yeah, i dunno if i'd consider him a shock-comedian. i think a lot of his stuff is sorta mean-based, which is why i like it -- the whole "fuck everyone" mentality.
if anything, i give him so much credit for being consistent over... geez... 50 years or whatever. HBO always replays his standup, and its such a cool variety of black and white footage, weird 1980s hair, 60s outfits, etc. sure, a lot of it is timely, but a lot of it is also still funny.
agreed. Carlin didn't rely on shock value. it was just one tool of many that he used. while there was a certain bitterness that seemed to grow more overt in the last few decades, he was geniunely attempting to make people laugh and think about what was going on in the world around them.
