Carlin on Campus (1984)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Steven Santos

Cast: George Carlin

Time: 60 minutes

Recorded live in UCLA, this is the fourth George Carlin HBO special. Admittedly, it is not his strongest show, though it has its very good moments throughout.

The show starts with a skit where the adult Carlin is back in a Catholic school classroom. This is inspired by his album called Class Clown. As for the standup show itself, Carlin discusses prayers, little dogs, flamethrowers, driving and getting sick, amongst other things. The comic also does two bits here that have become classics over the years: A Place for my Stuff and Baseball and Football.

The set on stage was a little cheesy, but that is forgivable considering the show was shot in the 80’s. I did not particularly care for the three cartoons shown during this comedy special. The material it contained was weak and, to me, it was a distraction from what Carlin does best: Live comedy on stage.

In spite of its weaknesses, this show had quite a few moments that made me laugh. The best was yet to come with Carlin by 1984.

Rating: «««