George Carlin: You Are All Diseased

I wasn't too fond of this one after listening to it for the first time. However, after listening to it again, I have a much more positive opinion of this one. Carlin sounds REALLY angry in this one! I have yet to hear any of his other work were he sounded this way. In his bit on "Fear of Germs," he sounds infuriated! Just the first few words alone, he sounds like he's gonna go murder somebody right in the middle of the show! However, regardless, I full heartedly agree with his opinions on the House of Blues, angels, religion, kids and parents, and minority language. The man should be elected president! Imagine Carlin as president. I ask you, do you really think he'd do a bad job?

Since today is George Carlin's 70th birthday, I wanted to review one of his stand-up performances. "George Carlin: You Are All Diseased" is one of the funniest stand-up performances that I've ever seen. It shows that Carlin hasn't lost his touch, as he assails every aspect of society. I never realized it before, but it's true: everyone BS's* us (including our parents and teachers). I couldn't agree with him more about religion, and he did have a good suggestion about preventing diseases. But no matter what, Carlin positively identifies that pretty much everything about our society turns us into a bunch of submissive little f--king pussies. A great experience.

*I assume that you know that BS is short for a word that I'm not allowed to write here; a word basically meaning "male-cow excrement".

You don't get the highest joke-per-minute count with this one, but the laughs are so deep and satisfying, their build up so artfully and powerfully crafted, that each laugh is worth a dozen of any other comedian's. George Carlin unleashes the most furious, malevolent, blistering rant of his career, all the while reaffirming his place as one of America's all time greatest comics. What's so remarkable is that I thought I already knew just how p***** off George was. His ultra-anger may be a put on, a device masking his true gentler nature, but you'll swear he's about to spontaneously implode. Maybe the recent death of his longtime wife fueled him in a new way, or maybe he just keeps getting better. Either way, its an hour of searing, raging joy.

George Carlin is a waterfall of words, one that can't be stopped once he's going. In this show he's like he always is, critical about everything he witnesses, critical about the same things we all think but never say. He might have a negative view of the world, like I do, but you can't blame him for telling the truth in a funny satirical way. I don't think it can be offensive enough as we sometimes need a good piece of truth shoved in our face to make us realize we are all pawns of this corrupted society. Secretly eveybody gets his message but sometimes it's just difficult to admit it. Another show of George Carlin, where he rants about everything he hates and that's just never boring as a show. You either love him or you hate him, and I'd rather be with people that love him.

Before Atheism, laughing at the incidents around the world, hating the government and the systems in America, cheering for the villains on all sides along with having a mind for critical thinking, George Carlin's "You are all Diseased" was the first stand up special I saw of the famous comedian on HBO in the early months of 1999 where not only did I laugh my butt off, I was also at the early stages of a young man where I thought about what he said from religion being full of you-know-what to how pathetic we Americans are in terms of sensitivity and want things done in a orderly fashion were right on the money. The more I watched his programs, the more I understood.

"You are all diseased" concentrates on things that make George very upset off from white people acting black (ex: the blues brothers), airport security (an early prophecy before 9/11), kids (too much concentration from school shootings to uniforms), America (and I agree with reason), and religion (who doesn't agree with me?); he also has suggestions on club and restaurant names to programs that would have jump the ratings board and songs just for kicks.

As a fan of George for over nine years and hearing the recent of his passing, I raise my glass and say thanks for the memories and laughter while at the same time educating us to be better people without being fodder like the rest of the world.

Cheers, George.