Search - George Carlin - Doin' It Again/Jammin' In New York on DVD

The Turning Point

J. Brown | New York, NY, USA | 07/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One aspect of "Jammin' In New York" which I noticed (and am probably the only one to do so) as a turning point has to do with the quality of Mr. Carlin's voice. In the years leading up to this special, that particular instrument of his had a certain quality that more or less sustained itself, good times and bad, even as his act became more strident and pointed. But "Jammin'" would be the last time his voice would maintain that quality. By the time of his 1996 "Back In Town" show, his voice would become more gravelly, coarse and ravaged (probably the combination of age and the parts of his routines where he'd scream at the top of his lungs). Back to "Jammin'," though: I especially appreciated his routine on the inanity of airplane announcements, and his advocating the use of land currently taken up with golf courses and cemeteries to house the homeless (I grew up near a golf course in Pennsylvania, so I share his sentiments in that regard). And his airplane routine was a vast improvement over that on his 1977 "On Location" program."

Not what I expected

Joseph Hart | Visalia, CA United States | 03/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I watched part of Robin Williams' Live on Broadway, got dizzy, loved the vulgarity and bought the DVD as my silent $17 protest against decency. A few days ago I read Carlin's reaction to the current onslaught of decency and decided to check him out. I thought he was great. One problem. From the date given for the show (Jammin') and everything I could read about it, I was/am sure Carlin was talking about poppa Bush. Yet I KNOW he named Dick Cheyney and Colin Powell. Huh? Regardless (though it bugs me), he was dead-on when he said if the government says it, don't believe it. Not even the FDA. And the reviewers who say politics and humor don't mix (Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde sure didn't say it!) just got cut a little close to the nerve. I wish (did he?) he'd do something current (as Tom Lehrer said, that's like asking a citizen of Pompeii to say something amusing about lava). Like about all the little uglies with their little axes running about like Carrie Nation screaming things like "the sanctity of marriage" (they don't mean sanctimonious, by any chance) and "tradition" and generally trying to run the lives of everyone they can. I'd love to see what he'd do with that! George Carlin was nothing like what I'd expected, instead he was more so, and I thought his numbers on similarities, euphemisms and the first bit on words (pomposity of expressions) were a riot. But I squirmed when he said "fruit." Ain't nothin' sacred! Yet when I asked a friend of mine how he'd feel if Howard Stern talked that way about his own girlfriend, he said he'd feel "proud." Iconoclasm and lots of it!"

Misleading title

Tsipir | Greece | 05/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, this is some of the best Carlin stuff. The only comment I have is that the title was misleading to me: one of the shows is called "Doin' it Again". Since this title is not on CD, I though that it was something I did not have. After receiving the DVD, it turned out that it was another name for the CD "Parental Advisory - Explicit Lyrics". Nevertheless, fantastic comedy..."