R.I.P. George Carlin

So long funnyman.

I really idolized Carlin...yet, he's one of my biggest entertainment disappointments ever. Obviously he's one of the great ones; nothing I can say here will pump up his obituary any more than it's already been pumped. But, when my wife and I were planning our last Las Vegas vacation, and I saw he was playing at the MGM -- I was just plain stoked!

My wife and are stand-up fans, we've seen tons of big name comics, no-name comics, it's just what we're, kind of, into. But the thought of seeing the Abraham Lincoln of comics, live on stage...I was blown away. We dressed up for it, we at Emeril's joint, in the MGM, had great seats, ordered some drinks, and sadly sat there and stared at each other in disbelief at how sad, and miserable, and dark this man had become. We've seen comics get heckled, and once in a while we've seen walk-outs, but never like this...especially for a name this big. Carlin went on and on about suicide, mass suicides, killing babies, all the while blaming the media and the government for all that was wrong with the world.

Now, I'm a fan of dark humor...I'll giggle like a school-girl with a stranger’s hand up my skirt at a dead baby joke, if it's funny. It just wasn't. We left depressed...after the veal oscar over asparagus I just had, and the hundred dollar bottle of wine, you'd think I'd be just happy as a clam. We walked out of there silently, along with the rest of the audience that stayed through that whole comedy massacre.

Just wow, what the fuck happened to that dude? Where was the "Stuff" bit material, or "Baseball and Football" or at least something witty, maybe possibly enjoyable -- is that too much to ask? His performance was just robotic, and depressing. We made our way through the casino and out to the hotel lobby without really talking. We did the only thing we could do, we hopped a cab and caught a late show, I think, up at the Riviera comedy shop to cleanse our pallets. We had wash that rancid, old Carlin off of us like it was e coli. As much as I admire the guy...I've been sad for him for a while...Hopefully, he's making Jim Morrison and Leonardo da Vinci laugh right now. Ah, nevermind, he's probably still going through the orientation process, learning about all the forbidden clouds and what-not -- I bet he's already on St. Peter's last nerve.