Welcome to GEORGE CARLIN WEEK at Zen Pencils! To celebrate the awesomeness of Mr Carlin and the huge influence he had on me, all three of this week’s cartoons will be Carlin quotes. PART 2, PART 3, PART 4

George Carlin (1937-2008) was an American comedian, writer, actor and is easily my favourite stand-up ever. I consider him a prophet (although he wouldn’t like to be called that) for his social, cultural and political commentary and his ability to condense the ridiculousness of humanity into hilarious and biting routines. He had a profound influence on me and my outlook on the world. Like Carlin, I was raised Catholic and growing up I noticed the same contradictions and delusional thinking that he so perfectly summarised in some of his jokes. Carlin was fearless on stage, covering everything from religion, abortion, murder, suicide, child-rearing, government, patriotism, gun-control, obesity and war. A true hero of mine.

MY TWO FAVOURITE CARLIN HBO SPECIALS (WARNING: The following links contain extremely explicit, offensive and hilarious language)

Jammin’ in New York – Although he had already been doing stand-up for over 20 years, Carlin took his routine to the next level in this 1992 special. Highlights include the ‘bigger dick foreign policy’ and a total evisceration of golf.

It’s Bad For Ya – His final special filmed in 2008, Carlin proved he had lost none of his scathing wit at the age of 70. The above quote is taken from this special and can be viewed here.

– You can buy all of Carlin’s albums and DVDs at the official George Carlin online store.