Jet Set Jen's Blog: Remembering George Carlin

Spent last night at the Hermosa Beach Comedy & Magic Club, where George Carlin’s daughter Kelly joined forces with Lenny Bruce’s daughter Kitty (the two men were friends back in the day) to create a fundraiser for Lenny’s House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping women addicted to drugs and/or alcohol.

The raucous three-hour show was a who’s who of the current comedy scene, a mix of up-and-coming comics and those whose careers have made them richer than Croesus. The one thing they all have in common is a love for the genius of George Carlin; and the film memoir of Carlin’s best moments, shown after all twelve comedians had strutted their stuff live, proved that he truly was the king of comedy.

Larry Miller led off the comic cavalcade, doing a funny bit that included a joke all the Southern Californians in the crowd could get behind.

“I think everyone should have a cause,” he cracked, “Mine is finding out who is responsible for the constantly changing price of gasoline. I want to find them . . . and kill them!”

Paul Provenza, Bobby Collins, and Dan Pasternak followed, then Kathleen Madigan brought down the house with a completely hilarious set. She was a tough act to follow, but Tony Stark did a pretty good job.

When Roseanne hit the stage, the gazillionaire “Domestic Goddess” seemed a bit scattered, and we soon figured out why.

“It’s the medical marijuana,” she chortled.

Rick Overton was next, but he kinda lost the crowd with some filthy – and not particularly amusing – jokes, but everyone was back on board with magician/comedian Andrew Goldenhersh, whose Houdini straightjacket removal tribute had quite the twist. Putting eggs into the jacket before two random audience members strapped him in, he wiggled his way out and then, who knows how!, pulled two live chickens out of the arms. Crazy stuff. Love magicians!

Next up was a very funny Sebastian, then Kevin Nealon, and the night’s live performances finished off with Garry Shandling, who made Roseanne look positively sober. He, too, explained his weirdness by citing his medical marijuana Rx, and begged Kelly Carlin to get the hook and pull him off the stage.

Mercifully, she did, and then unspooled the incredible footage of her dad in performance, from the early days of the Hippy Dippy Weatherman and Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV to his astonishing fast-talking routines done right up to his death in 2008. He was one of a kind, and as everyone agreed as the lights came up on a very successful evening, is still sorely missed on the comedy scene.

For more info on Lenny's House, go to http://www.lennybruceofficial.com/.