The Speaking Style of George Carlin

George Carlins speaking style is quick, sharp, and unforgiving. Off-screen and offstage he was

thoughtful, smart, analytical and soft-spoken, reminiscent of his early years as a comedian, but onstage

he looked his audience the face with utter confidence in his own skillful delivery of his hilarious opinions

and philosophies. George Carlin was born to be a showman and knew this from a young age. Carlins

demeanor was animated and enthusiastic even when he discussed dark and serious topics onstage. He

set himself apart from other comics by his original mix of comedy and philosophy, incessant touring, and

constant writing of new material.

Born to an Irish Catholic family in Manhattan in 1937, George Carlin was a disk jockey, television

star, movie star, author and stand-up comedian. Being the child of divorced parents, the product of

Catholic education, experiencing the counterculture movement of the 60s, and also dealing with

obscenity laws in America all contribute to Carlins comedy style. When Carlin was 12 years old he wrote

that he wanted to be an actor, comedian, disk jockey, or trumpet player and left school to follow this

dream. He grew up in New York next to Columbia University, some of the worlds largest churches and

cathedrals, and was encouraged to pursue this life of traditional higher learning and piety. However, Carlin

rejected this life and before he graduated high school he joined the air force. This moment of his life shows

how he rejected the traditional Catholic upbringing his mother wanted for him to follow his passion for

entertaining others that was birthed in the classroom.

George moved to California and had been working as a DJ for some time when the counter culture

movement struck a chord with him and he quit his job working clubs. Carlin changed his act and his

audience. He went from being, as he puts it, commercially and mainstream oriented to his newer

material targeting the counterculture movement as his audience. This move is personified in his album

FM & AM. His old material is reminiscent of his days as a disk jockey, with cleaner humor and cartoony

voice impersonations of other TV and radio personalities. However the FM side of the album gives insight

into who he was to become, the philosophy his comedy would center around, and some of the themes

and styles he would use later.

Carlins style is unapologetic, with his humor and content ranging from observances of the

hypocrisies found in American culture, to humor in language, to interesting human behavior. Over the

years Carlin became more and more cynical, his style and delivery became angrier and he progressed

from a lighthearted and comical young DJ to a long haired hippy to a grumpy old man. It is clear

throughout his career that Carlin also had strong opinions about censorship, religion, war, equality, and

society that drove him to keep presenting material and coming up with material in a way that people

would listen to and give pause to question their own perception of the world. These opinions shine

through in his routines when he made the transition from a comical distraction as a disk- jockey and club

entertainer to a political voice during the 60s.

Each of Carlins comedy routines give insight into his development and origins. In Class Clown,

Carlin depicts how his first stage was the classroom and the audience his classmates and how a class

clown could not resist releasing the suppressed laughter in a childrens classroom. Throughout many of

Georges routines he continually expresses his disgust at the hypocrisy of censorship and obscenity laws

in a country founded on principles of free speech. From 1961 to 1964, Lenny Bruce was arrested 4 times

for obscenity. George Carlin was arrested at the show for refusing to show ID and was also charged with

obscenity later for his routine Seven Dirty Words in Milwaukee. This, along with censorship of

television and radio by the FCC after the court case FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, gave Carlin ammo to

present questions about American freedoms to his audience. A minister and father complained to the

FCC about Carlins Filthy Words broadcast and Carlins response was Hey mister did anyone tell you

that there are two knobs on the radio? One of them turns the radio off, and the other one changes the

station! Carlins answer to someone being offended by words of another is to ignore it or to not listen.

Freedom of speech to George gave people the freedom to listen to what they want to and also to

choose not listen to what they didnt like. These events only further disillusioned him with American

idealism.

Carlin incorporated many different themes into his comedy routines. As such, his speaking style

matches his material. After his release FM&AM, he went from presenting himself as a suit wearing

showman to wearing simple clothes and sporting a beard and long hair. This brings focus to the real

show, the content. Carlin always has an underlying message or theme. For example, in Jammin in New

York, he expresses his disgust at the media and the government over the gulf war and the state of the

country. At this point in his career Carlin had already criticized the Vietnam War. Carlin continually

condemns war and the rich politicians sending other peoples children to die. In this special he likens

war to mens insecurity about their dicks and compares war to a prick waving dick fight.

Another favorite topic of Carlins was the Manufacture of American Bullshit as he called it. In

his special You Are All Diseased he points out how he has seen the indoctrination of the American public

into believing things without questioning them. He continually uses the theme of indoctrination and

mindless belief as a topic in his specials. In this special he uses the founding of America as just one of

many examples. He states, This country was founded by a group of slave-owners who told us all men

are created equal, and then goes on to describe how the founding fathers suggested their class also be

the only ones allowed to vote. In Its Bad for Ya, Carlin describes the hypocrisy and futility of Americans

and American politicians repeatedly saying God bless America. According to Carlin, God does not give

a flying fuck about America, and if these people really had heard about Jesus then they also would have

heard that he loved everyone and loved them equally so why would anyone ask God to go against his

nature and pick out his favorite country. His is incredibly confident, clear, honest, and direct. George

never puts a topic lightly for his audience. He is dark and cynical but as Carlin puts it in Its Bad For Ya,

People just refuse to be realistic. The truth about America is that it is a country founded by slave-

owners and as he puts it, stolen from the Mexicans and the Indians. Carlin knew this and felt it was

imperative that people think for themselves and form their own opinions about this country and life in

general.

Carlins style is original and unique in that he poses specific moral, ethical, philosophical, and

social questions to his audience while making the material humorous. In Carlins last HBO special Its Bad

for Ya the stage is decorated like a graveyard. At this point in his life he had had two heart attacks and

lost a wife. At this point in his life Carlin was a cynical old man and the content of his special consisted of

language, beliefs, and illusions people have about death. Carlin questions the things people say and

believe about death and the afterlife. To Carlin religion was nothing but mind control and the concept

of an afterlife is just a way for people to comfort themselves. In this special he questions the social

importance that his generation placed on children. Like other issues Carlin presents people who take

special care of their kids and are obsesses with their future as child worshippers and the idea of every

child being special as a ludicrous notion. He also expresses his disgust for people in general. To him

niceties are stupid bullshit and he finds people that dont know when to stop talking as dangerous.

This routine completes his transformation from long haired edgy hippy to crotchety old cynic.

Carlins onstage presence is a dichotomy of a man desiring to deliver to his audience truth in the

form of comedy. His specials are hilarious but often his material is not because he speaks about the

degradation of American rights, the people we kill, our ignorant society, and our overindulgent culture.

His specials make his audience laugh but also make them question their own notions of what America

stands for and where society really stands. In his segment Dumb Americans he describes to his audience

how he feels that, only a nation of un-enlightened halfwits could have a taken this beautiful continent

and turned it into what it is today, a shopping mall. In this segment he describes how he has observed,

huge piles of redundant protoplasm lumbering through the malls, like a fleet of interstate buses,

shopping and eating. Carlin provides evidence of stupidity in American society to make his point. His

point is that he believes that this country is bought and sold by the big business interests in this country

and that these are the real owners of America. He also states he believes that education will never

improve or be fixed because these owners dont want people who are smart enough to sit around a

kitchen table and think about how badly theyre getting screwed by a system that threw them

overboard 30 years ago. Carlin reaches this point in his comedy routine and then jumps back into the

ridiculous notion of putting suicides on TV to balance the federal budget. This is a perfect example of the

dichotomy between the serious topics that George felt compelled to cover while still entertaining his

audience.

Carlin possesses some of the greatest qualities of a public speaker. He shows no sign of

hesitating no matter what topic he is discussing. He never stumbles over a word or shows shyness in

front of his audience and is always animated with his face and hands. He most certainly does not

possess the qualities of a motivational speaker as according to him, motivation is bullshit, and if

people need to be motivated then they just need to be smashed in the head thirty ort forty times with

a golf club, and that will at least get someone up and moving around the room. According to him highly

motivated people are the ones causing all the problems. He is also very adept at making people who

held an opinion different from him look ridiculous. He criticizes religion as the biggest bullshit story,

and sarcastically describes religion as having actually convinced people, that there is an invisible man,

living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And this invisible man has a

list of 10 things he does not want you to do. And if you any of these ten things he has a special place full

of fire and smoke and torture where he will send you to live and suffer and choke and suffer until the

end of time But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money. Carlin used the hypocrisys and

holes in the other sides argument or opinion to support his own. A tool used by many politicians and

debaters. Carlin is so convincing as a public speaker that some of the ridiculous notions he talks about,

such as fencing off four rectangular states for criminals to roam free, bringing back public executions,

and an all suicide channel on TV, can almost be taken as plausible by the audience.

George Carlin was not just a comedian. He was an outspoken critic of society who followed his

childhood dreams of entertaining a crowd to success. Along with that success he experienced what

many others like him have experienced, disillusionment with himself and the impact (or lack of impact)

his words had on people, drug addiction, and changing perceptions of the world. He should be admired

for his honesty, his desire for the truth, and his unwavering support for free speech and freedom of

choice.

Bibliography

George Carlin Interview. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2015, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CewUVZZMXT8

8 Celebrities Arrested for Obscenity (and What It Was They Said or Did). (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2015,

from http://mentalfloss.com/article/30503/8-celebrities-arrested-obscenity-and-what-it-was-they-said-

or-did

Zoglin, R. (2008, June 23). How George Carlin Changed Comedy. Retrieved May 10, 2015, from

http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1817192,00.html

George Carlin--It's bad for ya' [Motion picture]. (2008). MPI Home Video.

George Carlin--you are all diseased [Motion picture]. (1999).

George Carlin--Complaints & grievances [Motion picture]. (2007). MPI Home Video.

George Carlin--Life is worth losing [Motion picture]. (2007). MPI Home Video.

George Carlin--Jammin' in New York [Motion picture]. (2006). MPI Home Video.

George Carlin- Class Clown [Audio Recording] (1972)