June 25-More Carlin Chatter

I’ve been getting a lot of feedback regarding the late George Carlin- obviously, he was a favorite of many people, most of whom seem to know him mainly from his hip “counter-culture” persona, whereas old guys like me have fond remembrances of him as an early- mid 60s stand-up comic in a suit and tie, as well as his later, even greater career.
Regarding his being influenced by Lenny Bruce, we discussed that the timeline seemed off, since Bruce died in 1966, and George didn’t adopt his more free-wheeling, hip image until around early 1970 (he said he first grew his beard while in the hospital for a hernia operation!) My pal Dean Richards from WGN also concurs that, while George didn’t change his act overnight upon seeing Bruce’s act, it was an influence that he took seriously years later. In yesterday’s Sun Times, there was even a picture of Lenny Bruce being arrested at a night club in Chicago, with what appears to be a young George Carlin, age 25, right behind him! (In a side note, the guy next to Lenny, who may be a detective or something, looks sort of like a young Bill Murray!)
I mentioned how I loved George’s original first solo album back in the mid 60s –“Take Offs and Put Ons”- which included great bits like his deejay spoof “Wonderful Wino”- the “Indian Sargent” – his idea that the Native Americans depicted in cowboys shows must’ve had an organizing force, like in the Army- a great game show parody bit, and, of course, “the Hippy Dippy Weatherman.” I have a reprint copy of the vinyl album, reissued years later, with a cartoon drawing of the bearded Carlin- but, a fried of mine had the original pressing, and I always loved the cover- it was a big bunch of those photo strips you used to get from the photo booth machines- you know, four poses for a quarter-and all of them were George, in his suit and tie, making different faces. I could look at it endlessly- the different faces were hilarious, and, each one was conveying a different sort of character. It just reminds me what a great legacy he has- he made us laugh. A lot. Another giant has left us.
Meanwhile, for us mere mortal bottom-feeder comics, don’t forget that I’ll be appearing this weekend on Saturday afternoon at the Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention- at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare in Rosemont.
Come back for more information in a future blog- or, get all the info now at www.flashbackweekend.com  …if you’ve been wanting to meet me- get my autograph- or get your picture taken with me-plus- meet other great horror genre personalities and browse tons of cool horror merchandise- here’s your chance! As I said- more to come…