George Carlin’s American Dream Shows That the Quest to Find Your Comedic Voice Can (and Should) Keep Going
We often remember and eulogize George Carlin not only as a comedy legend, but a philosopher, a truth teller, the sort of comedian that was the epitome of speaking truth to power. Yet, his role as the artist often gets lost in the scrum of folks quoting his disturbingly, still-applicable punchlines.
Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio’s masterful two-part documentary, George Carlin’s American Dream, on one of the definitive comedy legends, does its due diligence on the life and times of George Carlin, but it also examines him as the comedian artist, someone who redefined himself so much and influenced so much of comedy, time and time again that he and his staggering body of work will be timeless.
You can find numerous tellings of the narrative of George Carlin, but dissecting his career like one would The Beatles or Miles Davis (both name checked in the doc in comparison to Carlin) hasn’t really been done in such a fashion that Apatow and Bonfiglio have. Throughout the exhaustive amount of footage of George both on and off stage, not to mention hand written notes and interview clips with his wife, daughter, brother, and closest friends, there is a through line that George soldiered on to continually find his voice.
You often hear that “finding your voice” being one of the primary goals of any comedic performer in a way that suggests a journey with a beginning, middle, and end. George Carlin’s American Dream rediscovers that so-called finding your voice as an ongoing process, the ever-reliable spark that fueled Carlin to do his iconic bits about the seven words you can’t say on television or abortion or rights or, well… you probably can make your own list at this point.
Many comedians, unfortunately, give up that artistic flame when they reach a certain level of acclaim and comfort. Despite massive success throughout his decades in comedy, Carlin never saw himself done and that is the true artist in him. Had he lived to today, we’re sure that he’d survey the landscape of Marc Maron, Hannah Gadsby, Jim Jefferies, Dave Chappelle, and more and come up some entirely different and brilliant that would kick off a whole other movement in comedy.
The role and purpose of a comedian, whether as an artist, entertainer, or both, will forever be debated. The capital “T” truth of the matter that is that a whole spectrum of comedians will fill in all these roles from truth tellers to abject clowns to consummate entertainers to philosopher kings. George Carlin’s American Dream actually shows how, in rare cases, a comedian can be all of them in one.
You should absolutely go watch George Carlin’s American Dream right now as it’s streaming on HBO Max.
