George Carlin Archives Heading to National Comedy Museum
Apparently, George Carlin was a pack rat. The legendary comedian, who passed away eight years ago, was known for keeping mountains of knick-knacks and souvenirs from throughout his comedy career stored away; he even had a bit about it, stating “Everybody’s gotta have a little place for their stuff. That’s all life is about. Trying to find a place for your stuff.”
While dealing with all that stuff might have been a pain for the Carlins at the time, they, along with comedy fans everywhere, are glad that he kept it around, because those things are now going to be shared with the world. Writer/Comedian Kelly Carlin, George Carlin’s daughter, announced today that she will be donating her father’s entire archive to the National Comedy Center, which will be opening next year in Jamestown, New York.
The National Comedy Center is the perfect place to host Carlin’s extensive archive of stuff; Jamestown is the home of I Love Lucy’s Lucille Ball and the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary this August. Better yet, the archive, which includes everything from Carlin’s script notes from his 1992 Letterman appearance to the pink slip to his first car, will be on full display for all to see, rather than stashed away in a vault, never to see the light of day.
It’s for that reason that Carlin decided to donate the archives to the National Comedy Center and not the Smithsonian. “Y’know like that last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark where the Ark of the Covenant just goes into a warehouse somewhere,” Carlin joked to NPR. “I mean, bless them, but I pictured my dad’s stuff just going into an archive and not being seen by anyone.”
The NCC is more than happy to take in the self-maintained Carlin museum. “George Carlin had the eternal respect of every person in stand-up and still does,” said Kliph Nesteroff, the NCC’s chief curator. “George Carlin, more so than probably any other major comedian you could name, was a complete historian of his own career.”
And now, that history, of one of stand-up comedy’s all-time greatest acts, will be available for all to see. The 50+ year comic’s well of material is about to expand even further; Check out this never-before-heard clip of Carlin, from August 22nd, 2000, that was released from Carlin’s archives just last week:
[H/T] NPR
