George Carlin (1937–2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author. Regarded as one of the most important and influential comedians of all time, he was dubbed “the dean of counterculture comedians.” He was known for his dark comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion and taboo subject matter.
In the early 1970s, Carlin perfected his well-known “
seven dirty words” routine, which most notably appears on
Class Clown as follows: “‘Sh*t,’ ‘p*ss,’ ‘f*ck,’ ‘c*nt,’ ‘c*cks*cker,’ ‘motherf*cker,’ and ‘t*ts.’ Those are the heavy seven. Those are the ones that’ll infect your soul, curve your spine and keep the country from winning the war.”
On July 21, 1972, Carlin was arrested after performing the routine on the Main Stage at Milwaukee’s Summerfes. The reason he was arrested was because of Elmer Lenz. Lenz was a police officer who was at the festival as a patron, there with his wife and child. They weren’t in attendance at the Main Stage, but rather at the carnival midway. Supposedly the acoustics at Summerfest were such that Carlin’s act could be heard on the carnival rides. When Lenz heard Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” bit he became incensed. He later said: “I couldn’t believe my ears. I couldn’t see why nobody was doing anything about it.”
And Carlin later said: “No one said to me, you know, ‘Your voice is going to carry over to the cotton candy dispenser, so we don’t want you to do that.’”
Lenz rushed to the stage, ready to arrest Carlin in front of his audience. However, the police officers who were acting as security stopped Lenz and told him that he’d have to wait till the act was over. Lenz called for backup and once Carlin finished his bit and left the stage, he was arrested.
At the jail, the district attorney refused to file state criminal charges against Carlin. The Milwaukee City Attorney, however, did slap Carlin with a “disorderly conduct” charge. Carlin posted $150 bail and was released that evening.
Carlin’s defense team encouraged him to pay the small fine associated with the disorderly conduct charge, but Carlin opted to fight it. In December 1972, Carlin’s case came to court. The city called a single witness, a schoolteacher who had been at Summerfest with his sons. He testified that he and his boys had heard Carlin’s language and that he had been offended by it, but acknowledged that he had not witnessed any sort of disturbance caused by the act.
The defense called the DA who had originally declined to charge Carlin the night he was arrested. He testified that he did not think a disorderly conduct charge was warranted because what he had seen when Carlin uttered those words were, “people laughing.” The defense further argued that Carlin’s show was meant for an adult audience (Carlin took the stage at 10 PM).
The defense then played the “Seven Dirty Words” bit from Carlin’s latest album to the court. This pretty much settled the case, as it was apparent that Carlin’s intent was comedy (rather than agitation or shock). Moreover, the judge had trouble keeping his composure. Carlin’s lawyer noted that “the judge laughed throughout the entire thing.” The judge threw out the charge, settling the matter.
In 1973, a man complained to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) after listening with his son to a similar routine, “Filthy Words,” from Carlin’s Occupation: Foole, which was broadcast one afternoon on radio station WBAI. The FCC cited Pacifica for violating regulations that prohibit broadcasting “obscene” material. The Supreme Court upheld the FCC action by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling that the routine was “indecent but not obscene” and that the FCC had authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience.
The controversy increased Carlin’s fame. He eventually expanded the “dirty words” theme with a seemingly interminable end to a performance, finishing with his voice fading out in one HBO version and accompanying the credits in the Carlin at Carnegie special for the 1982–83 season, and a set of 49 webpages organized by subject and embracing his “Incomplete List of Impolite Words.” Over his career, Carlin was arrested seven times for reciting the “Seven Dirty Words” routine.
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