George Carlin used to be my all-time favorite stand-up, but some time between the mid-1980s (Icebox Man, A Place for My Stuff) and today, he’s taken 90% of the funny out of his performance and become a grating, curmudgeonly ranter. (Fortunately, he’s archived the funny stuff in his books, e.g. Brain Droppings, but it’s not as good as seeing him perform it.)

(Before I get jumped on, please know that I’m not saying it’s wrong for one’s style to evolve as one’s perspective changes. If he wants to play the curmudgeon, that’s fine! But that doesn’t mean you have to turn off the Humor valve. A lot of his rants just involve name-calling.)

So my question is, when did the change happen? Was it a seemingly sudden change, or did it evolve over time?