Comedian George Carlin - Essay Example

George Carlin’s Jewish Humor To understand how George Carlin’s comic routine reflects the strong influence Jewish humor has had on his routine, it is necessary to understand just what is meant by Jewish humor. When used in the modern sense, Jewish humor usually refers to a specific form of humor that relies on anecdotes and satire as a means of conveying ideas and sharp commentary on the world. The dictionary defines satire as “the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc” (2008). However, an understanding of the history of Jewish humor, how it developed its unique charm, is illuminating in understanding just what is meant when one talks about this particular approach. Rabbi Moshe Waldoks indicates Jewish humor “is usually meant to deflate pomposity or ego, and to deflate people who consider themselves high and mighty … The humorist, like the prophet, would basically take people to task for their failings. The humor of Eastern Europe especially was centered on defending the poor against the exploitation of the upper classes or other authority figures … It really served as a social catharsis” (cited in Berkwits, 2004). Because of their unique style, so surprising to other groups and often talking to the ‘common man’ of America, a great deal of the humor of the entertainment industry was dominated by the Jewish jokester including Jack Benny, Sid Caesar, George Burns, Henny Youngman and Milton Berle. Particular characteristics of Jewish humor include a tendency to explore the relationship between religion, the individual and God; a literal interpretation of words in often witty and unusual ways; the exploration of ‘foolish’ wisdom or ridiculous solutions to problems; harmless pranks and self-deprecating commentary. While the entertainment industry still flourishes to a great degree on this particular style of humor, artists like George Carlin have managed to adapt it to their own background and style. George Carlin’s background informs almost all of his work and has helped to shape his approach. He was born in 1937 New York during a time of tremendous social upheaval as the country struggled through the Great Depression. Far from an easy childhood, Carlin’s mother left his father when the boy was just 2 years old and he was raised by his mother until he reached age 14. Throughout this period of his life, his mother attempted to instill in him a strong faith in the Roman Catholic Church at the same time that he was growing up on the rough streets of New York’s ‘white harlem’. At 14, he dropped out of school and went off to join the Air Force. After he was discharged in 1957, Carlin continued to work for a Fort Worth, Texas radio station where he began to develop his personal style. He eventually teamed up with Jack Burns in performances within Fort Worth and, based upon the enthusiastic reception they received there, decided to make a bid at success in California by 1960. The act split up in 1962 as the two performers each chose to move in their own directions, Carlin to continue his interests in politics, religion and sharp-witted humor as a means of speaking to the common man and bring a bit of entertainment to his life. Despite his childhood traditions, or perhaps more appropriately because of them, Carlin is harshly critical of religion, treating it more as a malicious social control and widespread delusion. This street-wise childhood, profound loss of faith in his religion and witness to earth-shaking social events within his lifetime has led to the development of a uniquely darkly optimistic view on life. In his now famous 1972 comedic skit about the “Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV”, Carlin delivers a 12 minute monologue discussing the seven words he’d identified as being taboo for use on public airways because they are considered ‘cuss’ words by a segment of the viewing audience even though the actions they refer to are perfectly acceptable to be discussed using other words. After naming the various words he’s identified, Carlin says, “those are the ones that will curve your spine, grow hair on your hands and maybe, even bring us, God help us, peace without honor um, and a bourbon.” Throughout this skit, he examines the various ways in which these words are used to denote something only vaguely related to the literal translation and have become little more than phrases used to impress others that you are not afraid to use them. His examination into the meanings of some of these words reveals they are either simple derivatives of other words on the list, such as ‘motherfucker’ (a compound derivative of fuck), or not really cuss words at all, such as ‘cocksucker’ (a compound word in which neither half is, by itself, necessarily considered ‘bad’). Further examination of the word ‘shit’ reveals the meaninglessness of the phrases associated with it while the same sort of in-depth examination of the word ‘fuck’ indicates the world might be a better place if it were allowed to replace other words in the English vocabulary such as ‘kill’. The resulting FCC case brought against him as a result of this skit further illuminated the ridiculous in the political realm. Although the skit was played during the week while all children should have been at school, a few people took exception to its being played on the radio in 1973 and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where words commonly found in use throughout the country were deemed inappropriate and illegal to use. Throughout this skit, one sees the Jewish habit of investigating the literal meaning of words and exposing the discrepancies between the literal translation and the meaningless ways in which the word is used in everyday colloquial English. However, while Jewish humor traditionally engaged in this exercise as a means of calling into question the religious stance of the synagogue or the religious leaders, Carlin uses it to question the sometimes arbitrary ‘laws’ of the country regarding what a person can or cannot say in spite of the existence of the right of free speech written into the American Constitution. Thus, he is employing a Jewish tendency to explore the meanings of words to the point of insensibility to expose a common failing. The Jewish elders would use this technique to poke fun at the leaders, just as Carlin does to some extent, but Carlin expands this idea to include the common people as well, particularly those who would complain against the use of the word ‘fuck’ in place of the words ‘making love’ or ‘sexual intercourse’ despite the fact that they are talking about the same thing. Thus, Carlin combines two primary characteristics of Jewish humor within this one skit – the literal interpretation of words in often unusual or witty ways and the exploration of ‘foolish’ wisdom as he questions the existing definitions for some of these words and the grounds upon which they have been condemned out of ‘polite’ society. On the same album, Carlin discusses his experiences as a child attending a Catholic school in New York. Far from the comforting and supportive purpose religion is generally believed to bring to our lives, Carlin openly discusses, through his jokes, the harshly punitive nature of the Catholic religion and its failure to win his adherence. He does this by referring to possible names for these sorts of schools as “Our Lady of Great Agony” and through his distinction of “I used to be Irish Catholic, now I’m an American. You know, you grow.” As he discusses his experiences within the Irish Catholic tradition, Carlin adopts the Jewish tradition of self-deprecation and examination of one’s religion to one’s self. Although this is not applied to the Jewish religion, nor is it delivered with the same sort of intonation and obvious questioning characteristic of Jewish humor, Carlin nevertheless manages to capture the underlying intent and direction within his down-to-earth and conversational delivery. Pulling from his own experiences as a child growing up in New York’s Irish Catholic traditions and as a radio man in his young adulthood, George Carlin made his big break on the album Class Clown perhaps primarily because of his means of successfully adopting the characteristics of Jewish humor without the Jewish spin. As this investigation has shown, Jewish humor has, from the earliest days of the industry, set the tone for what constitutes ‘good’ humor coming out of Hollywood. The main characteristics of this style include a deep but light-hearted investigation of the relationship between the individual and his religion, a literal interpretation of words commonly used but seen in a different or unusual but still correct light, the exploration of ‘foolish’ wisdom and the use of harmless pranks or self-deprecating commentary to illustrate a point. George Carlin, developing as an artist within this tradition, successfully incorporates these characteristics into his own routines, but provides them with an unusual spin based upon his own experiences. Rather than defining the powers that be to be the religious and civic leaders per se, Carlin addresses his comments to the masses of (un)thinking common Americans who have often noticed the same things themselves, but have been unwilling to admit it. His humor, such as that presented in his “Seven Words” skit, is strongly based upon literal interpretations of words and the use of ‘foolish’ wisdom to classify them while other skits, such as “I was Irish Catholic” reveal the same sort of religious investigation seen directed toward the Jewish faith now redirected to Catholics. Thus, while Carlin’s humor can be said to be based upon Jewish humor to a large degree, there are enough significant differences in delivery style and approach to make his humor stand out as something unique and completely Carlin. Works Cited Berkwits, Jeff. “What’s With Jewish Comedy?” San Diego Jewish Journal. August 2004. Carlin, George. Class Clown. New York: Little David, 1972. Read More