Notes
The night before the attacks of 9/11, George Carlin was doing what he did best- harnessing his darkest thoughts and turning them into incisive long-form jokes live on stage. On that particular date Carlin was performing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas - part of what would be a four-year residency there - working toward his 12th HBO special. The plan was to title that special I Kinda Like It When A Lotta People Die, which, considering the names of the specials that bookended that one (You're All Diseased and Life is Worth Losing) was, in hindsight, in line with the later-era tone of Carlin's comedy. The next morning, however, a lot of people actually died and Carlin eventually decided to rename the special, recorded two months later at the Beacon Theater in New York, Complaints and Grievances. Any bits that he deemed in poor taste juxtaposed with the mass casualties and injuries sustained during the attacks on the World Trade Center were scrubbed and shelved. Seven years later Carlin died at the age of 71, before he could release that material. But 15 years after those bits were recorded, I Kinda Like It When A Lotta People Die is finally getting released.
