George Carlin Recorded A Bit Making Light Of Mass Tragedies The Day Before 9/11

It’s one thing for former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani to forget the terrorist attacks carried out on September 11, 2001 in a speech promoting Donald Trump. It’s another, as evidenced by the official George Carlin YouTube channel’s release on Tuesday, to make jokes about such heinous atrocities. Of course, when Carlin recorded the routine for his Complaints and Grievances HBO special, 9/11 hadn’t happened yet. Hence why the comedian decided to shelve the bit following the next day’s traumatic events.

Until now, for Rolling Stone reports the discarded recordings from a Las Vegas show will be released as I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die on September 16 in digital, CD and LP formats. Instead of making Carlin aficionados, comedy fans and terrible people wait until then, however, the deceased comic’s YouTube page posted a short two-minute selection on Tuesday. And yes, it includes the offending bit that drove the concerned performer to ultimately abandon it.

The magazine spoke to Jerry Hamza, Carlin’s former manager, who described the comedian as “a disaster-chaser”:

“He had crafted this piece called ‘I Kinda Like It When a Lotta People Die.’ And then 9/11 happened, and, once those towers went down, George knew right away he couldn’t use that material in his next special. He said then to himself, ‘I’ll put it on the back burner. Sooner or later, I’ll get to it and put it back in the act.”

This isn’t the first time previously unreleased Carlin material has found its way to the public. In early 2015, his official website released several clips recorded from the very 1972 show at which he performed his infamous “Seven Words” routine and was promptly arrested.

(Via Rolling Stone)

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