George Carlin was a comic genius, so WHY?

You’re focussing on the tail-end of the man’s career. Do yourself a favor and listen to his pre-1990 stand-up work. He was a fearless commentator on religion, social mores, media, and more. To call him a commedian is too narrow IMHO.

Later on, I thought he was great as the Conductor on Thomas the Tank Engine. I even liked him in Dogma, but yeah – some of his later movie choices we goofy.

George Carlin was a personal friend of my family. By all rights, he was a great standup comedian. He was just as nice a person on and off the stage.

If he madea promise to you, he would always keep it.

My niece and George were best friends. This is how we got to know Georg Carlin.

Because of his word play and how uses his political views to shape his routines.

To try and make money. Getting a job in film would have the potential to bring more money than a stand-up routine. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a good actor.

Cause when you aren’t working, you’re not getting paid.

Stand up and acting are differing skills. George Carlin basically played George Carlin in every role I saw.

Man’s gotta pay the rent like everyone else. I’m sure he sees the irony in this, and could totally blast the shit out of it, and make us laugh. Even if the world becomes ideal, he wants no part of it.

I loved his wit and level of cynicism and just the way he saw the world. He cut through the crap, called it like he saw in and managed to do it in such a way with poignancy and with enough added silliness… who couldn’t help but love him.

Now, I’m older than the OP , I think, and I heard his albums and saw his TV specials LONG before Bill and Ted were a glint in their father’s eye.

@john65pennington you were a lucky guy to have spent time with him. He didn’t strike me as the type of guy who felt he always needed to be performing when people were around. It seems an odd trait comedians have. I know an older guy here who was THE comedian in his day and having him at the dinner table was downright painful. Humility didn’t seem to be a problem for ol’ George.

Because he’s funny but just not hot enough. Otherwise, he’s still a great comedian!

He “was” a great comedian. He died in 2008.

@bkcunningham Does anyone here NOT realise he died?

The things I’ve read suggest he did these movies because they enabled him to work with people he liked. George Carlin was very attuned to his work environment—which is why he both loved and hated his short-lived sitcom—so he needed to be really into what he was doing to be happy. He supposedly had a lot of fun doing Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and that goes a long way towards explaining why he did so many silly roles (though he also played serious roles, such as in The Prince of Tides).

7 Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin by James Sullivan is a nice biography of Carlin. It includes a history of the comedian’s acting ambitions.