George Carlin

George Dennis Carlin (born May 12, 1937 in New York City) is a Grammy winning Irish American ("I used to be Irish Catholic, now I'm an American. Y'know: you grow.") stand-up comedian, actor, and author, noted especially for his irreverent attitude and his observations on language and religion. He is considered by many to be a worthy successor to the late Lenny Bruce.

Frisbeetarianism

As a staunch atheist, Carlin has often denounced the idea of a god in interviews and performances, most notably with his "Invisible Man in the Sky" routine. In mockery he invented a fake religion called "Frisbeetarianism" for a newspaper contest. He defined it as the belief that when one dies "his soul gets flung onto a roof, and just stays there", and cannot be retrieved.

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James Sherman, the Chicago, Illinois playwright, revived the joke of this mock religion in his 2002 play "Old Man's Friend" as some comic relief in the context of a daughter reconciling with her father when the doctor diagnoses her dad as having cancer and gives him six months to live. http://www.chicagotheater.com/revOldMan.html

Related Topics:
James Sherman - Chicago, Illinois

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Carlin has also said he might worship the Sun (because he can actually see it) but prays to Joe Pesci because "he looks like a guy who can get things done!"

Related Topics:
Sun - Joe Pesci

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"Here for the show"

Carlin openly communicates in his shows and in his interviews that his purpose for existence is entertainment, or in other words that he is "here for the show." Admittedly, he acknowledges that this is a very selfish thing, especially since he includes large human catastrophes as entertainment, the more lives lost the better. In a late 1990s interview with Art Bell he remarked about his view of human life, "I think we're already circling the drain as a species, and I'd love to see the circles get a little faster and a little shorter." In the same interview he recounts his experience of a California earthquake in the early 70s as "an amusement park ride. Really, I mean it's such a wonderful thing to realize that you have absolutely no control... and to see the dresser move across the bedroom floor unassisted... is just exciting." Later he summarizes, "I really think there's great human drama in destruction and nature unleashed and I don't get enough of it."

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