Shining stars from America's comedy universe gathered Monday in Washington to honor the late, great George Carlin with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Jon Stewart, Denis Leary, Bill Maher, Joan Rivers, Lily Tomlin and more congregated at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to pay their respects and recall how Carlin shaped their careers and made hard work seem like nothing but laughs.
"For all his anti-establishment cred, he was a working man," Stewart told the crowd, according to the Associated Press. "He punched in. He sat down and he wrote. He respected what he did."
Others did not: The event was greeted by some protesters with signs reading "Carlin's Going to Hell."
For his part, Carlin would probably have been flattered by that. After all, he thrived on commentary and confrontation, dissecting language, logic and hypocrisy better than nearly all his peers and followers. His infamously insightful "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television" routine made it all the way to the Supreme Court. And his sociopolitical salvos burned either side of the red-blue divide.
"On certain things you'd call him a lefty. On other things, you'd be surprised how conservative he might be," his best friend and former manager Jerry Hamza told the AP. "[But he] would have been humbly grateful" for the award, Hamza added. Throughout his career [Carlin] was perceived as an outsider or maverick, [but] had a real desire to connect with other comedians. He loved being in that club."
Being compared to previous Mark Twain Prize-winners like Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal and Lily Tomlin is one thing. But being compared to Mark Twain is quite another, as the author was not only a master of language and satire, but a timeless chronicler of American society and its discontents. His work has transcended time itself -- no easy feat, and one that Tomlin and Crystal might have difficulty with down the road.
But I believe Carlin will not. When it comes to the great subjects of the 20th century -- war, media, advertising, racism, consumption, governance -- and even the little ones -- where you put all your stuff, bad drivers, fussy eaters -- Carlin is almost unparalleled in his wit and critique. He was an exceptional American, and a top-shelf satirist whose rants will live on through the 21st century.
Rest in peace, you cranky, brilliant bastard.
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