Posts Tagged ‘ George Carlin ’

Jerry Seinfeld, Microsoft, & the Orpheum 18 September 2008 at 3:38 pm by Jason 376 views

What is the deal with Stand Up Comics?  Do they really have to stand up?  Does this somehow help the jokes they are telling?  What if they get tired and have to sit down?  And why don’t they just sit down anyway?  It seems it’d make them more comfortable, I mean, you don’t have to stand up to watch.  What if they break an ankle… do they have to take time off, or do they have to bill themselves as a temporarily-sitting comic?  I’d bet that’s their worst nightmare… I mean, who wants to see a comic in a cast?  “Well, I was planning on going out to see my favorite stand up comedian, and I heard he has to be in a wheelchair.  I’m sorry, but unless he’s standing the jokes just don’t work for me.”  Stand up comics… huh.

So, I’m off to see Jerry Seinfeld tonight at the Orpheum theatre in Omaha… I’m totally excited!  I can now add Jerry Seinfeld to my list of “Comics I’ve Always Wanted to See Live.”  So far that list contains Lewis Black and George Carlin.  After Seinfeld I dunno who else is on the list… I’d have to think about it.

Speaking of Jerry, did you get a chance to view his Microsoft commercials?  If not, you’d best get to watching because as of today, they’ve halted the campaign:

Microsoft is expected to announce Thursday that it will be suspending its ad campaign featuring Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and veteran comedy superstar Jerry Seinfeld.

Valleywag broke the news Wednesday, and Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw told the LA Times that the move was planned, despite the appearance that the company is reacting to negative reaction to the ads.

According to Mr. Shaw, the Seinfeld portion of the campaign, for which he was reportedly paid some US$10 million, was always intended to be just an introduction for the overall campaign — a two commercial introduction for $10 million.

“All along we said we were having a teaser campaign,” he told the LA Times. “We’re getting ready to start the second phase. This was the plan all along.”

Here is the first commercial:

And the second:

Sad that there won’t be more, but at least we got to enjoy it while it lasted.

Well, I have to go… I need to ponder peanuts on airplanes and why they have that little slot for razors (who is shaving on a plane?!).



+ R.I.P. George Carlin By Jason 23 June 2008 at 8:11 am 204 views No Comments

One of my most favorite comedians died while I was on the road yesterday.  I’m quite glad I was able to see his stand-up live.  From CNN:

Comedian-actor George Carlin, known for his raunchy but insightful humor, died of heart failure Sunday in Los Angeles, his publicist said. He was 71.

Jeff Abraham said Carlin went into St. John’s Health Center on Sunday afternoon, complaining of chest pain. Carlin died at 5:55 p.m. PT.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

“He was a genius and I will miss him dearly,” Jack Burns, who was the other half of a comedy duo with Carlin in the early 1960s, told The Associated Press.

Carlin was best known for his routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television,” which appeared on 1972’s “Class Clown” album.

When Carlin uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace, the AP reported. The comedy sketch prompted a landmark indecency case after WBAI-FM radio aired it in 1973.

The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where the justices ruled 5-4 that the sketch was “indecent but not obscene,” giving the FCC broad leeway to determine what constituted indecency on the airwaves.

“So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I’m perversely kind of proud of,” Carlin said. “In the context of that era, it was daring.”

“It just sounds like a very self-serving kind of word. I don’t want to go around describing myself as a ‘groundbreaker’ or a ‘difference-maker’ because I’m not and I wasn’t,” he said. “But I contributed to people who were saying things that weren’t supposed to be said.”

Carlin, who was also an author, was slated to receive in November the 2008 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, given by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

“In his lengthy career as a comedian, writer and actor, George Carlin has not only made us laugh, but he makes us think,” Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen Schwarzman said in a statement. “His influence on the next generation of comics has been far-reaching.”

In a typically wry response, Carlin said, “Thank you, Mr. Twain. Have your people call my people.”

Carlin hosted the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” in October 1975.

He played the character of Mr. Conductor on the PBS series “Shining Time Station” and starred in more than a dozen HBO specials. Carlin was also a regular on The Tonight Show.

He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies, from his own comedy specials to “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” in 1989, the AP reported.

He also starred in three of comedic director Kevin Smith’s movie — 1999’s “Dogma,” 2001’s “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and 2004’s “Jersey Girl.” And his voice was so familiar and tuned to the craft of comedy that he was often asked to appear in cartoons, including Toon City’s “Tarzan II,” Disney’s “Cars” and two episodes of “The Simpsons.”

He won four Grammy Awards, each for best spoken comedy album, and was nominated for five Emmy awards, according to AP.

How horribly sad to wake up to.  Rest in peace, George!