Monday, June 23, 2008

Atheism: A Non Prophet Organization

Seinfeld (one of those names that you say and people know which one you mean, like Carlin - but I'm getting ahead of myself) says that when he was a kid he wanted to be a superhero. By becoming a stand up comedian Seinfeld says his superhero dream came true.

There's a need. There's a stand up comedy need. It reminds me of the Talmud tale in which Rabbi Yochanan and Ilfa sit under a tree. One of them hear's a heavenly voice saying something momentous. He asks the other rabbi if he heard it and the reply is a shrug and a no. Rabbi Yochanan realizes that only he heard the voice. It was his.

There are drives so strong, from so deep, that we assume others must feel them, hear them, see them too. They are our drives. Such a drive is the reason why after his gazillion dollar show went off the air (by his choice) Seinfeld buried his old comedy routines. Then he went out on the road like a rookie, bombing in basement clubs, until he recreated a repertoire from the bottom up. He was going through hell - and loving it. He was Superman, reclaiming his powers.

George Carlin is dead at 71 (N.Y.Times' Obituary). We never met, his work didn't inspire me to be a kinder person, he wasn't even my favorite comedian. If I would tell you though, that he wasn't important to me in my life, I'd be lying. I discovered him when I was in eighth grade. My youth leader Yisrael Cohen used to do Hippy Dippy Weather man routines by heart. Mitch Brezel lent me a couple of albums. He became one of a cadre of comedians that I watched and felt that I was like. There was something, some voice they heard that I heard too. There was some mixture of the need to say the truth, the ability to entertain, and the desire to be loved that I connected to. Carlin was at the top of the list of those comedians featured in Richard Zoglin's new book about "How Stand Up In The 1970s Changed America," and the people on that list speak to me regularly in a profound, personal way.

I felt a loss when I heard that this angry man died. And I want to write about it while it's fresh. Part of it is about the incredible passage of time. I just dug up the peeling cassette that I copied 30 years ago. The lively man who showed two different sides on that award winning FM and AM tape is now off the air, forever. Why do I care? Why is everyone talking about this? Is there a universal answer?

George Carlin could be harsh. Robert Klein said that after Carlin's wife passed on about 10 years ago he became angrier. And he became popular with new generation. He's always appealed to kids, even this latest generation, for whom it's hard to be cynical enough. Klein, is my favorite comedian, yet I think there may be jealousy at play. Carlin was a smash, in many ways - recently with the surprise success of his books. Carlin and Klein came up and tried to stay up at the same time. They both hosted SNL in the first season - Carlin was the choice for the opening show. They both had many HBO specials (Klein did the first one ever) - Carlin's were more notoriously popular.

He was a master. His longevity as a stand up is amazing. Sometimes more of a philosopher than a comedian. Sometimes more of a ranter than anything else. Sometimes a political commentator (who seemed to most prefer anarchy over any form of government). He evolved. He survived. And now he's died.

Carlin once said that he thought that whatever people purported was their religious belief was true for them. As I recall it: "You know those people who say, 'Don't pray for me, I'm going to hell-' that's where they're GOING!" Part of me hopes that right before he died George Carlin believed that he was going to Heaven.

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's a nice tribute to George Carlin.

June 23, 2008 at 11:14 PM  
Blogger rabbi neil fleischmann said...

Thank you. Feedback on that piece means a lot to me.

June 24, 2008 at 12:46 AM  
Blogger uriyo said...

I liked the "heavenly voice" part as well as the Carlin part. Thanks.

June 25, 2008 at 12:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great tribute to George Carlin. I too have been a huge fan of his comedy for years. I especially like the way you pinpoint his ability to "tell it like it is." The better comedians are amazing baalei mussar and he was great at that. He held a mirror up to us and told us who we are.

In my mind, there are three things that upset me about his work: a) his langauge, b) his subject matter (sometimes), and c) his anti-religious rants. The first two are sometimes cheap ways to get laughs. The third was his own philosophy, I suppose, but not just a-religious, he was anti.

Still, he was great. He'll be missed.

Keep up the great work!

Shloime TAS

June 25, 2008 at 4:39 PM  
Blogger rabbi neil fleischmann said...

Thanks Uri and Anonymous Shloime.

Uri thanks for seeing the piece within the piece.

Shloime TAS you are clealy a maven of comedy and of mussar. I don't find that many people around that really "get" either of these diciplines and certainly not many who see the connection between the two.

June 26, 2008 at 6:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"There was some mixture of the need to say the truth, the ability to entertain, and the desire to be loved that I connected to."

Yes! I connect to that too, whenever I see people performing (on stage, in writing or art, etc.) - there's that feeling that really is a mix of those three things - and I think a fourth thing too, which is that through speaking the truth, and entertaining, and being loved, there is something that happens with your audience too - they grow too through that interaction & connection with you.

For me, when reading your blog, I'm inspired to take some time to put on my thinking cap and slow down a bit, make space for introspection... and from your stand-up too, just the little bits I've seen, it's a feeling that there's someone out there who is understanding and has a take on the world that works for me - a feeling of getting it, and understanding people without judging - some delight in everyone's uniqueness.

I feel like it's no a surprise at all that you are a rabbi, teacher, blogger, stand-up comic - how could you not be all of those things?

And to the idea of you writing a book, or making a book out of your blog, or a poetry book - I wave enthusiastic e-pom-poms at all of those things.

- Y

June 29, 2008 at 4:35 AM  
Blogger rabbi neil fleischmann said...

Y- Whoever you are, I thank you so much for your words, your appreciation. I don't know how I missed this - it happens, sorry. All this time later I hope you accept my thanks.

December 25, 2010 at 11:58 PM  

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