In my opinion George Carlin was the greatest comedian ever. Not only was he absolutely hilarious, but the man could provoke an intense internal reaction to the so called "conventional wisdom" that most subscribe too. He was articulate, unafraid to tackle any issue, and absolutely brilliant. He could dissect some of the most complicated and controversial subjects such as religion, politics, and race with surgical precision. Part of his brilliance was the fact that regardless of your views on any given subject he had the ability to express such well thought out dialogue that he would engage a thought provoking reaction in your head. I have seen most if not all of his HBO specials, and in every routine he would hit a nerve on something that I disagreed with him on. While he may not of changed my mind on any of them, he always left me with something that gave me perspective in a way I did not have before. To me there are three kinds of comedians, #1 "The pop culture entertainer" like Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, Jeff Foxworthy. All very funny, highly successful acts, with broad appeal and little controversy. #2 "the shock jock" like Andrew Dice Clay, Howard Stern, Lenny Bruce. Always looking to push boundaries by exploring topics that where taboo, and usually using as much profanity as possible. Varying degrees of success, most have short careers, exceptions for some like Stern. Bruce became highly influential but not huge success during his life. #3 "The elite icon" George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Bill Maher (to a lesser extent, but most recent) Rodney Dangerfield, Sam Kinnison. This is by far the smallest group with certain traits from all forms of comedy. They all where or are very successful (Not as much as #1 catagorie) They pushed boundaries (but did not shock just for the sake of shocking) But most importantly they revolutionized their craft in some way. Usually controversial because they were unafraid to discuss issues that mainstream audiences had not heard before. They all became successful but where by no means overnight sensations. By far the most influential, to mainstream comedians unwilling to push boundaries as much, and to the shock jocks who would like to be on this list but do not possess the same intellectual capabilities.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 19:14:57 +0000
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