The late George Carl — never to be confused with the late George Carlin — was one of my favorite performers. So was Mr. Carlin for that matter and I saw both of them perform glorious, not-to-be-forgotten sets in Las Vegas.
I was there with my buddy Len Wein — this was quite some time ago — and I insisted we go see the show at the Stardust, a revue that featured topless showgirls…and George Carl. I tried to explain why but it was hard to explain George Carl. I asked Len to trust me and I said something like, "Even if you hate the guy, there will still be topless showgirls." He agreed and so we sat there howling at Mr. Carl until Len managed to gasp, "I get it." He was even a bit disappointed when Carl left the stage and the topless showgirls came back on.
Here's George Carl on The Ed Sullivan Show for December 26, 1965. Sorry — no topless showgirls this time…