimes tasteless ways. One of Sam Kinneson's biggest laughs ever was when he said (well, yelled) there wouldn't be starving people in Africa if they'd just "GO WHERE THE FOOD IS!!!"

We used to be able to laugh at ourselves and each other with some mutual understanding that certain humor is there to just poke fun, maybe raise a little awareness of our foibles, not to seriously insult.

 

[Sophie74656]

I think he would have the best material about the current president!

 

[Jayson1]

I think Carlin would have a field day with Trump and the alt right but he would really give it to liberals as well. He would destroy social media I suspect. I think he might go after things that isn't talked about much though like climate change and gun shootings. I only wonder what he would say about the famous sexual predators like Weinstein and Cosby. I think he would really go after Cosby since he was found out not to be just a deviant but a hypocrite and false, good guy as well.


Jason

 

[Tenacity]

I think he might go after things that isn't talked about much though like climate change and gun shootings.

Things that aren't talked about much?

Huh?

 

[Kor]

.... People are getting too uptight these days. ...

Agreed.

Kor

 

[Jayson1]

Things that aren't talked about much?

Huh?

I mean the only are really talked about when a incident happens that involve them. With guns it's usually the same song and dance. Republicans say "to soon to talk about" and then Democrats give the usually speeches. Then both sides try to get a few small laws passed that don't really address the issue and gun lovers go and buy more guns because the very talk makes them feel paranoid someone is going to come get their guns and then the talking ends until the next one happens. Climate change seems to only happen when you got a massive hurricane or something but it doesn't really feel like a everyday topic in the news to me. I mean they do get talked about more than the big banks recently or money in politics which only happens during election seasons but that isn't saying much, IMO.

Jason

 

[JirinPanthosa]

He’d be going after Trump but I think he’d be going after the more hyperbolic reactions to Trump too.

He would be lampasting the self-satisfied college liberal who tolerates everyone except Trump supporters just as much as Trump.

 

[Jayson1]

He’d be going after Trump but I think he’d be going after the more hyperbolic reactions to Trump too.

He would be lampasting the self-satisfied college liberal who tolerates everyone except Trump supporters just as much as Trump.

I agree. Nobody would get a free pass. I think he might also go after things like Marvel movies and the kind of death of the middle-range movies where everything has to be a blockbuster or bust. That or endless reboots and sequels. I mean he did live long enough to see some of that stuff anyways but I think he would really see it as a issue in 2018. Maybe even Netflix and streaming services.


Jason

 

[stoneroses]

Yes he was brilliant

 

[Tenacity]

With guns it's usually the same song and dance.

Carlin at times could be very insightful. It would be interesting to see if he could bring a viewpoint to the discussion-debate that's missing. He did talk about global warming (the planet needed plastic and couldn't make it by itself), but hearing Carlin go into the motivations behind why the shooter shoots in the first place.

 

[Borgminister]

Gone too soon.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I agree. Nobody would get a free pass.

This is what I loved best about Carlin. I didn't always agree with him, of course, but he showed no mercy to anybody. And he was hilarious in his mercilessness.

 

[Qonundrum]

How coudn't Carlin be a shoo-in to fix the problems he believed were going on at the time? Why didn't the dude in the video clip above who screamed "Ya!" follow up by yelling the equally obvious "Carlin 2012! I'll get the kegger on!!"? (Or would he be a shoo-in?)

 

[Qonundrum]

This is what I loved best about Carlin. I didn't always agree with him, of course, but he showed no mercy to anybody. And he was hilarious in his mercilessness.

He had the cadence and inflection to make it work, that's for sure.

 

[Forbin]

I say this as a firearms collector, shooter, and self-defense believer - one of the funniest things I ever heard him say was when laws were passed against realistic-looking toy guns (in his totally exasperated voice) : "and... they're outlawing toy guns... BUT KEEPING THE REAL ONES!!"