/lit/ - Literature

He's not even a good comedian. He's a pop-philosopher without anything interesting to say. The only people that like him are those that have their opinions justified by him. They laugh and think "He's so right! (I'm so right!)"

Andy Kaufman, Steven Wright, Tim Heidecker, and the like are much better comedians than Carlin ever was.

fucking hell. does no one know the definition of literature?

Early Carlin was great. But by the end he was just a bitter version of a mediocre comedian.

I remember when I was 13

>>3871504
>>3871501

I don't like you. Neither of you.

How the.. nah, fuck, its not even worth my time.

>>3871509
>I'm gonna prove you wrong!
>Nah I wouldn't WASTE my time on you IDIOTS who can't understand good COMEDY

Top lel, isn't Tosh.0 on somewhere? Or rather, Alex Jones?

Retard who spouted some vague bullshit about bankers and rich people. A faux-misanthrope and a fraud.

>>3871509
You mean "either." Maybe you'd have learned that if entry-level standup comedy wasn't your idea of good literature.

>>3871504
>Tim Heidecker
Kaufman was not a stand-up comedian

>>3871534
>Kaufman was not a stand-up comedian
He did do stand up.

>>3871538
Yeah, I don't know I'm being a irrationally nitpicky but I wouldn't call Kaufman's stage stuff "standup comedy."

>>3871542
He probably did do stuff you'd call stand up, but if you mean his character work it's as much stand up as what guys like Al Murray do.

>>3871534
I'm going to assume that you have a pretty shoddy-yet-specific definition of what stand-up is that won't hold up to scrutiny.

Not sure why you greened Heidecker. All three do/did standup, but not just standup.

Honestly, when I watch Carlin now I can't help but cringe at how hard he tries to come off as misanthropic and edgy. Half the time he's not even telling jokes, he's just fucking ranting about how much he hates everybody else.

>>3871494
>why doesn't /lit/ ever give him any credit for the genius wordsmith that he was?
He wasn't.

>>3871504
>He's a pop-philosopher without anything interesting to say. The only people that like him are those that have their opinions justified by him.
Seconded so much.

>>3871494

Good riddance I say.

>>3871566
Tell me about it. I used to be a huge Bill Hicks fan in JR High ("Surrounded by stupid SHEEP") and now when I see his sets I want to murder myself.

>>3871532
Doesn't "neither" just mean "not either"?

>>3871509
How about you actually express an onion rather than crying about your feelings you piece of shit

They call it the American Dream cos ya have to be sleeping to beleive it LOL
this coming from a dude who makes money asking why it's not OK for white people to use racial slurs

Maria Bamford is better anyway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq089dWSzMs

>>3871583

>this coming from a dude who makes money asking why it's not OK for white people to use racial slurs

How is that anything to do with his quote about the american dream and is it impossible for you to post without moaning about racism.

>>3871494

OP, I agree, he had a great way with words, I've actually got his autobiography on my shelf somewhere.

>>3871599
You should maybe stop moaning about my mention of racism, maybe. It was an offhanded comment about how this is a successful person bitching about the "American Dream"; it's not any different from when Chomsky does it. I just don't care about Carlin enough to know what other garbage he produced, so I pulled the egregious example I know of. I could make a larger point about how he complains about the negative aspects of America while still buying into a toxic idea of "free speech" (i.e. free speech is always good, so complaining about such things is inherently liberating), which, if there is some nebulous group responsible for all the things Carlin talks about, such an idea of free speech is certainly to their benefit, but you'd only complain further.

>>3871583
>this coming from a dude who makes money asking why it's not OK for white people to use racial slurs

Oh, my! What an insightful deconstruction of the white oppressor comedian!

>>3871626
>toxic idea of "free speech"
This isn't tumblr you feelings obsessed retard.

>>3871643
it has nothing to do with feelings or tumblr--the american conception of "freedom of speech" and freedom in general is retarded and politically pacifying.

>>3871583
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq089dWSzMs
>that formulaic affect
>that lack of anything interesting to say
>that lack of anything even funny happening

who's this hack?

>>3871626
Maybe he had the maturity to realize that he was lucky? Just because he happened to find success doesn't mean he can't criticize the fairy tale.

>>3871653
>Freedom of speech is why the socialist revolution never happened.

>>3871643
>tumblr
>feelings

But 4chan is feels

>watching American stand-up comedians
British, Irish and Australian comedians are much funnier by default

>>3871668
Eh, far from it, but Chomsky's idea about freedom of speech + corporate media + subtle Western propaganda defining what's acceptable political discourse here is one facet, definitely

>>3871494
>writer, thinker, and master of the English language
And I suppose you'd say the same for Louis "Wah Wah Wah, Being a Dad is Real Hard Guise" C.K.?

>>3871675
In this day and age, absolutely no one is beholden to get their news from the corporate media.

>>3871681
louis ck is a lot cooler than carlin. i know his fanbase sucks and it seems he just complains about white people reddit-tier shit, but he gets deeper and more nuanced than that, i think.

>>3871663
It's one of the better things he's said, I'll admit, but I see it superimposed over his face on macro images too often to take it seriously anymore.

>>3871643
I'm fine with you wasting your time saying whatever you want to say, just don't pretend you're oppressed when I call you a dipshit for saying it.

>>3871634
Ironically, academics who praise "transgressive" literature and art aren't much different from what Carlin is going for, just in a different direction.

>>3871654
You've never seen a haul video, the latest of late capitalism? It's a parody.
I like my satire as dry as I was going in ur mom's ass last night sorry if ur offended

>>3871695
>I'm fine with you wasting your time saying whatever you want to say, just don't pretend you're oppressed when I call you a dipshit for saying it.
Just as long as you don't pretend you're oppressed when I call you a nigger over the internet.

>>3871698
please stop :(

if you want racist humor, Anthony Jeselnik does it in at least a little more nuanced manner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VAvTm62FWA
I think he's sort of becoming a Daniel Tosh, though

>>3871695
my mom doesn't have an ass.

>>3871723
how she poop??

>>3871717
You are a loser.

>>3871717
Jeselnik is fucking awful lol, the whole Comedy Central pack is banal. Oh wow, you made a joke about a fucking celebrity, how edgy.

>>3871730
did u know that in Russia they write frowny faces like ( cos they don't have colons on their keyboards
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
^how i'm feeling right now

>>3871723
I was going to write "sorry i meant your dog i get them confused sometimes lol" but I'm sorry your mother doesn't have a colon either

>>3871730
Offee's for losers.

>>3871685
>Implying it still doesn't wield immense influence.

Even people on /lit/ largely eat up bourgeois narratives whole. For fuck's sake, the only political "rebels" on this site are literal fascists on /pol/...how much more beholden to corporate media can you get?

>>3871751
>Oh wow, you made a joke about a fucking celebrity, how edgy.
What celebrity did he make a joke out of that you like?

>>3871756
>For fuck's sake, the only political "rebels" on this site are literal fascists on /pol/.
I bet you came a little writing that.

Carlinites are the worst people. Cynicism with a tinge of-oops, nothing. How boring.

Carlin, Hicks, and others like them are really cool and incisive...if your a 15 year old pot smoker.

Seriously, this brand of 'comedy' which attempts to seize some kind of moral and intellectual high-ground (completely failing at doing so, by the way) is so dull and repetitious, and deserves no comparison with any kind of decent literature.

>>3871872
I'd argue that comedians like Kaufman and Heidecker do very interesting things with the idea of comedy, what is funny, how we interact with comedians, etc and place themselves in an intellectual high ground.

Comedians should examine comedy, not "ideas".

lel at this thread.

Carlin was an angsty pleb.

>>3871494
hipster detected.

>>3871575

>Bill Hicks

Ugh.

I still find him funny when he's actually doing comedy but, at the risk of sounding like a "hurr durr i don't like comedy wit smartz", his political and Christian shit got tired so fucking fast.

>>3871956

I've never seen Hicks be funny. Do you have to be drunk?

What does /lit think about Spalding Grey? I liked his monologue about working on the film "The Killing Fields."

I used to like him.
Then I went back and watched some of his stuff, and my inner 15 year old was ashamed for having liked it.

>>3871980

>I've never seen Hicks be funny. Do you have to be drunk?

lol
Some stuff he does is pretty funny, like stories from when he was younger e.g. the time he and some friends got high, stole one of their dads' cars and got pulled over by the police, and were speaking to the wing-mirror.
Stuff like that just comes off as funny drinking story shenanigans.

Then again there's the "hey, why is smoking banned on planes, but kids aren't XD" stuff, which is to be avoided.

Daily reminder

>Carlin was in Scary Movie 3

>>3872019
not to mention 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'

Carlintards and Hickstards are the worst.

Their comedy is mediocre, but the fans are just fucking idiots.

>lol man, this is, like, so deep! we're all vibrations and we're all the echo of each other
>damn blew my mind XD

>>3872028
'Jersey Girl' ugh pleb

On 4chan it seems to be the norm to have unnecessary vitriol in your heart for anyone who's vaguely popular and critical. Admittedly I'm not actually surprised /lit/ is being hateful.


If you want my opinion, or an opinion that is not relentlessly caustic, Carlin was a good comedian. He was not a "genius wordsmith" nor did he really contribute enough to get regarded as one. He stated vague cliches about the failures of our society that just about everyone who was educated was aware of.

He was a good comedian but not an intellectual figure. What did he contribute besides his grievances of society ruminating in his mind?

He was good at making people laugh but idiots like OP give him a bad name by trying to regard him as a Socrates.

>>3872039

>On 4chan it seems to be the norm to have unnecessary vitriol in your heart for anyone who's vaguely popular and critical. Admittedly I'm not actually surprised /lit/ is being hateful.

>unnecessary vitriol
>for an edgy hack

he's funny if you're 12 or 13 years old I guess, but after that you've already seen him and you're already past that stage in your life and it's time to move on. it's not that I hate popular artists, comedians, etc., it's just that I've done that like ten years ago and it's just boring now. there's nothing more to analyze because it's just dull stuff. nothing inherently wrong about it and everyone can enjoy it as they will, it just says to me that you're a very uncultured and uninteresting person if you're just finding out about George Carlin right now, at 20 years old.

>>3872064

I'm willing to bet he helped pique most of our interests as adolescents. I don't think he was going for the "edgy" look, it's been assigned to him by the recent atheistic circlejerk.

Dylan Moran is a better Hicks/Carlin than they ever were themselves

>>3872039
This. But I'd wager he was a great comedian, just from a performance standpoint. He had excellent delivery and control of the audience. I wasn't huge on his humor, but I respect him for being good at his craft.

>>3872085
>you're already past that stage in your life and it's time to move on

Funny how this mentality really only exists in people ~16-22

>>3872039
>unnecessary vitriol in your heart
Carlin's entire act was was predicated on appealing to people with "vitriol in their heart"

This thread reminds me of a thread a made that fucking nobody responded to about contrarianism.

Basically, I posited that the function of art is to uncover something relevant to the culture. When it does that, the thing that is uncovered (this could be abstract, concrete, undefinable, etc.) obviously becomes "known" and is ingrained in the culture, leaving other things hidden and concealed.

Because of this, whatever is mainstream/popular, is no longer serving the function of uncovering/revealing anything and people begin to rebel against it and search for lesser known artists.

Basically, my point is that Carlin once served this function of uncovering something (for the majority of people) but now those things are uncovered and ingrained so people look for other art.

>>3872126
>Funny how this mentality really only exists in people ~16-22
Meta.

>>3872139

Sounds like soft psych bullshit.

Not an insult towards you, it's certainly interesting and it makes sense, but are there any studies conducted under its premise?

And I never understood that group of people who strayed from art after it became mainstream, it always bothered me. I'm glad we have the derogatory "hipster" card to play.

>>3872139
Carlin didn't unearth anything new nor was he a gamechanger of culture.

>comedians
>good

Carlin was just a crochty old liberal who hated the fuck out of Reagan and got pissed because he thought he was the only one who gave a fuck about driving right (which he was). Your Dad could provide a similar quality string of gripes like his shows for free.

That being said, the majority of other comedians are either retired, loledgy or spurn into outdated/retarded techniques (Gaffigan's babby voice, that ventriloquist guy). The only ones I've legitimately enjoyed are PAtton Oswalt and Ralphie May. Everyone else is just "Waah my wife's a bitch" stupid.

>>3872173
>Patton Oswalt

You've picked the worst fucking retards in comedy today. "My wife's a bitch" is a fuck of a lot better than "listen to my zany, 30 minute story about how I tried to TiVo some behind the scenes footage of Star Wars"

Oswalt is legitimately stupid as fuck.

i like jerry seinfeld

>>3872270

Do you mean his stand up?
Because I love that shit too but I can't tell if the old boy is that clever or is just that shit.

>>3871504
>pop-philosopher

How are you even using any variation of the word "philosopher" in association with Carlin?

>>3872270
>>3872270
His show is pretty funny but his stand-up is kind of shitty imo. I saw him live once at a casino and it was kind of mediocre. Thought the opener was funny. Maybe he's just gotten old and stale, though, idk.

>>3872294
> Maybe he's just gotten old and stale, though, idk.

it's this

I love how it's cool to hate Hicks and Carlin now. They were both comedians first and foremost and they were both funny. Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to distance themselves from what they perceive as being "edgy". You know, everyone's favorite buzzword. Really, it's the same as all the faggots that constantly shit on atheism now. What they don't realize is they're being just as contrary and ornery as the people they're trying to distance themselves from. I literally can't tell someone I think Bill Hicks is funny without them rolling their eyes and expecting me to go off on some middle school liberal agenda. Seriously, fuck you faggots.

>>3872294

He's been telling the same jokes since the 90s, what do you expect?

>>3872309
>What they don't realize is they're being just as contrary and ornery as the people they're trying to distance themselves from

Ah, but you see, Mr Anon, it's turtles all the way down

>>3872309

This

>le 4chan edgy hate carlin and atheism

No one's asking you to suck their dicks, but acknowledge how everyone connects with them when they're 15, and that's not a bad thing like you faggots think it is

I saw the "stuff" monologue when I was kid and liked it. When I got a little older I was a little disappointed at the tenor of his later work, particularly just before his death. I suppose I'm more of a comedy aesthete -politicization just doesn't do it for me. I like really personal comedy a la Louie.

I will say that, for all his deficiencies, at least Carlin bothered to a tell a joke on occasion, unlike that banal incubus Bill Hicks. I'm wary of pretty much anyone who really likes Hicks, Stanhope, etc.


>>3872019
>>3872028

He was also in Bill and Ted's Excellent and Bogus Adventures, if that counts for anything. But then fucking David Cross was in the Chipmunks movies, so, whatever. Money is money.

>>3872309
Hicks and Carlin funny? Maybe, depends who you are.

Are they genius wordsmiths and masters of the English language up there with other literary giants who wrote books, plays, poems etc? Definitely not.

>>3871756
Hahahahahahahahaha.