What Am I Doing In New Jersey?

Performer: George Carlin
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Solo performer: George Carlin (spoken vocals). What Am I Doing in New Jersey was recorded in 1988, so naturally it tackles some of the events of the late Reagan administration. George Carlin sums up his essence on the track "Reagan's Gang, Church People, and American Values": "I'm the first to say its a great country, but its a strange culture!" He rants about preventative detainment, censorship, and the paradoxes of the Right to Life movement -- all of which is biting, but not very funny. Then, about seven minutes in, he gets started. Carlin protects no sacred cows, and quickly moves through cracks on bulimia, banning artificial sweeteners but not tobacco ("because a rat died!"), and other peculiar American quirks. George Carlin is at his best when assailing a culture that prioritizes corporate interests over the public good (for example, gun store owners getting lists of bad creditors but not convicted criminals) and consistently misuses the English language (the word civil in "Civil War," etc.). What Am I Doing in New Jersey has some great moments, but drags through "Keeping People Alert" and "People I Can Do Without," where he looks at society through an annoyed lens more than a bitterly funny one. "More Stuff on Cars and Driving" ends the record. Fans of Carlin's humor will not be surprised that bad drivers and driving culture bother him more than any sort of corporate crime or social insanity. The main weakness of What Am I Doing in New Jersey is that it doesn't have any choice takes on the "Garden State" at all. What a missed opportunity. Overall, a light and entertaining comedy album, but not a groundbreaking or challenging one. ~ JT Griffith

It's somewhat fitting that visionary stand-up George Carlin would be best remembered by many for a bit on "bad words," the infamous, oft-banned "7 Words You Can't Say on Television." Carlin's zest for words was endless; his obsession with our neurotic dance with language, in particular the hidden evils in soft language, birthed some of his most hilarious routines (and most trenchant commentary). He rose to prominence in the 1960s as a talk show regular with the memorable "Hippy Dippy Weatherman" and relatively tame recollections of his NYC childhood. By the 1970s, Carlin's observations had turned more acerbic, his razor wit informing a legion of angry, hyper-literate, iconoclastic comics from Bill Hicks to Lewis Black. After 71 years of hard living (precisely the sort of phrase Carlin would despise) and brilliant comedy, the irrepressible Carlin died (not "passed away") in 2008.

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