NORTHAMPTON – Longtime fans of George Carlin were no doubt thrilled the moment the 68-year-old comedian took the stage Saturday night at the Calvin Theatre. Never mind the usual excitement that accompanies a performer taking a stage, this was something special. Last fall’s HBO special “Life Is Worth Losing,” Carlin’s 13th stand-up hour for the network, found the legendary comic tackling extremely dark subjects; all while appearing to be very sick himself.
However, Saturday night Carlin was in great shape, form and spirits when he performed two sets of material to almost sold-out crowds. Carlin began with the verbose, playful, tongue-twisting monologue that opened “Life Is Worth Losing” before explaining that he was incredibly sick – suffering from heart failure – when he taped that special. Carlin shared a brief anecdote about being hospitalized from Christmas Eve until New Years Day which, he said, was fine with him.
Had Carlin not mentioned his recent problems the audience probably would not have noticed that there was anything wrong with him; he was as dynamic, elastic and sharp as ever, mixing material from “Life Is Worth Losing” with some new bits that found the crowd in hysterics. As always, Carlin displayed great talent in mixing the absurd with the serious; never coming off as self-important but ready to confront real world issues head on.
Most of Carlin’s material is, of course, unprintable. But the man who popularized the “seven words you can never say on television” does not rely on profanity as a comedic crutch. In fact, it is the way that Carlin twists words and phrases around that has made him such an endurably brilliant comic. Of course sometimes the master of the spoken word was content to let pure filth run rampant. Carlin told a series of “family” jokes – that is, jokes about families – that he noted were perhaps the dirtiest he’s ever told. When some of the audience groaned at the X-rated punch lines, Carlin confidently replied that they would be telling the jokes to all their friends next week.
A running theme of the show was ideas that he thinks about but probably only interest him. An extended riff on suicide found Carlin ruminating over the idea of an all-suicide network where people would compete to off themselves in the most fantastic ways. Following a few reflections on similarly dark ideas Carlin noted that it is his interest in these things that “limit my circle of friends.”
Carlin also continued his track record of including insightful social commentary. While he serves primarily as an entertainer, he is unafraid to get serious for periods of time. A lengthy speech about how the selfish, abusive corporate executives who run the country only had a few jokes within it; rather Carlin dropped his comedian shtick and delivered straight social commentary.
Ending with an epic account of how the world would, or perhaps should, end Carlin satisfied his desire for all disasters to get worse and worse much to the crowd’s delight; the performance was no doubt a success of massive proportions. Carlin’s energy, intelligence, and infamous sense of humor were in full force and, best of all, he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
