Has anyone seen my friend George?

While George Carlin’s most famous routine was about the seven words you couldn’t say on television, his enduring legacy was for inverting the language we used every day. He insisted that we get in the plane, not on it. He wondered if flight attendants were speaking English. And, he declared that the planet is fine, it’s the people who are…well, insert one the forbidden words here.

George Carlin died on Sunday at the age of 71 as probably the most influential and revered comic of the 20^th century. From his first appearances on the Ed Sullivan show, during what he called “eight or nine years of what essentially were the extended 1950’s” he gave his audience no choice but to listen, if for no other reason than to wonder what he would say next. After growing a beard and a reputation for squashing taboo for sport, Carlin landed in such historic places as the first episode of Saturday Night Live (1975) and the United States Supreme Court. Such was the pioneer he was…by his own admission finding the lines just to deliberately cross them; over and over again.

Carlin’s art, and it is art, was weaving a coarse quilt of anti-bullshit so tightly that none could penetrate, even that which we generate from the inside. No one was safe: eight presidents, the media, athletes and Tippy the farting dog were all favorite targets of maybe this last of pure situational comics. See, George didn’t need a funny story to make you laugh. He instead held that which you held sacred and without humor up to his light and spun it until you snorted in spite of yourself.

In his later years, George turned more cynical and less funny, progressing to a point that some would call just plain angry. But he never lost the edge that separated real from pure mockery, and his knack was spreading that as wide as possible to cultivate the obscure humor in what to the untrained and unanointed looked like just dirt.

His career spanned five decades and included 11 feature films and three bestselling books in addition to his countless albums, discs and TV specials. He will be most remembered; however for his riotous stage shows which usually sold all their seats, but left people on the floor in tears.

George Carlin lamented on stage in 1973 “Jeez, I hope I don’t die. By the way, you’re all going to die. Didn’t mean to remind you, but it is on your schedule” He went further to speculate on the afterlife, saying dying “should be sorta fun..the next big adventure. We’re going to find out where we’re gonna go” I am certain George is somewhere surrounded by people who cannot stop laughing.

For seven words you can and will say anywhere from now on, try these:

George, we are going to miss you.