The church was there when we moved in to the neighborhood, so I say, let the church have that block. It was just a really progressive school, a parochial school for the working class kids, man! George got the benefit of that for his primary education, so even when he would get down on religion, he always praised Corpus Christi for the beautiful education system and all the good stuff they did for him there. Yeah, but I’m gonna be really charitable to them, because I’m pragmatic about it. Is it true that the local church, Corpus Christi-your former school-was against the idea? If you’re lucky, you have that spark within you that George and I did, and that shit doesn’t take. You’re busy being you, but they want you to be some other fucking moron that they have in mind and there’s a clash there. These are things that are natural to do, if that’s the way you are. He played “All Shook Up” by Elvis Presley, and dedicated it to his colonel, because he would shake when he got mad. He told me, “I’m a little jealous of you on that one court martial,” because I was once court martialed for inciting federal troops to riot! But I’m sure the Air Force will take it with a grain of salt he was a good productive airman, but he was tough to bottle down. We both got a couple of court martials in the Air Force, but that has nothing to do with doing your job, man! I was so good at my gig, same as he was. He was great at his job at repairing bombs sites, stuff like that, but he was proud of his record as a fuck up.
He was no more suited for the Air Force than he was suited for any of that regimented shit. I read that when George was discharged from the Air Force, he was labeled an “unproductive airman.” Do you think they’d approve of this street renaming? He was a guy I always paid attention to, so I listened to him and I listened to Dylan and I smoked that reefer, and I said, “Ah, fuck this, man, I’m gonna let my fucking hair grow, grow a Goddamn beard, fuck all this!” He did so many things for me and for the neighborhood. From the moment that George started to talk, I knew he was way ahead of me on the hipness scale of what life is about. Holy shit! We’re driving around in his car, listening to John Hartford and Bob Dylan. George came out west with a whole bunch of fucking Panama Red. I was a working stiff, out there selling cars. I was to the right of these fucking bullshitters on TV-in 1976, when he came to California, I was looking to join the John Birch Society. George had a special gift: It’s one thing to have wisdom and shit like that, and it’s another thing to be able to put it out there and not like act like you’re imitating Socrates or some shit, with something profound, you know? He could just get up there and talk and you’d think, Goddamn, he’s right! He turned my personal ass around. Every time he was gigging in New York, he was seeking out the guys, all the kids we hung out with, and they would drive out in whatever rental car he had, down through the Financial District, smoking joints! It was wonderful.Ĭonsidering the number of comics who were influenced by him, do you think this is an important move for the New York comedy scene in general? I think it means a lot, because he was just a neighborhood guy.
What does it mean to the neighborhood to have that sign there? One of those in attendance will be George’s older brother Patrick, who spoke to us about just what it means to see this sign go up. The unveiling ceremony takes place at 1pm, but there’s a show later tonight at Carolines on Broadway to celebrate the occasion, called, appropriately enough, The Seven Dirty Words: George Carlin Finally Gets His Own Way, featuring Bartini, Jim Norton and Colin Quinn. The renaming comes thanks to a three-year campaign started by NYC comedian Kevin Bartini, who presented New York City Council with more than 9,000 signatures from supportive locals. Well, that was the plan, at least, but nothing goes that smoothly in New York, so due to construction, the George Carlin Way sign will temporarily hang on the corner of Morningside Drive and W 121 st St, being moved to its proper place at a later date. This afternoon, the 400 block of West 121 st St by Amsterdam Avenue will be renamed George Carlin Way, cementing the stand-up’s legacy as America’s most important counter-culture comic.
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