The George Carlin presentation on Wednesday was very insightful. The part that intrigued me most was the second clip from Carlin’s show, Life is Worth Losing. Having seen the intro and the other segment we watched in class (the one about the “pyramid” with suicidal people and the disgust Carlin has for consumerism), I was interested to see if maybe those parts where categorical of the whole show. Now, I believe the tone of the parts we saw previously in class is indeed the tone that Carlin’s carries throughout the performance. It is that pessimistic, angry old man attitude where nothing is good, and humanity will hopefully erase itself from the face of the planet. (Hence the name of the show, and also, why Carlin fits the “villain” persona so well, just like the presentation described).
Now, the above is somewhat old news, because the crankiness is a feature of Carlin’s I (and others) have already discussed at length. What was new this time around was the way I approached watching the clip. I already knew what to expect—a wizened, angry Carlin—and because of that, I did not have the same shock that I did when first watching Life is Worth Losing. Not being shocked, I started to focus on why I was shocked (and received the material so badly) the first time around. The main reason I’ve decided on is that despite the prevailing belief that after comedians like Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy, nothing is shocking anymore, the reality is that shock come in more ways than marginal language, sexual jokes, or racial comments. For me, the new type of shock for value is a deep level of morbid thinking about humanity or the future. However, this is not any old joke about some morbid scenario (because, for me, some of those are funny), but rather, it is morbid thought supported by the comics whole-hearted and sincere belief in that thought. Essentially, the shock is coming from the joke no longer being a joke, but it being a serious desire masked as humor so as to make it more palatable.
I suppose I am back to where I started, since the first time I looked at Carlin’s most recent material, I decided it was not funny because it was not delivered as a joke. His contempt comes through his material too well, and really sets a negative tone to the performance. Then again, that might be why people still find him funny (just look at the performance’s sold out crowd for evidence of that).
Anyway, apart from all that, Wednesday’s presentation was enjoyable, and it makes me look forward to seeing everyone else’s.
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