Carlin's dead

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on June 23rd, 2008

AP is saying that legendary standup comic George Carlin has died in a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 71.

It is believed that heart failure was the cause.

His death comes just five days after the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that Carlin would be the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in a ceremony scheduled for November 10, 2008.

It is quite amazing that he was, at age 71, so busy and so much in demand. His schedule through December would be grueling for a comedian half his age– Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Atlantic City, Reno, eight nights over 11 days at the Orleans in Vegas. At a time when many comedians might be winding down, Carlin was filling a calendar and selling out halls at an astonishing pace.

It is also worth noting just how many contemporary comedians cite him an influence.

We had the pleasure of meeting him backstage at Bally’s in Vegas a few years ago, and we watched his show from the sound booth.

On another occasion, a few years earlier, we were gigging at Catch A Rising Star in Bally’s when Carlin was performing for a week in the main showroom. We were on an elevator sharing the ride up to our floor with about half a dozen other people when something made a noise which sounded like a fart. One man, amidst the group of passengers, cradling a small dog in the crook of his arm, said, “Must have been lunch.” The elevator cracked up. The Female Half then said, “Why didn’t you just blame it on the dog.” Upon hearing this, the man with the dog laughed heartily. Everyone else on the elevator seemed… less than pleased.

The elevator doors open, the man with the dog gets off. A few stops later, so does everyone else. When the Male Half and the Female Half find themselves in the elevator alone, the Male Half says, “I can’t believe you had the nerve to top Carlin.”

The Female Half had absolutely no idea that the man with the pooch was actually George Carlin. (She was too busy staring at the tiny dog to recognize the comedy giant.)

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