Funny Shtuff

I watched a DVD collection of George Carlin's most well-known bits called Carlin's Best Stuff. It included "the seven words you can't say," "football and baseball," "stuff," "driving" and other famous riffs. My previous opinion of Carlin was that he was a fairly clever guy who found bits of humor in the absurdities of the English language, but that was about it. Now, although I wouldn't call Carlin one of the funniest guys of all time, I have a healthy respect for him. His "seven words" is brave and pioneering as well as truly hilarious, and if the lustre is off the baseball-football comparison, it's only due to age.

Some of the bits are just average comedy, like the difference between cats and dogs, or being a fussy eater. But on the whole, you gotta give Carlin credit for coming up with a lot of observations that really were new and fresh, at least at the time. "Why would you want a 'hot water heater'? Don't you want a cold water heater?"

Is it just me, or does George Carlin look a lot like Howard Hesseman?