By Jason Alexander
The auditorium is dark, completely void of light, save for the spotlight that shines near the center of the stage. It is Wednesday, September 20th at the Pikes Peak Center in downtown Colorado Springs.
One can literally feel the pent up energy and excitement as 8:30 draws closer. Then a man of average size, clad in his traditional black sweat pants and black sweater walks toward the microphone.
This is no other than comedy legend George Carlin, but what is his focus of the night’s performance? Everything, and that’s everything with Carlin’s trademark disparaging edge. As he sifts through several pages of notes, constantly apologizing for being so disorganized the crowd only laughs with him. For an hour and a half he churns out joke after joke, infusing them with his original blend of comic zest in a way only a true pro can.
He is openly critical of American foreign and domestic policy and completely throws discretion to the wind. He dismisses subjects like golf as a mere “mindless activity.” He has no use for Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods or any other predetermined heroes the media forces us to admire. He is also quick to point out the absurd notion of “God given rights.” According to him we either have rights to do whatever we want or we have no rights at all. The point is really driven home when he says if we had “God given” rights then that would extend to all people, not just one sect of society.
He displays a supreme sense of ease and self-confidence not seen since the days of Mort Sal or Lenny Bruce. Even when the show stalls midway through he remains unflustered and is quick with a witty remark, and rebounds with a scathing portrait of what he sees as a decaying American culture. From his first few bits about the silliness of the “Modern Man” about how far we’ve gone in technology and about how it has taken over the soul of the country, to his doomsday prediction of nuclear/religious annihilation, he demonstrates a tremendous faculty for taking things that are so ingrained into our cultural consciousness and pointing them out for the absurdities that they are.
It was certainly an eye opening show for those in attendance, perhaps a glimpse into the known, but with the peculiar Carlin eye. In times like these we need a reminder that all things are in the end, laughable, and Carlin definitely succeeded in revealing this to his audience.
And the best description of Carlin’s view of the world is perhaps a quote from the man himself “…it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn, and cross it deliberately.”
(Back to top) 
