George Carlin Is As Irreverent As Ever

George Carlin Friday, Dec. 1, at the Opera House

Satire laced with a potpourri of expletives is all the ammunition George Carlin needed to detonate a bomb of laughter Friday at the Opera House.

With more voltage than an electric chair, Carlin’s tongue gave the near-capacity crowd quite a jolt. And the comedian didn’t waste any time shocking the audience.

As soon as he took the stage, Carlin picked up his mike, quickly acknowledged his cheering fans and, boom, blasted out a tasteless joke that spit venom at anti-abortionists.

That one line, which can’t be repeated in a mass-market newspaper, pretty much set the tone for the first 40 minutes of his 90-minute barrage.

From attacking conservatives, feminists and Catholics to offering ridiculous solutions to alcoholism and convicted sex offenders, Carlin, as irreverent as ever, fired out one vulgar quip after another. Of course, he was quite unapologetic about it.

But his ranting and raving sparked numerous waves of laughter and very few “he-said-what?” groans. No matter how far he pushed the audience, the chuckles continued.

His “Capital Punishment” segment of the show was particularly funny.

During this, Carlin joked that he didn’t think drug dealers deserved capital punishment. If the government wants to get drugs off of the street, he said, it should start executing the white-collar bankers that launder the drug money.

As much as Carlin likes to take the obscene to the limit, he also knows when to take the edge off.

During less-offensive portions of the show, like when he berated phrases that irk him (“down the tubes,” “walking the street” and “more than happy”), he was just as funny. He still packed an army of four-letter words into the material, however.

Even though his main goal is to invoke laughter, Carlin also strives to make social and political commentary with his poignant material. Sometimes it’s idiotic; sometimes it’s logical.

An example: He says conservative men are adamantly against abortion. Yet, once the babies are born, they suddenly don’t care about them anymore, that is, until they’re old enough to be drafted.

It isn’t Carlin’s shock appeal or his strategic use of adolescent curse words that makes him comical. As we’ve seen by the declining stand-up careers of Andrew Dice Clay, Eddie Murphy and Sam Kinnison (even before he died he was losing his appeal), the shock is funny for a couple of minutes and then it gets old. Those comedians limit themselves with that approach.

Carlin is both edgy and funny. And he’s been perfecting his technique for three decades.

Friday, the comic reminded the audience his banter was just a joke. And in the end, he said, simply: “Thanks for laughing.”