Watch the trailer for George Carlin's American Dream here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ir1zeqaSyN-3ooU.html

True story. A logger in northern California, a friend of a friend of mine, was injured on the job and the company refused to do anything about it. One of the other guys on the team kinda knew George Carlin. So, he called and almost begged for some help. George said, "Sure, I'll do two shows for you, one 'family friendly' and one for the adults." He came on up (I was at the second show). Packed house, of course. At the end, the guy who called Carlin realized that they had never talked money. Worried, he approached George. George said, "Well, I was kinda hoping someone would put me up for the night and maybe get me some home-cooked food..." And that was all he took. The rest went towards the lumberman's medical bills. George was utterly for real.

"When you're born into this world, you're given a ticket to the freak show. If you're born in America you get a front row seat." - George Carlin

George Carlin was a Mark Twain-level humorist, satirist, social commentator. I wish we had his like today.

Read his daughter's biography of him. Through her eyes I saw a gentle, loving man with a perception of life that was awe inspiring.

Carlin at first glance was a Comedian. But later you see that he actually was a Philosopher.

I always tell everyone how my dad took me to see his show when I was eight years old. He sat me down and told me that "you won't understand it, and it's not for your age, but this is important". I will always go back to watch Carlin to find clarity, levity and connection.

I'm a Russian, and I adore Carlin. I love how he changed over the years, but between the young Carlin, mature Carlin, and grandpa Carlin, they all made sense in their own way, every one of them had something special to tell you, and you understood every single one of them, irrespectively of which country you were born or lived in.

As a sociologist I always viewed carlin's humor as a way to prompt us to think about how we could become better as humans by pointing out the absurdity of where we are now. I think that's what he was trying to say; and to this day no one has been able to mix morals and crime and make you laugh about both, equally. A one of a kind jem.

George Carlin and Robin Williams, two irreplaceable talents that have left such a very very large gap in modern society.

After watching a lot of Carlin's stuff over the years I have concluded that he was far more than the greatest stand up comedian ever, he is in fact a social, cultural and political critic using stand up as his delivery mechanism. He is light years beyond anybody else. We sure could use him now!!

Yea, Carlin was a national treasure, the world needs more people like him.

What made Mr Carlin so engaging for me was the analysis among the comedy. He was not a standard comedian, feeding a setup and then a punchline. He gave us something he thought was odd, told us why and extrapolated it, right in front of us. That was a genius with a mind to find the inconsistencies.

When I was kid in the 1970s, before the Internet and cable tv, finding a George Carlin album was like discovering the forbidden fruit.

You can watch any of George Carllins special and you can thing that he is joking about 2022

The world really isn't the same without our old Uncle George. We all miss him so much.

George Carlin, Frank Zappa, & Monty Python formed my view of the world. Still to this Day.... But MOSTLY George.

Hassan is completely right, it’s comforting to know the world has always been wrong

George Carlin seems to be almost universally admired and respected among other top comedians. I've seen lesser comedians become successful to the point that they think it's their actual person which is funny and that they just have to show up. George Carlin demonstrated that if you want to stay at the top level, you have to keep working hard: writing material, learning it, rehearsing it, testing it, editing it until you get it right. He was a great role model.

As a counterpoint to the conversation here about how George was studious and how he wrote out his shows word-for-word, I can attest to the fact that he could also be spontaneous when the situation called for it. I saw him live at a show in Grand Forks North Dakota back in the mid to late '70s. During the show there was a moth flying around the stage. It was well-illuminated by the stage lights so everyone saw it, including George. So off-the-cuff, George came up with a skit about the moth and about an insect's perspective of the world. I shall always treasure that evening.

I AM SOOO HAPPY THIS CAME UP! A philosopher did a segment on Carlinism, and explained how he is the last, great philosopher. They were not wrong! He was brilliant, unknown genius, huggable & absolutely amazing! One of the countries greatest losses of the century. We need his voice to continue in the world❤

George Carlin was beyond a Comedian. He was an intelligent straight shooter and a very logical story teller!! RIP LEGEND!!

We need people like George right now - truth-tellers.

If only you were still here, the world needs you right now

He was the king. Nobody did it better. One of the few times I would hear my dad laugh, really laugh, was when a new Carlin show would drop. Rip.

I actually teared up during this clip. He was (and remains) such a hero to me. Would that we could all speak our minds with such lucidity... And balls out sarcasm. Bette was right: his last few were the mortal ride. Carlin knew his time was limited and he was in overdrive, trying to save us from ourselves. George was love, man, and he was trying like mad to shine light on the paths we needed to take to better ourselves as a society.

George, you are so missed right now

George is a legend he predicted a lot of things that are actually are happening now

Carlin taught so many of us to laugh, to question, to think critically, to see the world from different perspectives, how to love our fellow man, how to face unimaginable circumstances, how to swear, how to work, how to carry ourselves from cradle to grave. Never gone, never forgotten. One of the most important people of the 20th century, maybe the millennium.

Everyone in my family loved Carlin. My grandmother loved him. She didn't care that he swore. He made her laugh out loud until her sides ached. My aunts loved him, my parents, brothers, dad, husband etc etc. We ALL loved George and we all grieved his passing.

Got choked up on the clip with Kevin Smith because my father who has passed& I shared an appreciation of George Carlin. Brilliant artist, and godfather of comedy

Mr. George Carlin's comedy was Master Class. You can't learn it... It has to be already inside of you...

Never really had a dad to walk through life with but george was their to head me in the right direction. Having an open mind. Thanks George, wish we could have met.

Carlin not only gave us comedy but he also spoke the brutal and inconvenient truths that people have lost their stomachs too. For that I thank him for it. Thank you George Carlin your material was also a survivors manual.✊🤘

I totally agree with Hasan. As someone who was born in the 90s I regularly watch those old clips of his performances and I am amazed that they are still relevant. It's like the BS in the world is just repeating itself over and over again. This world needs more people like him. People who keep on challenging those with power but who are at the same time soft enough to carry a broad spectrum of people in a playful way.

Rest in Peace George Carlin! You will Never be forgotten!!

His writing was so prolific, his volume of work and the number of jokes in an hour was insane.

Watching his stand up I was always struck not just be his comedy or observations but by how masterful he was with using the English language. He was one of the finest word smiths I've ever listened to.

Growing up my grandpa loved George Carlin and Richard Pryor. I didn’t know we wouldn’t always have comedians of that level forever.

What made Carlin truly special is that he never lost sight of his morals, even as his comedy career grew to be wildly successful. He didn't soften like Colbert, harden like Chappelle, stagnate like Stewart, or pander like Oliver. He came in with a singular mission to talk truth to power, and he stuck with it until the day he died. That's unshakable principle.

I find it funny how he predicted his own death in the moment like he was the final punchline dude is a comedic genius from beginning to end

George Carlin was the original cunning linguist. I quote him often. To me he was an inspiring visionary. His material is timeless. His command of the English language was genius. He was a master of the human condition. He will be remembered for demanding that we must always question authority, or else. He made sense out of the nonsense of life. I am all the better for having listened to his wisdom. He made me infinitely smarter than I could have ever been without him. He taught me not only how to think, but also how to live.

George Carlin's comedy had a significant influence on my life. He taught me how to be dispassionately realistic and see things as they really are even when that is uncomfortable and/or upsetting. I feel lucky to have been able to attend one of his shows at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta just a few months before he died.

He is still my favorite comic. He really made you think about things. He was a philosopher that could make you laugh about serious subjects, but he was also teaching people to think critically about things.

George Carlin opened my mind and made me detach from the system! He is a teacher! A leader!

As a Brit the highest compliment I can pay to George Carlin is that he ranks alongside our own Billy Connolly as utterly unique comedy talent whose work will live forever.

I used to watch Carlin with my father and it was always clear to me that we were both watching the same show, but seeing two different shows. My father loved the jokes and I loved the critical commentary about the world. the things nobody else ever wanted to talk about. Hearing George made me feel sane, talking to regular people made me feel like I was in the twilight zone.

The man was a philosopher with a great sense of humor.

He was my mother's favorite comedian and mine too. When she died, I listened to his comedy for solace. Never be another like him.

His last couple of specials are amazing and maybe his best stuff he ever did which is insane. Stand-up comedians always seem to lose a step like athletes but he just kept getting better.

I was raised on standup, Steve Martin, Redd Foxx, Pryor, Cheech and Chong, Smother Brothers, and of course Carlin. My parents never missed a show when he came to town…and he came frequently because his wife was from my hometown. Lots of memories…and having my thinking shaped by such a funny astute man….maybe I was too young but as I got older…he made TOO much sense. Rest In Peace George. We miss you.

I was watching his acts as a kid on tv. George Carlin was amazing. I loved his truth and still do to this day. Legend.

He is the grandfather I never had. He's been a significant influence on who I am. And I live directly opposite the globe from him too, in SE Asia, this is how impactful he is as a person, philosopher more than a comedian, to me at least.

This man is one of the best reasons to learn English. His ability to deliver savage critique of society but also keep you laughing off your chair is legendary. Average comedians critique things, good comedians critique the news, people, what they say and the situations they create, this man critiqued concepts of society that most of us lice our lives without noticing. He noticed them, he pondered them to such a degree that not only he understood them for what they were but he was able to go above and critique them in a hilarious way. To me he is the greatest and I hope that in my life I will have the opportunity to experience someone close to him again.

I saw him on his last tour and it was like being attacked with comedy, but in the best way. He was a machine gun firing jokes at us with no break, no pause. He was the greatest.

I still mourn his passing to this day. One of a kind.

George Carlin: The Legend. The Comedic Genius. The Conscientious Comedian. The first comedian that really struck a chord in me, gave me a clearer sense of the world, of how it was and how it could be, of how absurd and yet how hilarious it all is... Thank you.

George carlin was my favorite comedian growing up, my uncle introduced me to his comedy and it opened my mind. When he died it was as if the wind stopped blowing and we were adrift on vast ocean but a few comedians have picked up his banner and continued his fight. George you walked with giants... thank you

A man like Carlin comes along maybe once every hundred years or so.

love this. I don't have many heroes, Carlin is one. He really helped through tough times, to make a bit more sense of the world.

He was one of the very very few counterculture figures who became so universally respected that the establishment didn't dare to target him. They did early in his career, but it worked so poorly for them that they just stopped. It all worked for him that way because he was so genuinely himself. Also because the self he was genuinely being was consistently decent, thoughtful, and real.

George Carlin, Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan. I have watched video clips of all three and they all had pretty good takes on what was wrong with the world and what could happen... in fact, is happening. We need new voices and we need new leaders.

Not a day will go by that this man is not missed to an extreme. So much Love, and reverence.

George was the counter-culture's answer to Walter Cronkite. He was, simply, the most trusted man in comedy, and he lived to enjoy that. I got to meet him at the comedy store in 2002. SO kind, so humble, so genuine. He was STILL crafting new comedy. After his set, he announced that he wanted to try out stuff he was working on... first, it was stuff he was woodshedding, and then he read his newest stuff from a battered spiral notebook. As a would be improv person, it was revelatory.

George Carlin has always been my favorite comedian because he made me think and grow as a person. Even when I disagreed with him I appreciated how he made me think.

At 10:03 - Hasan totally nails what made Carlin's voice so meaningful to me and I'm sure other people like me. The fact that there was someone else out there thinking these same thoughts restored my sanity and in some warped way my faith in humanity. At 10:26 - "People sometimes say to you, well do you try to make people think?" "and I would say no, no, that would be the kiss of death" - Quintessential Carlin at it's best! You get that line and you totally get Carlin. He was the only comedian that could make me both laugh and cry simultaneously, RIP George! 😂🤣

George is one of the funniest, inspirational person, beyond a stand up comic, to me. I still look up his clips when i try to make sense of the world we are in, even now, like abortion. thanks for ur time with us George, RIP

Carlin is a legend. All the others just copy Carlin. He never gets old, the others do. Everyone loved Carlin's honesty without agenda.

I feel privileged to have seen him live, twice. He always seemed to be looking for obscure, promising talents to open his shows for him. I think he just genuinely loved talking shop when it came to comedy. Lewis Black credits George with giving him the encouragement he needed to keep his style going when he was first starting out. I bet there is a surprising number of comics that still feel a thrill inside to know they opened for George Carlin.

He truly was a genius. In the true meaning of the word. "Do you try to make people think"?.... "No, I want to let them know I'm thinking" Thank you George, you made me think as teenager and question the narrative. Its a gift that I'll never be able to thank you for.

Not sure how George would feel about this but I am pleased that this amazing man and excellent comedian gets to be seen and heard.

I had the privilege of attending two of George's shows! The best ever lived! A true art performer. When I feel down he always brings me back. I'm not crazy it's really happening! Lol

That was well-made. Love George Carlin. A legend.

RIP to a legend. He was a comedian and philosopher. Bulls.**t is the glue that holds us together, sadly doesn’t apply. We are truly falling apart.

George is the GOAT!

The world desperately needs a George Carlin, today more than ever.

There aren't many people in this world I view as heroes. George Carlin shaped my sense of humor.. and that has been one of the only staples in my life that ever really helped me get through hard times. His ability to dissect anything and follow the trail of logic down to it's most ridiculous extreme helped me get through having cancer as a kid. He really was a treasure. I'm glad I was able to see him live once. RIP.

George Carlin was my intro to stand-up comedy and barely a day goes by when I don’t hear one of his jokes in my head when something ridiculous happens in the world. A true legend!

One of the GREATEST people to have ever lived, even if he wouldn't like to hear that said about himself, he was in my eyes. Taught me so much about the world! ❤️🐐

I've watched Carlin 20+ times in my life, he changed my life in the 90s, he's the biggest influence in my life and for me the greatest american to ever live ... When you are Steven Wright's idol .. u know you're big

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of George is that he was one of the first stand up comedians I watched, so he made it really hard for me to find comedians that I enjoy. He set the bar so high, that afterwards I only accepted the best. But still to this day, no one comes close to the GOAT that is George

There is no doubt that George Carlin is one of the greatest comedian of all time but to me he IS the GOAT. My brain cells grow exponentially everytime I listen to George Carlin.

I'll never forget the first video I saw of George. I was a teenager, it was shortly after he died, and someone had shared the clip from Life is Worth Losing about the Owners of the country, that culminates with "It's called the American Dream 'cause you have to be asleep to believe it." It felt like my school/government-sanctioned worldview had been shattered and put back together right in front of me.

No, what I want them to know is that I'm thinking... A gift given to so many people.... Thank you George. Gr8! Peace ☮💜

One of my favorite Americans of all time. Like no other. A guardian of truth. He is really missed these days.

For me, Carlin & Pryor are the all time greats in stand-up comedy.

He understood the human condition and always told the truth, as he saw it. His comedy is timeless because it is based on something that never changes. I will forever miss him.

I love this man so much, easily one of my favorite human being ever.

I've been saying for years that George single-handedly kept this world sane and everything went batshit crazy the day he died.

We need you now more than ever George.

Thanks for highlighting Colbert here so as to remind his fans what a comedian is supposed to look like.

Watching Kevin tear up about losing George as losing his dad a second time got me right in the feels. I just lost my dad last year so I lost George first but we both enjoyed his comedy and I miss them both!😭

I discovered him less than a month, and he's blowing my mind up

When the missiles and asteroids are screaming toward the earth, I will be standing on my roof watching the show and thinking of George.

The absolute legends in this clip is amazing. Rock, Colbert, Stewart, Seinfeld, Midler, Burr, Smith, etc. Talking about THE legend that is George Carlin is amazing. Mad respect to George and everyone in this clip. Bill Burr is the George Carlin of our generation. We wouldn't have Burr without Carlin. Mad respect. RIP Professor Carlin

Still love George and all my kids so too... miss his comedy

George Carlin was funny and sharp to the very end. He would not want anyone to see him any other way. Thanks for the laughs and memories, George.

Carlin was a Musician, who wrote Songs that HE liked to hear. 💜

It seems that HBO got a good team. Bill Burr and Jerry Seinfeld, both were being pretty open about their thoughts and feelings in just that clip. Everyone interviewed is a genius; or at least a career artist / journalist / cultural commentator / comedian. I can feel respect for comedians, even if I wasn't their "biggest fan." It's nice to know they respected Carlin in ways similar to mine.

George was a Nobel-prize level comedy heart surgeon. He could operate on the heart of any matter and reveal its inner workings like few others before or after him.