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One second, there was complete silence. But the second he walked on stage, there was a thunderous applause.
George Carlin, one of the most prolific and insightful comedians of our generation and our parents’ generation, graced the stage of Hutchins Concert Hall at the Maine Center for the Arts Sunday. Carlin and his opening act, Dennis Blair, left a mark on the crowd of people young and old.
Carlin has been in the business for more than 40 years and from last night’s performance, it was evident that his age is not catching up with him.
On top of many of his funnier bits from his latest HBO special, “Complaints and Grievances,” he also had an unfaltering flow of new material for the crowd. A couple of his funnier topics included his discussion of whether caviar feces smell better than bologna and cheese sandwich feces, and that there are simply too many songs in the world.
“Here’s something that the women can relate to,” Carlin said during the show. “You know when you’re blowing a horse … What, you’ve never blown a horse? You don’t know what you’re missing.”
Much of Carlin’s new material was for his newest show, which will be unlike any he has ever done. He is working on a 90-minute one-man Broadway show called “Watch My Language,” which is dedicated to language and speech in America. He plans to open this show in the fall of 2004.
Dennis Blair also drew fanfare from the crowd with his great work on the guitar and his topical humor. He made parodies on the spot of many songs. Among the artists mocked were Eric Clapton, Eminem and Ozzy Osbourne.
He also spoke of how great it would be to see Ozzy in a conversation with Bob Dylan, to which the crowd responded with uproarious laughter. He also poked fun at many of the new reality shows, including the new one that will feature Monica Lewinsky.
“Monica Lewinsky gets her own reality show,” Blair said. “I guess it’s her first job since her last job.”
Joe Cota, the theater and operations manager at the MCA, did his fair share of work Sunday night. He was primarily in charge of filing out the 1,468 audience members from the 6 p.m. show, and getting in the 1,277 audience members before the 8 p.m. start. However, Cota said, everything went as well as to be expected.
“Things went very well from an operational standpoint,” said Cota. “This first show ended at 7:50, and we got the second show started at about 8:10. So under the circumstances everything went fine.”
This was Carlin’s third performance at the MCA and his first since September 30, 1995.
Bangor Daily News