Seinfeld's Tribute to Carlin

Last night, I was watching the tribute to George Carlin on Larry King's show on CNN.

One of his guests was Jerry Seinfeld, and it was during King's Q&A with Seinfeld that he revealed that he had written an article about Carlin that would appear in today's New York Times.

Now, I was never much of a Seinfeld fan. I guess I liked him better than some of King's guests last night — like Roseanne. But I like Lewis Black and Bill Maher, and they both shared some memories of Carlin and insights into his personality.

So, too, did Seinfeld. And I think his article has resonance for me, especially because of an observation he makes:

"I became obsessed with him in the '60s," Seinfeld writes. "As a kid it seemed like the whole world was funny because of George Carlin. His performing voice, even laced with profanity, always sounded as if he were trying to amuse a child. It was like the naughtiest, most fun grown-up you ever met was reading you a bedtime story."

Seinfeld also talks — as everyone else does — about Carlin's "cutting edge" comedy. That really goes without saying, considering the Lenny Bruce-like legal problems he had over his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" routine.

(That routine, by the way, seems almost pedestrian by today's standards. And it's been more than 30 years since he recorded it. But you still can't say those words on TV!)

But, in both the article and the King show, Seinfeld was in awe of Carlin's "precision." He was always very precise, and he seemed to get better at that as he got older.

"To me, everything he did just had this gleaming wonderful precision and originality," Seinfeld says.

Read Seinfeld's article.

Read it if you admired Carlin.

Read it if you never watched one of Carlin's performances or listened to one of his records.

And if you missed him while he was alive, more's the pity.