Stevie shares his memory of seeing Carlin in Vegas in the 70s, with his parents – a couple months after Carlin had been arrested for obscenity. Not to be missed.
The next day, after a lox-and-bagel buffet breakfast and a trip to Hoover Dam, we saw Sergio Franchi (lucious baritone in a dove gray Nehru suit) and Milt Kamens, one of the old guard Jewish comedians who perfected their routines thirty years before in the Catskills and were enjoying a time of great popularity. Funny accents, punch lines, and a lot of finesse – old fashioned comedy, about to be anhilated by the likes of George Carlin.
Thrilling.
I didn’t realize I was witnessing a revolution, but I was. It was such a quantum shift in a fundamental area – what is funny? I’ve been thinking about what it must have been like for George Carlin to have chosen his profession, his “Look at me” platform, and then to discover there was a huge new direction he could take it. To be an innovator is maybe the greatest and rarest thing a person can be. George Carlin is a part of that mighty pantheon. Einstein is squooshing over a little to make room. Wow.
thanks for pointing me to Stevie’s blog — great read!