Dick Summer Connection

Now, here’s something that might surprise you. I’m glad George Carlin died. He had a spectacular life. I met him a couple of times when I was at WNEW, because the air staff used to mc the Shaeffer Central Park Concerts in New York…and Carlin was the star several times when I was the mc. A brilliant guy. And for all his run ins with “The Forces For Good In The Community”…Carlin was an extremely ethical guy. Here’s what he said about the death penalty: “If it’s morally wrong to kill anyone, then it’s morally wrong to kill anyone…period.” And he nailed censorship when he said, “Censorship that comes from the outside assumes about people an inability to make reasoned choices.” And it wasn’t just funny when he said, “If everybody knew the truth about everybody else’s thoughts, there would be way more murders.”

Most people remember his “Al Sleet, the hippy dippy weather man.” But he did some pretty serious stuff, too. He defined broadcast obscenity better than the government ever did with his seven deadly words you can’t say on the air. But I think his biggest contribution to society… outside of the fact that he fed so well and so long our terrible hunger for real humor…was his bit about God. I don’t remember the exact wording… But it went something like this: “God is an invisible old man with a long grey beard. He made you and he loves you. You can’t see him. He lives in heaven, and you can’t see heaven either. But God has these ten commandments, and if you break any of them, he will throw you into hell fires where you will burn in agony for all eternity…because he loves you.”

It was hugely funny the way Carlin told it. But it was also a one paragraph grad school course in theology. Carlin…like all the great comedians…made us think. Thinking was the price he made us pay for the fun of laughing at his bits. One of his albums is called Occupation Foole… with an e on the end of the word. The title comes from the fact that the medieval kings usually had a court jester…for entertainment. But more than one jester lost his head in the process of being funny…literally. That could happen when you jabbed too sharp a stick into the conscience of the king.

Carlin had a very pointy stick. And he jabbed it regularly. And he paid for it. Like his hero Lenny Bruce, and many others before him.

Carlin was the naughty kid who made the class laugh with quick bits behind the teacher’s back. He stirred his philosophy into his material carefully. That very serious look at life that he had… always came with lots of laughs…which made his pointy stick easy to remember.

But one comment of his that far too few people remember went like this: “Given the right reasons, and the right two people, marriage is a wonderful way of experiencing your life.” His wife was the light of his life. She was his manager for a while, and his lover and his companion…the light of his life…they walked hand in hand always.

She died a while ago. And when she did, the naughty kid in Carlin went with her…to wherever we go…when we go. What was left of him stood around here doing stand up that became more and more dark, and bitter, and old. But that little kid inside George, who used to cut up in class, was gone.

That’s why I said I’m glad he finally died. George had a trip to take. He was desperate to find that little kid inside…the one who went away with the light of his life. I understand. Life must get awfully dark…when the light of your life is gone.

Dick’s details quiz. All answers are in the current podcast at www.DickSummer.com .1- How come birds bomb our cars so accurately?