Company name	XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc.
Company logo
Company type	Subsidiary of Sirius XM Radio
Company slogan	Beyond AM. Beyond FM. XM.
Foundation	1992 (as American Mobile Radio Corporation) 2001 (as XM Satellite Radio)
Closed	March 2008
Location	Washington, D.C., USA
Key people	[Mel Karmazin], President and CEO
Industry	Broadcasting - Radio
Products	Satellite Radio
Revenue	US$1.14 billion (2008) From Yahoo Finance
Net income	US$-682.38 million (2006)
Num employees	860 (2007)
Parent	Sirius XM Radio
Homepage	XMradio.com

XM Satellite Radio (XM) is one of two satellite radio (SDARS) services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional traffic and weather channels and 23 play-by-play sports channels. XM channels are identified by Arbitron with the label "XM" (e.g. "XM32").

The company has its origins in the 1988 formation of the American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC), a consortium of several organizations originally dedicated to satellite broadcasting of telephone, fax, and data signals. In 1992, AMSC established a unit called the American Mobile Radio Corporation dedicated to developing a satellite-based digital radio service; this was spun off as XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. in 1999. The satellite service was set to officially launch on September 12, 2001, however, due to the events of September 11 ("9/11"), the decision was made to postpone the official launch date to September 25, 2001. On July 29, 2008, XM and former competitor Sirius Satellite Radio formally completed their merger, following U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, forming Sirius XM Radio, Inc. See XM/Sirius merger.

April 26: XM announces 1Q07 results, as well as surpassing eight million subscribers. The company also claims that they have an additional US$319 million in positive cashflow, giving them total available liquidity of US$719 million.

May 15: XM suspends talk show hosts Opie & Anthony for 30 days over comments made on their program by a homeless man called "Homeless Charlie" on the previous day.

iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry and Android applications

Sirius XM developed a software application for use on the Apple iPhone and Apple iPod Touch devices that will allow Sirius XM subscribers to listen to its programming over the Apple devices. The Sirius XM iPhone App became available in the Apple iTunes store on June 17, 2009.

All Premium Sirius XM Internet Radio subscribers are able to download the application from the Apple iTunes App-Store for free onto their device and access the service. Subscribers who listened to the Basic Online Service for free must first upgrade to the Premium Online Service for $2.99 per month to access the application on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Sirius XM debuted a new web page to market the application.

On February 4, 2010, Sirius XM released an app for the Research In Motion BlackBerry line of smartphones, including the Storm (Series 9500), Bold (Series 9000 and 9700), Tour (Series 9600) and Curve (Series 8500 and 8900). Like the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch application, the BlackBerry app is free but requires a Premium Sirius XM Online subscription.

Sirius XM is also available for download on Android devices through the Android Market.

The applications carry most of the XM music, talk, sports and entertainment programming, as well as some exclusive Internet-only content. The mobile applications do not support the Best of Sirius Package.

Canada

In November 2004, Canadian Satellite Radio filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to bring the XM service to Canada. Along with Sirius Canada and the consortium of CHUM Limited and Astral Media, CSR was one of three applications for national subscription radio services submitted to the CRTC.

On June 16, 2005, the CRTC approved all three applications. The decisions were appealed to the Canadian federal cabinet by a number of broadcasting, labour, and arts and culture organizations, including the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, CHUM Limited, and the National Campus and Community Radio Association. The groups objected to the satellite radio applicants' approach to and reduced levels of Canadian content and French-language programming, along with the exclusion of Canadian non-commercial broadcasting. After a lengthy debate, Cabinet rejected the appeals on September 9, 2005.

XM's Canadian channels appeared on US receivers on November 17, 2005. On November 29, 2005, XM Canada officially launched.

See also

Boeing Satellite Systems

List of XM Satellite Radio channels

Sirius Satellite Radio

1worldspace

XM Radio Canada

XM Satellite Radio channel history

Notes

External links

Official website (United States)

Official website (Canada)

Official XM For Business website (for commercial use)

XMwxweather.com

Category:Companies established in 1988 Category:Radio broadcasting companies of the United States Category:Communications satellite operators

Name	Per Gessle
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Per Håkan Gessle
Birth date	January 12, 1959
Origin	Halmstad, Sweden
Instrument	Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Genre	Pop, rock, soft rock, dance, pop rock, blues-rock
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1976–present
Label	EMI, Fundamental, Sony BMG
Associated acts	RoxetteGyllene TiderSon of a Plumber
Url	http://www.gessle.com/

Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959 in Halmstad) is a Swedish pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonicist. He is the lead singer of the Swedish pop group Gyllene Tider and formed Roxette with Marie Fredriksson (being the chief songwriter in both bands). With Fredriksson's illness in 2002, he went back to recording and became a successful solo artist in native Sweden, selling multi-platinum albums.

Music career

Early work

Per Gessle was a founding member of Gyllene Tider, in 1976. They quickly became a popular group in Sweden, but after their fourth album, The Heartland Café (1984), sold poorly compared to their previous albums, the group disbanded. Gessle wrote. "We decided to put Gyllene Tider to rest... until further notice."

Also in 2004, saw Gessle and Gyllene Tider reunited for a 25th-anniversary celebration that included the band's first album in 20 years, Finn 5 fel!, and another wildly successful tour in Sweden. They beat the Ullevi attendance record, previously held by Bruce Springsteen, The album was also released in several other European countries in April 2006.

En händig man and Party Crasher

In June 2007, he released another solo album in Swedish with the name En händig man, which shipped three times platinum. A single of the same name was released; "En händig man". Later on October a book of "Att vara Per Gessle" was released, telling some of the unknown facts about Gessle and his 30-years career.

In late 2008, Per Gessle released Party Crasher, his seventh solo album and third in English. The first single off the album "Silly Really" was released on 29 October 2008, which achieved critical acclaim from Expressen, who called Per a "pop genius".

Nordic Rox

Per Gessle also serves as the guiding creative force for Nordic Rox, Sirius XM Radio’s exclusive Scandinavian music show. On 25 January and 1 February 2009, Per, along with music journalist Sven Lindstrom, hosted a two part special celebrating the 100th episode of Nordic Rox, showcasing the 50 best Swedish songs of all time.(sales thresholds)(SWE) |- !width=40|SWE !width=90|Certifications (sales thresholds)(SWE) |- |rowspan=3|1997 |"Do You Wanna Be My Baby?" |align=center|1 |align=center|Gold |- |"Kix" |align=center|28 | |- |"I Want You to Know" |align=center|48 | |- |2002 |"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" |align=center|44 |- |rowspan=3|2003 |"Här kommer alla känslorna (På en och samma gång)" |align=center|1 |align=center|Platinum |- |"På promenad genom stan" |align=center|20 | |- |"Tycker om när du tar på mej" |align=center|9 | |- |2005 |"C'mon"/"Jo-Anna Says" |align=center|5 | |- |rowspan=2|2006 |"Hey Mr. DJ" |align=center|23 | |- |"I Like it Like That" |align=center|47 | |- |rowspan=3|2007 |"En händig man" |align=center|1 | |- |"Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke" |align=center|29 | |- |"Pratar med min müsli (hur det än verkar)" |align=center|47 | |- |rowspan=2|2008 |"Silly Really" |align=center|1 | |- |"I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" |align=center|47 |- |2009 |"Sing Along" |align=center|41 | |}

References

External links

Per Gessle Official Site

Per Gessle Official Facebook Site

Per Gessle Official Twitter Site

PerGessle.net

The Daily Roxette

Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Swedish male singers Category:Swedish pop guitarists Category:Swedish harmonica players Category:Swedish pop singers Category:Swedish songwriters Category:People from Halmstad Category:English-language singers Category:Swedish-language singers Category:Roxette members

Name	Lewis Black
Caption	Lewis Black, December 2007
Birth name	Lewis Niles Black
Birth date	August 30, 1948
Birth place	Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A.
Education	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, theatre
Nationality	American
Active	1981 – present
Genre	Satire, news satire, political satire, observational comedy, black comedy, rant
Subject	American politics, American culture, current events, pop culture
Influences	George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, Bill Hicks, Bob Newhart, Shelley Berman
Influenced	Dara Ó BriainThe Carnegie Hall PerformanceLewis Black's Root of All Evil Stark Raving Black
Website	www.lewisblack.com

}} Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian, author, playwright, and actor. He is known for his comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena. He hosted Comedy Central's The Root of All Evil and makes regular appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart delivering his “Back in Black” commentary segment. When not on the road performing, he resides in Manhattan. He also maintains a residence in Chapel Hill, N.C. He is currently the spokesman for Aruba Tourism, appearing in television ads that aired in late 2009 and 2010. He was voted 51st of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time by Comedy Central in 2004.

Early life

Black is the son of Jeannette, a teacher, and Sam Black, an artist and mechanical engineer. He was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Silver Spring, Maryland, graduating from Springbrook High School in 1966, summa cum laude. Black claims in his book that he scored highly on the math section of his SAT exam and later applied to Princeton University among others. Black enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he studied playwriting and was a brother of Pi Lambda Phi International fraternity and a member of Student Congress. He earned a Masters in Fine Arts at the Yale School of Drama in 1977.

Black's career began in theater as a playwright. He served as the playwright in residence and associate artistic director of Steve Olsen's West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre Bar in Hell's Kitchen in New York City, where he collaborated with composer and lyricist Rusty Magee and artistic director Rand Foerster on hundreds of one-act plays from 1981 to 1989. Also with Rusty Magee, Black wrote the musical The Czar Of Rock and Roll, which premiered at Houston's Alley Theatre in 1990.

Black's stand-up comedy began as an opening act for the plays as he was also the master of ceremonies. After a management change at the theater, Black left and began working as a comedian as well as finding bit parts in television and films.''

Comedic style

Black's style of comedy is that of a man who, in dealing with the absurdities of life and contemporary politics, is approaching his personal limits of sanity. Sarcasm, hyperbole, profanity, shouting and trademark angry finger-shaking bring emphasis to his topics of discussion. He once described his humor as "being on the Titanic every single day and being the only person who knows what is going to happen." He claims that he doesn't write his jokes down, he merely starts talking about something that makes him angry until he has to move on before he has a stroke.

Black has described his political affiliation as: "I'm a socialist, so that puts me totally outside any concept...the Canadians get it. But seriously, most people don't get it. The idea of capping people's income just scares people. 'Oh, you're taking money from the rich.' Ooh, what a horrifying thing. These people really need $200 million".

Black lists his comedic influences as George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, Bob Newhart and Shelley Berman.

Recent career

In 1998, Black starred in his first comedy special on the series Comedy Central Presents. He starred in two additional episodes of the series in 2000 and 2002. He starred in another special for the network in 2002, titled Taxed Beyond Belief.

In 2000, Black and fellow comedian Jim Norton were arrested for their involvement with "The Naked Teen Voyeur Bus", a specially designed bus with acrylic glass walls containing numerous (18 and 19 year old) "teen girls". This bus rode around Manhattan while being broadcast on the "Opie and Anthony" radio show. Unfortunately, radio station management did not inform the O&A; show that the bus' route was also the route that President Clinton was taking that same day. Twenty-eight hours after the arrest, Black and Norton were released. Black appeared on The Daily Show the following night where he stated he was exercising his constitutional rights. He then joked that the location of this particular right was unclear, but that it was "between 'all men are created equal' and 'don't shit where you eat.'" Additionally, at a fundraising event for New York Attorney General candidate Mark Green on June 28, 2006, Black talked about how he was unable to attend a previous fundraising event for Green because the arrest occurred shortly before.

Since 2003, Black has hosted the World Stupidity Awards ceremony at Montreal's Just for Laughs comedy festival for the three years the awards have been presented.

In 2004, he had an HBO stand-up special titled Black on Broadway. That same year Black appeared in an episode of as a shock jock. He also released his autobiography, Nothing's Sacred, in 2005. Since November 9, 2005, Black has been making appearances in small segments on The Weather Channel. In December 2005, he appeared in an animated holiday special The Happy Elf, as the voice of the extremely tightly wound elf, Norbert.

Black was the voice of "Manobrain" during the third season of the Cartoon Network series "Duck Dodgers". He was the inventor of a diet pill which was stolen while he was in college. He blamed the theft on his college friend Dr. I. Q. High, not realizing that the actual thief was Duck Dodgers. The theft set Manobrain on the path of evil.

Black played the character of the Deadly Duplicator in , on Adult Swim. He appeared in four episodes before the show ended. He played the part once more in the .

On April 21, 2006, Black performed at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC for an HBO special, Red, White, and Screwed. It aired on June 10, 2006, and a DVD was released October 3, 2006. When explaining his choice of venue, Black said that "some asshole" was paid to count the number of uses of the word "fuck" from his previous HBO special, Black On Broadway, and that the original location, the Kennedy Center, wanted him to cut back on its use. Black was told the number was 42, when actually it was approximately 78.

In the film Accepted, a film about high school graduates who create a college when they fail to get accepted into any, he plays Dean Ben Lewis of the school "South Harmon Institute of Technology" or S.H.I.T.; as the Dean, he talks about his views of the world. He also appears in the 2006 films Man of the Year and Unaccompanied Minors. Black hosted Comedy Central's Last Laugh '06, which aired on December 10, 2006.

On February 11, 2007, Black received a Grammy award for "Best Comedy Album" for his album The Carnegie Hall Performance.

On June 18, 2007 he sat in with Southern rock/Jam band Gov't Mule at the 6th annual Bonnaroo music festival, where he had performed earlier that weekend, for what was to be a quick joke. A member of the audience threw a bottle at Black, which struck him. Black was upset and he encouraged the audience to boo the heckler before leaving the stage in disgust, while shouting obscenities at the heckler. This act was seen in an episode of "Lewis Black's Root of All Evil" titled "YouTube vs. Porn".

On June 29, 2007, Black gave a benefit show at Springbrook High School, his alma mater, in the school's auditorium for 1,100 alumni, faculty, and students. He performed in his usual style, stopping at points to remark how good it felt to use that language on that particular stage. At the end of the show he was given a Springbrook football jersey, and cursed at one teacher for giving him a B and causing him not to graduate first in his class.

Black did the voice-over for an oxpecker named Ted in Cartoon Network series My Gym Partner's a Monkey, appearing in "Hornbill and Ted's Bogus Journey." The character is portrayed in the same fashion as his comedy shows, though without the profanity. In addition, the bird's clothes, looks, and mannerisms match those of Black himself.

Black hosted the Comedy Central television series The Root Of All Evil in 2008. The show pitted two people or pop-culture topics against each other as a panel of comedians argued, in the style of a court trial, which is more evil, e.g., "Paris Hilton vs. Dick Cheney" and "Internet Porn vs. YouTube". After hearing arguments from both sides, Black, acting as judge, made the final decision as to which is more evil.

Black hosted Comedy Central's Last Laugh '07, which aired on December 2, 2007 along with Dave Attell and D.L. Hughley.

In mid December 2007, Black went with Robin Williams, Kid Rock, Lance Armstrong and Rachel Smith, Miss USA 2007, on a USO trip to support the troops in Iraq and Kuwait. They then wrapped it up on Dec 22nd at the U.S Naval Station in Rota, Spain.

Comedy Central's "Stand-Up Month" in January 2008 features specials originally presented on HBO by Black, along with programs featuring Dane Cook and Chris Rock.

In January 2008, as part of Comedy Central's "Stand-Up Month", Black's routine finished at #5 on "Stand-Up Showdown 2008", a viewer-based countdown of the top "Comedy Central Presents" routines.

On February 18, 2008, Black hosted History of the Joke with Lewis Black, a 2-hour comedy-documentary on The History Channel.

Black helped create the annual Carolina Comedy Festival at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Black is currently on tour touting his latest book Me of Little Faith. He is also currently doing a stand-up tour called "Let Them Eat Cake".

On August 2, 2009, Black filmed two shows at the Fillmore Theater in Detroit, MI. These shows were the basis for a concert film called Stark Raving Black, which appeared in theatres for a limited time in October. It will also be released as a CD or DVD June 15 th 2010 .

At the end of 2009, Black returned to the History Channel to host Surviving the Holidays with Lewis Black, in which he discussed the year-end pressures of Thanksgiving, Channukah, Christmas, and New Year's.

Beginning in January 2010, Black embarked on a new tour called "In God We Rust".

Published works

Nothing's Sacred (2005)

Nothing's Sacred (audio book) (2006)

Nothing's Sacred (softcover version) (2007)

Me of Little Faith (2008) (New York: Riverhead Books -- Penguin Group) 240 pages, ISBN 978-1-59449-994-5.

Me of Little Faith (paperback version with added content) (2009)

I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas (2010)

Media releases

CDs

The White Album (2000)

Revolver (EP) (2002)

The End of the Universe (2002)

Rules of Enragement (2003)

Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues (2005)

The Carnegie Hall Performance (2006)

Anticipation (2008)

Stark Raving Black (2010)

DVDs

Unleashed (compilation of his four Comedy Central specials plus his appearances on ) (2002)

Black on Broadway (2003 HBO Special) (2004)

A Pair of Lewis Black Shorts (Sidesplitters: The Burt & Dick Story and The Gynecologists) (2006)

Red, White, and Screwed (2006 HBO Special)

History of the Joke with Lewis Black (2008 History Channel special)

Surviving the Holidays with Lewis Black (2009 History Channel special)

Stark Raving Black (2010)

Filmography

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Jacob's Ladder (1990)

The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1990–1991) (TV series)

Law & Order, "Aria" (1991)

The Hard Way (1991)

, "Deception" (1997)

, "" (2004)

The Happy Elf (2005)

Accepted (2006)

Man of the Year (2006)

Unaccompanied Minors (2006)

Farce of the Penguins (2007)

Falling for Grace (2007)

History of the Joke (2008) (Documentary) History Channel

Lewis Black's Root of All Evil (2008) (TV series) Comedy Central

The Big Bang Theory, "The Jiminy Conjecture" (2009) (TV series) CBS

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010) (TV Series) Cartoon Network

References

External links

Lewis Black's Official Site

Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Lewis Black (TV Interview)

Interview with Black on NPR's Fresh Air (April 7, 2005)

Interview with Black on NPR's Talk of the Nation (January 29, 2003)

Interview with Lewis Black with the Village Voice (September 23, 2008)

Onion A.V. Club Interview

Interview with Lewis Black by Maurie Sherman

Lewis Black MySpace Page

Stand Up! Records

Interview, Real Detroit Weekly (November 13, 2007)

"Straight Talk" Interview in Submerge Magazine, (Sept. 2008)

Category:1948 births Category:American Jews Category:American comedians Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:American socialists Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish comedians Category:Living people Category:People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina Category:People from Silver Spring, Maryland Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Category:Yale School of Drama alumni

Name	Joe Nichols
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Joseph Edward Nichols
Born	November 26, 1976
Origin	Rogers, Arkansas, U.S. Nichols is part Cherokee.
Name	Nichols, Joe
Date of birth	1976-11-26
Place of birth	Rogers, Ark

Category:1976 births Category:American country singers Category:American people of Cherokee descent Category:American people of Native American descent Category:Musicians from Arkansas Category:People from Benton County, Arkansas Category:Living people Category:Show Dog-Universal Music artists

Name	Janeane Garofalo
Imagesize	200px
Caption	Janeane Garofalo in August 2008
Birth date	September 28, 1964
Birth place	Newton, New Jersey, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, radio
Nationality	American
Active	1988–present
Genre	Alternative comedy
Subject	American politics, pop culture, feminism, body image,

Janeane Garofalo (; born September 28, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist, writer, and former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.

Early life

Garofalo was born in Newton, New Jersey, the daughter of Joan and Carmine Garofalo. Her mother was a secretary, in the petrochemical industry, who died of cancer when Janeane was 24. Her father is a former executive at Exxon. Garofalo is quoted as having disliked life in Houston because of the heat and humidity and the emphasis on prettiness and sports in high school.

While studying History at Providence College, Garofalo entered a comedy talent search sponsored by the Showtime cable network, winning the title of "Funniest Person in Rhode Island." Her original gimmick was to read off her hand, which was not successful in subsequent performances. Dreaming of earning a slot on the writing staff of the TV show Late Night With David Letterman, she became a professional standup upon graduating from college with degrees in History and American Studies. She struggled for a number of years, even working briefly as a bike messenger in Boston.

Garofalo has described herself thus: "I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth."

Entertainment career

Stand-up comedy

Garofalo officially began her career in stand-up comedy in the late 1980s during the pre-grunge era. Her appearance was often in line with late 1980s style: disheveled with thick black glasses and unkempt hair. Her comedy is often self-deprecating; she has made fun of popular culture and the pressures on women to conform to body image ideals promoted by the media.

Garofalo's comedy shows involve her and her notebook, which is filled with years' worth of article clippings and random observations she references for direct quotes during her act. Garofalo has said that she does not tell jokes as much as make observations designed to get laughs. She was part of the alternative comedy scene in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, appearing at Un-Cabaret and other venues and co-created the Eating It comedy series which ran at Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side of New York City between 1995 and 2005. She did a one-hour stand-up special, "If You Will," at Seattle's Moore Theatre, that aired on Epix in June 2010 and will be released to DVD in September 2010.

During her filmed stand-up show in Seattle, she brought up her ten year asexual relationship with her boyfriend describing herself as having no interest in sex whatsoever.

Television

Her television series debut was on the short-lived Ben Stiller Show on Fox in 1992, on which she was a cast member alongside longtime friends Ben Stiller, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Dick, and David Cross (who was a writer on the show). A chance meeting on the set of that show led her to be offered the role of Paula on The Larry Sanders Show on HBO, earning her two Emmy Award nominations in 1996 and 1997.

After The Ben Stiller Show was cancelled, Garofalo joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) for its 1994-95 season. She left SNL in March 1995 (mid-season) after only six months, saying that the experience left her "anxious and depressed" and that a sexist attitude pervaded the show. According to New York Magazine, Garofalo was "largely stuck in dull, secondary wife and girlfriend roles" and her friends said that she considered the stint "the most miserable experience of [her] life."

Post-SNL

Following SNL, Garofalo appeared in a plethora of guest star roles: the grown-up daughter of the Buchmans on the final episode of Mad About You; Jerry Seinfeld's female counterpart (and, briefly, fiancée) Jeannie Steinman on Seinfeld; a correspondent on Michael Moore's TV Nation and a former girlfriend of Dave Foley's character on Newsradio. Two television pilots starring Garofalo, the 2003 ABC show Slice O'Life about a reporter consigned to sappy human interest stories appearing at the end of news broadcasts, and the 2005 NBC program All In, based on the life of poker star Annie Duke, were not picked up by their respective networks.

Throughout the 2005-2006 television season, Garofalo appeared on The West Wing as Louise Thornton, a controversial campaign adviser to the fictional Democratic presidential nominee. Garofalo participated in the series' first live episode, most of which was a debate televised live on the East Coast and then reshot live for the West. Garofalo's character can be seen walking backstage advising before the start of each debate. In 2006, she provided the voice for the animated character "Bearded Clam" on Comedy Central's Freak Show alongside her friend David Cross. In 2007, she wrote a dedication for the mini-book included in the six-DVD box-set of the 1994 cult series My So-Called Life.

In 2009, Garofalo joined the cast of 24, where she starred as Janis Gold.

In a recent episode of Sam Seder's political podcast The Majority Report, Garofalo mentioned that she is a cast member in the upcoming Criminal Minds spinoff ; she is currently filming the series, which will debut on CBS midseason 2011.

Films

Garofalo's breakthrough into film came in 1994's Reality Bites as Winona Ryder's Gap-managing best friend Vickie. The role helped solidify Garofalo's status as a Generation X icon. In 1996, Garofalo earned a starring role in the critically acclaimed The Truth About Cats & Dogs, a variation on Cyrano de Bergerac which featured Uma Thurman in the lead role as a beautiful but dim-witted model, while Garofalo played a highly intelligent radio host. Initially an independent film, it became a studio movie when Thurman was signed. The film was a modest hit, but Garofalo disparages it to this day, saying:

Based on the success of this film, director Cameron Crowe then offered her the leading lady role in Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise if she could lose weight; after trimming down, however, she learned that Renée Zellweger had won the part instead. Garofalo turned down the role of Gale Weathers in Wes Craven's Scream because she thought the film would be too violent: "I said I didn't want to be in a movie where a teen girl was disemboweled. I didn't know it turned out so good, and it was a funny movie." Garofalo had also been David Fincher's first choice for the role of Marla Singer in the film Fight Club, but she turned it down, uncomfortable with the film's sexual content.

Before The Truth About Cats & Dogs, she was visible from television work and supporting roles in films such as Reality Bites, Bye Bye Love and Now and Then, and a leading role in I Shot a Man in Vegas. Garofalo has had a variety of leading, supporting and cameo roles in Cop Land, Wet Hot American Summer, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Dogma, The Cable Guy, Half-Baked, Mystery Men, The Wild, and Clay Pigeons.

Garofalo played the leading role in the The MatchMaker, a 1997 film about the misadventures of a cynical American woman who reluctantly visits Ireland. In 2002, she played Catherine Connolly in The Laramie Project. A puppet version of Garofalo appeared (and was graphically killed off) in the movie ; while Garofalo was irritated by the parody, she was more upset by the filmmaker's lack of correspondence. "I ran into them in the street, Trey and the other guy, and I said to them, 'The least you could do is send me a puppet.' And they said OK, took my address down ... and never sent me a puppet! So while Team America bothered me, the fact they didn't send me my puppet, that bothered me even more."

Garofalo had a segment in several episodes of the 2007 season of The Henry Rollins Show. These took place in her apartment, much in the same way Rollins' take place at his house. In 2007, she provided the voice of Colette, a chef in the Pixar/Disney feature film Ratatouille. Garofalo affected a pronounced French accent in the role, highlighted by her character's soliloquy about being the only female chef in the all-male kitchen.

She made cameo appearances in The Guitar in 2008 and Labor Pains in 2009.

Political views

Garofalo has been open and outspoken regarding her liberal political views. In an interview for Geek Monthly magazine, she stated that she grew up conservative in a conservative family.

She has appeared with political figures such as Ralph Nader (whom she supported in the 2000 election, but opposed in 2004) and Jello Biafra at various events. Garofalo now describes herself as an atheist, and has participated in a radio interview by Freethought Radio, a show by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

She became more prominent as an activist when she voiced opposition to what became the 2003 Iraq War, appearing on CNN and Fox News to discuss it. She said that she was approached by groups such as MoveOn.org and Win Without War to go on TV, because these organizations say that the networks were not allowing antiwar voices to be heard. Garofalo and the other celebrities who appeared at the time said they thought their fame could lend attention to that side of the debate. Her appearances on cable news prior to the war garnered her praise from the left and spots on the cover of Ms. and Venus Zine. Garofalo has had frequent on-air political disputes with Bill O'Reilly, Brian Kilmeade, and Jonah Goldberg.

Prior to the 2003 Iraq War, she took a position on the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. For example, in an interview with Tony Snow on a February 23, 2003 episode of Fox News Sunday, Garofalo said of the Iraqi dictator:

In March 2003, she took part in the Code Pink anti-war march in Washington, D.C. That fall, she served as emcee at several stops on the Tell Us the Truth tour, a political-themed concert series featuring Steve Earle, Billy Bragg, Tom Morello, and others. Throughout the year, Garofalo also actively campaigned for Howard Dean.

While on Fox News' program The Pulse, O'Reilly asked Garofalo what she would do if her predictions that the Iraq war would be a disaster were to turn out wrong. Garofalo stated: }}

In April 2009, Garofalo drew criticism when she denounced the Tea Party protests, saying: }} In response to the controversy Garofalo has continued to criticize Tea Party protesters, and has been reported to open her shows with "If there's any tea baggers here, welcome, and as always, white power."

Air America Radio

In late March 2004, Garofalo became a co-host for Air America Radio's new show The Majority Report alongside Sam Seder. The early days of Air America Radio are chronicled in the documentary Left of the Dial, which includes a debate between Garofalo and her conservative father Carmine, who was initially a regular guest on The Majority Report.

Garofalo was criticized by Rick Ross and some of her listeners for comments she made on her April 28, 2006 show, supporting the Scientology-linked New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a controversial treatment for workers suffering ailments from 9/11 clean-up efforts in New York City. Garofalo cited her reason for leaving the show as precipitated by such "unrecoverable" on-air arguments with Seder. She also said that she regards Seder as a better radio broadcaster than she, and therefore a better choice to continue The Majority Report.

Her last broadcast as co-host of The Majority Report aired on July 21, 2006. Since then, she has made a few appearances on The Sam Seder Show. She called on October 4, 2006, to discuss the Mark Foley scandal and on October 31, 2006, she was in studio, where she portrayed Katherine Harris in a Halloween skit. Garofalo has continued to portray Harris on the show in numerous appearances following the 2006 elections.

Garofalo made a series of appearances in New York and Los Angeles with Henry Rollins and Air America personality Marc Maron in April 2007.

Filmography

Movies

Late for Dinner (1991)

That's What Women Want (1992)

Reality Bites (1994)

Bye Bye Love (1995)

I Shot a Man in Vegas (1995)

Coldblooded (1995)

Now and Then (1995)

Sweethearts (1996)

The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996) (Abbey Barnes)

The Cable Guy (1996)

Larger Than Life (1996)

Touch (1997)

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) (Heather Mooney)

The MatchMaker (1997) (Marcy Tizard)

Cop Land (1997)

Clay Pigeons (1998)

Kiki's Delivery Service (1998) (voice)

Thick as Thieves (1998)

Permanent Midnight (1998)

Half Baked (1998)

The Thin Pink Line (1998)

The Bumblebee Flies Anyway (1999)

Torrance Rises (1999)

Can't Stop Dancing (1999)

Mystery Men (1999) (The Bowler)

Dogma (1999)

The Independent (1999)

200 Cigarettes (1999)

The Minus Man (1999)

Dog Park (2000)

Steal This Movie! (2000) (Anita Hoffman)

Titan A.E. (2000) (voice)

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000)

What Planet Are You From? (2000)

The Laramie Project (2001)

The Search for John Gissing (2001)

Wet Hot American Summer (2001) (Beth)

Martin & Orloff (2002)

Big Trouble (2002)

Manhood (Showtime; 2003)

Wonderland (2003)

Nobody Knows Anything! (2003)

Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2004)

Duane Hopwood (2005)

Nadine in Date Land, Oxygen Network; (2005) (Nadine Barnes)

Stay (2005) (Dr. Beth Levy)

The Wild (2006) (voice)

Ratatouille (2007) (voice)

Southland Tales (2007)

''The Ten (2007)

''Girl's Best Friend (2008)

''Labor Pains (Made For TV Film) (2009)

Short films

Suspicious (1994)

"Angel Mine" (1996 music video)

The Cherry Picker (2000)

Housekeeping (2001)

Junebug and Hurricane (2004)

Documentaries

(1999)

(2003)

(2003)

Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) (2003)

Left of the Dial (2005), HBO

Television

''Daria

''The Tom Green Show

''The Henry Rollins Show

'' (2003)

TV Nation, NBC, Fox

The Chris Rock Show, HBO

The Larry Sanders Show, HBO (Paula)

The Ben Stiller Show, Fox

Tales of the City, BBC/PBS (Coppola Woman)

Small Doses, Comedy Central

Saturday Night Live, NBC

Seinfeld, NBC

The Simpsons (Herself)

Newsradio, NBC

Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Cartoon Network

Law & Order, NBC

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Now with Bill Moyers, PBS

The Daily Show

Janeane Garofalo, HBO (1997) (hour-long standup special)

Behind the Scenes at Daria, MTV (2000)

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

The King of Queens, CBS (Trish)

Shorties Watching Shorties, Comedy Central

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC

Primetime Glick, Comedy Central

Mad About You (series finale) (Mabel)

Home Improvement

The Belzer Connection, SciFi Channel

''The Minnesota Half-Hour Smile Hour

Pilot Season

Tanner on Tanner, Sundance Channel (Herself)

Stella, Comedy Central

Felicity

Hannity & Colmes, Fox News

Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO

Comic Remix

Jimmy Kimmel Live, ABC

The Rosie O'Donnell Show

Dennis Miller Live

The Sopranos, HBO (Herself)

King of the Hill, Fox

Ellen, ABC

Dinner for Five, IFC

, HBO (1996)

The West Wing, NBC (2005) (Louise Thornton)

In the Life, PBS (2005)

Strangers with Candy (Cassie Pines)

The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Nickelodeon

Two and a Half Men, CBS

Tom Goes To The Mayor (2006)

Rove (2007 & 2009)

24 (2009)

Head Case, Starz (2009)

Greek (2009)

Spicks and Specks (TV series)

Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Series 23 Episode 1), BBC 2 (2009)

John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show (2010)

Stella (Episode 8)

Ideal (Series 6), BBC Three (2010) (Tilly)

Books

Feel This Book: An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy, and Sexual Satisfaction ISBN 0-694-52146-9 (w/ Ben Stiller)

References

External links

The Official Janeane Garofalo Website

The Janeane Garofalo Webpage

Janeane Garofalo Online

Janeane Garofalo's political donations

Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:American activists Category:American atheists Category:American film actors Category:American political pundits Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:Asexual people Category:Feminist artists Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:The Groundlings Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:People from Katy, Texas Category:People from Sussex County, New Jersey Category:Providence College alumni Category:Women comedians Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:American feminists

Name	George Carlin
Imagesize	240px
Caption	Carlin in Trenton, New Jersey on April 4, 2008
Birth name	George Denis Patrick Carlin
Birth date	May 12, 1937
Birth place	Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Death date	June 22, 2008
Death place	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books, radio
Nationality	American
Active	1956–2008
Genre	Character comedy, observational comedy, Insult comedy, wit/word play, satire/political satire, black comedy, surreal humor, sarcasm, blue comedy
Subject	American culture, American English, everyday life, recreational drug use, death, philosophy, human behavior, American politics, parenting, children, religion, profanity, psychology, Anarchism, race relations, old age, pop culture, self-deprecation, childhood, family
Influences	Danny Kaye, Jonathan Winters, Lenny Bruce, Jerry Lewis, Marx Brothers, Mort Sahl, Spike Jones, Ernie Kovacs, Ritz Brothers Monty Python
Influenced	Chris Rock, Kevin Smith(August 5, 1961 — May 11, 1997) (her death) 1 childSally Wade (June 24, 1998 — June 22, 2008) (his death)
Notable work	Class Clown"Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television"Mr. Conductorin Shining Time StationNarratorin Thomas and Friends HBO television specialsGeorge O'Gradyin The George Carlin ShowRufus' in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey''
Signature	George Carlin Signature.svg| | website = www.georgecarlin.com | | footnotes =

}}

George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor, and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums.

In the 1960s, Carlin began appearing on television variety shows, notably The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show. His most famous routines were:

The Indian Sergeant ("You wit' the beads... get outta line")

Stupid disc jockeys ("Wonderful WINO...")—"The Beatles' latest record, when played backwards at slow speed, says 'Dummy! You're playing it backwards at slow speed!'"

Al Sleet, the "hippie-dippie weatherman"—"Tonight's forecast: Dark. Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely scattered light towards morning."

Jon Carson—the "world never known, and never to be known"

Variations on the first three of these routines appear on Carlin's 1967 debut album, Take Offs and Put Ons, recorded live in 1966 at The Roostertail in Detroit, Michigan.

During this period, Carlin became more popular as a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show, initially with Jack Paar as host, then with Johnny Carson. Carlin became one of Carson's most frequent substitutes during the host's three-decade reign. Carlin was also cast in Away We Go, a 1967 comedy show. His material during his early career and his appearance, which consisted of suits and short-cropped hair, had been seen as "conventional", particularly when contrasted with his later anti-establishment material.

Carlin was present at Lenny Bruce's arrest for obscenity. As the police began attempting to detain members of the audience for questioning, they asked Carlin for his identification. Telling the police he did not believe in government-issued IDs, he was arrested and taken to jail with Bruce in the same vehicle.

1970s

Eventually, Carlin changed both his routines and his appearance. He lost some TV bookings by dressing strangely for a comedian of the time, wearing faded jeans and sporting long hair, a beard, and earrings at a time when clean-cut, well-dressed comedians were the norm. Using his own persona as a springboard for his new comedy, he was presented by Ed Sullivan in a performance of "The Hair Piece" and quickly regained his popularity as the public caught on to his sense of style. In this period he also perfected what is perhaps his best-known routine, "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", recorded on Class Clown. Carlin was arrested on July 21, 1972, at Milwaukee's Summerfest and charged with violating obscenity laws after performing this routine. The case, which prompted Carlin to refer to the words for a time as "the Milwaukee Seven," was dismissed in December of that year; the judge declared that the language was indecent but Carlin had the freedom to say it as long as he caused no disturbance. In 1973, a man complained to the Federal Communications Commission after listening with his son to a similar routine, "Filthy Words", from , broadcast one afternoon over WBAI, a Pacifica Foundation FM radio station in New York City. Pacifica received a citation from the FCC that sought to fine the company for violating FCC regulations that prohibited broadcasting "obscene" material. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC action by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling that the routine was "indecent but not obscene" and that the FCC had authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience. (F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978). The court documents contain a complete transcript of the routine.)

The controversy only increased Carlin's fame. Carlin eventually expanded the dirty-words theme with a seemingly interminable end to a performance (ending with his voice fading out in one HBO version and accompanying the credits in the Carlin at Carnegie special for the 1982-83 season) and a set of 49 web pages organized by subject and embracing his "Incomplete List Of Impolite Words."

It was on-stage during a rendition of his Dirty Words routine that Carlin learned that his previous comedy album "FM & AM" had won the Grammy. Midway through the performance on the album "Occupation: Foole", he can be heard thanking someone for handing him a piece of paper. He then exclaims "Shit!" and proudly announces his win to the audience.

Carlin was the first-ever host of NBC's Saturday Night Live, on October 11, 1975. He also hosted SNL on November 10, 1984, and also appeared in sketches, whereas the first time he hosted he only performed stand-up and introduced the guest acts. The following season, 1976–77, Carlin also appeared regularly on CBS Television's Tony Orlando & Dawn variety series.

Carlin unexpectedly stopped performing regularly in 1976, when his career appeared to be at its height. For the next five years, he rarely appeared to perform stand-up, although it was at this time he began doing specials for HBO as part of its On Location series. His first two HBO specials aired in 1977 and 1978. It was later revealed that Carlin had suffered the first of three nonfatal heart attacks during this layoff period.

1980s and 1990s

In 1981, Carlin returned to the stage, releasing A Place For My Stuff and returning to HBO and New York City with the Carlin at Carnegie TV special, videotaped at Carnegie Hall and airing during the 1982-83 season. Carlin continued doing HBO specials every year or every other year over the following decade and a half. All of Carlin's albums from this time forward are from the HBO specials. , PA]] Carlin's acting career was primed with a major supporting role in the 1987 comedy hit Outrageous Fortune, starring Bette Midler and Shelley Long; it was his first notable screen role after a handful of previous guest roles on television series. Playing drifter Frank Madras, the role poked fun at the lingering effect of the 1960s counterculture. In 1989, he gained popularity with a new generation of teens when he was cast as Rufus, the time-traveling mentor of the titular characters in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and reprised his role in the film sequel Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey as well as the first season of the cartoon series. In 1991, he provided the narrative voice for the American version of the children's show Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, a role he continued until 1998. He played "Mr. Conductor" on the PBS children's show Shining Time Station, which featured Thomas the Tank Engine from 1991 to 1993, as well as the Shining Time Station TV specials in 1995 and Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales in 1996. Also in 1991, Carlin had a major supporting role in the movie The Prince of Tides, which starred Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand.

Carlin began a weekly Fox sitcom, The George Carlin Show, in 1993, playing New York City taxicab driver George O'Grady. He quickly included a variation of the "seven words" in the plot. The show, created and written by The Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, ran 27 episodes through December 1995.

In his final book, the posthumously published Last Words, Carlin said about The George Carlin Show: "I had a great time. I never laughed so much, so often, so hard as I did with cast members Alex Rocco, Chris Rich, Tony Starke. There was a very strange, very good sense of humor on that stage. The biggest problem, though, was that Sam Simon was a fucking horrible person to be around. Very, very funny, extremely bright and brilliant, but an unhappy person who treated other people poorly. I was incredibly happy when the show was canceled. I was frustrated that it had taken me away from my true work."

In 1997, his first hardcover book, Brain Droppings, was published and sold over 750,000 copies as of 2001. Carlin was honored at the 1997 Aspen Comedy Festival with a retrospective, , hosted by Jon Stewart.

In 1999, Carlin played a supporting role as a satirical Roman Catholic cardinal in filmmaker Kevin Smith's movie Dogma. He worked with Smith again with a cameo appearance in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and later played an atypically serious role in Jersey Girl as the blue-collar father of Ben Affleck's character.

2000s

In 2001, Carlin was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual American Comedy Awards.

In December 2003, California U.S. Representative Doug Ose (Republican), introduced a bill (H.R. 3687) to outlaw the broadcast of Carlin's "seven dirty words," including "compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms)." (The bill omits "tits," but includes "asshole", which was not part of Carlin's original routine.) This bill was never voted on. The last action on this bill was its referral to the House Judiciary Committee on the Constitution on January 15, 2004.

For years, Carlin had performed regularly as a headliner in Las Vegas, but in 2005 he was fired from his headlining position at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, after an altercation with his audience. After a poorly received set filled with dark references to suicide bombings and beheadings, Carlin stated that he could not wait to get out of "this fucking hotel" and Las Vegas, claiming he wanted to go back east, "where the real people are." He continued to insult his audience, stating:

An audience member shouted back that Carlin should "stop degrading us," at which point Carlin responded, "Thank you very much, whatever that was. I hope it was positive; if not, well, blow me." He was immediately fired by MGM Grand and soon after announced he would enter rehab for alcohol and prescription painkiller addiction.

He began a tour through the first half of 2006 following the airing of his thirteenth HBO Special on November 5, 2005, entitled Life is Worth Losing, which was shown live from the Beacon Theatre in New York City and in which he stated early on: "I've got 341 days of sobriety," referring to the rehab he entered after being fired from MGM. Topics covered included suicide, natural disasters (and the impulse to see them escalate in severity), cannibalism, genocide, human sacrifice, threats to civil liberties in America, and how an argument can be made that humans are inferior to other animals.

On February 1, 2006, during his Life is Worth Losing set at the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, California, Carlin mentioned to the crowd that he had been discharged from the hospital only six weeks previously for "heart failure" and "pneumonia", citing the appearance as his "first show back."

Carlin provided the voice of Fillmore, a character in the Disney/Pixar animated feature Cars, which opened in theaters on June 9, 2006. The character Fillmore, who is presented as an anti-establishment hippie, is a VW Microbus with a psychedelic paint job whose front license plate reads "51237," Carlin's birthday. In 2007, Carlin provided the voice of the wizard in Happily N'Ever After, along with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr, Andy Dick, and Wallace Shawn, his last film.

Carlin's last HBO stand-up special, It's Bad for Ya, aired live on March 1, 2008, from the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, California. The themes that appeared in this HBO special included "American Bullshit," "Rights," "Death," "Old Age," and "Child Rearing." Carlin had been working on the new material for this HBO special for several months prior in concerts all over the country.

On June 18, 2008, four days before his death, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., announced that Carlin would be the 2008 honoree of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which was awarded on November 10, 2008. Carlin thus became the award's first posthumous recipient, a decision the Kennedy Center made after consulting with both Carlin's family and PBS (which aired the ceremony). The comedians who honored him at the ceremony included Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Lily Tomlin (a former Twain Humor Prize winner herself), Lewis Black, Denis Leary, Joan Rivers, and Margaret Cho.

Personal life

In 1961, Carlin married Brenda Hosbrook (August 5, 1936 - May 11, 1997), whom he had met while touring the previous year. The couple's only child, a daughter named Kelly, was born in 1963. In 1971, George and Brenda renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas. Brenda died of liver cancer a day before Carlin's sixtieth birthday, in 1997.

Carlin later married Sally Wade on June 24, 1998, and the marriage lasted until his death, two days before their tenth anniversary.

In December 2004, Carlin announced that he would be voluntarily entering a drug rehabilitation facility to receive treatment for his addiction to alcohol and Vicodin.

Carlin did not vote and often criticized elections as an illusion of choice. He said he last voted for George McGovern, who ran for President in 1972 against Richard Nixon.

Religion

Although raised in the Roman Catholic faith (which he describes anecdotally on the albums FM & AM and Class Clown), Carlin often denounced the idea of a god and pointed out the flaws in any organized religion in interviews and performances, notably with his "Religion" and "There Is No God" routines as heard in You Are All Diseased. His views on religion are also mentioned in his last HBO stand up show "It's Bad for Ya" where he mocks the traditional swearing on the Bible as being "bullshit", "make believe", and "kids stuff". In "It's Bad for Ya", Carlin has a skit about the ironic differences in the types of hats religions ban or require as part of their practices. He mentions that he would never want to be a part of a group which requires or bans the wearing of hats.

Carlin also joked in his first book, Brain Droppings, that he worshiped the sun, one reason being that he could see it. This was later mentioned in You Are All Diseased along with the statement that he prayed to Joe Pesci (a good friend of his) because "he's a good actor," and "looks like a guy who can get things done!"

In his HBO special Complaints and Grievances, Carlin introduced the "Two Commandments":

First: THOU SHALT ALWAYS BE HONEST AND FAITHFUL, ESPECIALLY TO THE PROVIDER OF THY NOOKIE.

And second: THOU SHALT TRY REAL HARD NOT TO KILL ANYONE, UNLESS, OF COURSE, THEY PRAY TO A DIFFERENT INVISIBLE AVENGER THAN THE ONE YOU PRAY TO, a revised "pocket-sized" list of the Ten Commandments ending with the additional commandment "Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself."

Themes

Carlin's material falls under one of three self-described categories: "the little world" (observational humor), "the big world" (social commentary), and the peculiarities of the English language (euphemisms, doublespeak, business jargon), all sharing the overall theme of (in his words) "humanity's bullshit," which might include murder, genocide, war, rape, corruption, religion and other aspects of human civilization. He was known for mixing observational humour with larger social commentary. His delivery frequently treated these subjects in a misanthropic and nihilistic fashion, such as in his statement during the Life is Worth Losing show:

Language was a frequent focus of Carlin's work. Euphemisms that in his view seek to distort and lie and the use of language he felt was pompous, presumptuous, or silly were often the target of Carlin's routines. When asked on Inside the Actors Studio what turned him on, he responded, "Reading about language." When asked what made him most proud about his career, he said the number of his books that have been sold, close to a million copies.

Carlin also gave special attention to prominent topics in American and Western Culture, such as obsession with fame and celebrity, consumerism, Christianity, political alienation, corporate control, hypocrisy, child raising, fast food diet, news stations, self-help publications, patriotism, sexual taboos, certain uses of technology and surveillance, and the pro-life position, among many others.

April 4, 2008]] Carlin openly communicated in his shows and in his interviews that his purpose for existence was entertainment, that he was "here for the show." He professed a hearty schadenfreude in watching the rich spectrum of humanity slowly self-destruct, in his estimation, of its own design, saying, "When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front-row seat." He acknowledged that this is a very selfish thing, especially since he included large human catastrophes as entertainment. In his You Are All Diseased concert, he elaborated somewhat on this, telling the audience, "I have always been willing to put myself at great personal risk for the sake of entertainment. And I've always been willing to put you at great personal risk, for the same reason!"

In the same interview, he recounted his experience of a California earthquake in the early 1970s, as "[a]n amusement park ride. Really, I mean it's such a wonderful thing to realize that you have absolutely no control, and to see the dresser move across the bedroom floor unassisted is just exciting."

A routine in Carlin's 1999 HBO special You Are All Diseased focusing on airport security leads up to the statement: "Take a fucking chance! Put a little fun in your life! Most Americans are soft and frightened and unimaginative and they don't realize there's such a thing as dangerous fun, and they certainly don't recognize a good show when they see one."

Along with wordplay and sex jokes, Carlin had always included politics as part of his material, but by the mid 1980s he had become a strident social critic in both his HBO specials and the book compilations of his material, bashing both conservatives and liberals alike. His HBO viewers got an especially sharp taste of this in his take on the Ronald Reagan administration during the 1988 special What Am I Doing In New Jersey?, broadcast live from the Park Theatre in Union City, New Jersey.

Death and tribute

On June 22, 2008, Carlin was admitted to Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, after experiencing chest pains. He died later that day at 5:57 p.m. of heart failure. Carlin was 71 years old. His death occurred one week after his last performance at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and he had further shows on his itinerary. In accordance with his wishes, Carlin was cremated, with his ashes scattered, and no public or religious services of any kind were held. Two of the networks he performed on changed their schedule in tribute to Carlin. HBO devoted several hours to broadcast eleven of Carlin's fourteen HBO specials from June 25–28, 2008, including a twelve-hour marathon block on their HBO Comedy channel. Meanwhile, NBC scheduled a rerun of the premiere episode of Saturday Night Live which Carlin hosted.

Both Sirius Satellite Radio's "Raw Dog Comedy" and XM Satellite Radio's "XM Comedy" channels ran a memorial marathon of George Carlin recordings the day following his death. Another tribute was the "Doonesbury" comic strip on Sunday, July 27, 2008.

Louis C. K. dedicated his stand-up special Chewed Up to Carlin.

Lewis Black dedicated his entire second season of Root of All Evil to Carlin.

An episode of Larry King Live paid tribute to Carlin, featuring comics Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Roseanne Barr and Lewis Black. Carlin's daughter and his brother were also interviewed by King. The next day, The New York Times published a tribute to Carlin written by Jerry Seinfeld.

An oral history, edited by Carlin's daughter, Kelly, was scheduled to be published in 2009. The book will contain stories from Carlin's friends and family and cover the considered high points of his career as well as the considered low, including his drug and alcohol addiction.

For a number of years prior to his death Carlin had been compiling and writing his autobiography, planning to release it in conjunction with a second, long-worked-on project, a one-man Broadway show tentatively titled New York City Boy, covering essentially the same topics. After his death his collaborator on the projects, Tony Hendra, edited the autobiography for release as Last Words (ISBN 1-4391-7295-1). The book covers Carlin's life up to around Life is Worth Losing, with the final chapter detailing future plans, including the planned one-man show. The book was released one year and four months after Carlin's death. The audio version of the book was read by George's brother Patrick and featured an interview with Tony Hendra and George's daughter, Kelly.

Another book of his writings to his widow, Sally Wade, as well as the story of their courtship is due to be released in 2011. It will be called "The George Carlin Letters: The Permanent Courtship of Sally Wade." The phrase in the title "The Permanent Courtship of Sally Wade" was the note she found next to her computer after coming home from the hospital when he died. The book is the story of their love and their life together, as told by both of them. Many of the writings in this book have not been published before as they were private moments shared between Sally and George, but they enrich the telling of this story of the later years of his life. The book will be published by Simon and Schuster.

Collection of works

Discography

;Main

1963: Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight

1967: Take-Offs and Put-Ons

1972: FM & AM

1972: Class Clown

1973:

1974: Toledo Window Box

1975: An Evening with Wally Londo Featuring Bill Slaszo

1977: On the Road

1981: A Place for My Stuff

1984: Carlin on Campus

1986: Playin' with Your Head

1988: What Am I Doing In New Jersey?

1990:

1992: Jammin' in New York

1996: Back in Town

1999: You Are All Diseased

2001: Complaints and Grievances

2006: Life Is Worth Losing

2008: It's Bad for Ya

;Compilations

1978: Indecent Exposure: Some of the Best of George Carlin

1984: The George Carlin Collection

1992: Classic Gold

1999: The Little David Years (1971-1977)

2002: George Carlin on Comedy

Filmography

Television

The Kraft Summer Music Hall (1966)

That Girl (Guest appearance) (1966)

The Ed Sullivan Show (multiple appearances)

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (season 3 guest appearance) (1968)

The Flip Wilson Show (writer, performer) (1971–1973)

The Mike Douglas Show (Guest) (February 18, 1972)

Saturday Night Live (Host, episodes 1 and 183) (1975 & 1984)

Justin Case (as Justin Case) (1988) TV movie directed Blake Edwards

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (as American Narrator) (1991–1998)

Shining Time Station (as Mr. Conductor) (1991–1993)

The George Carlin Show (as George O'Grady) (1994) Fox

Streets of Laredo (as Billy Williams) (1995)

The Simpsons (as Munchie, episode 209) (1998)

The Daily Show (guest on February 1, 1999; December 16, 1999; and March 10, 2004)

MADtv (Guest appearance in episodes 518 & 524) (2000)

Inside the Actors Studio (2004)

In 1998, Carlin had a cameo playing one of the funeral-attending comedians in Jerry Seinfeld's HBO special I'm Telling You For The Last Time. In the funeral intro (the only thing being buried is Jerry Seinfeld's material) Carlin learns that neither friend Robert Klein nor Ed McMahon ever saw Jerry's act. Carlin did, and enjoyed it, but admits "I was full of drugs."

HBO specials

Bibliography

For several years before his death, Carlin had been working on a memoir, Last Words, in collaboration with writer Tony Hendra. Hendra secured permission from Carlin's family to go ahead with the book. It was published by Simon & Schuster's Free Press imprint on November 17, 2009.

Carlin also spent several years before his death writing a one-man show he planned to do on Broadway before his death, called Watch My Language or New York City Boy. It has been published in 2009 by Disney's Hyperion Books, who also published Carlin's Brain Droppings, Napalm and Silly Putty, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops, and the compilation Three Times Carlin: An Orgy of George. It was published in paperback as New York Boy on September 1, 2010, but has not been officially released.

Audiobooks

Brain Droppings

Napalm and Silly Putty

More Napalm & Silly Putty

George Carlin Reads to You

When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?

Internet hoaxes

Since the birth of spam email on the internet, many chain-forwards, usually rantlike and with blunt statements of belief on political and social issues and attributed to being written (or stated) by George Carlin himself, have made continuous rounds on the junk email circuit. The website Snopes, an online resource that debunks historic and present urban legends and myths, has extensively covered these forgeries. Many of the falsely attributed email attachments have contained material that runs directly opposite to Carlin's viewpoints, with some being especially volatile toward racial groups, gays, women, the homeless, etc. Carlin himself, when he was made aware of each of these bogus emails, would debunk them on his own website, writing: "Nothing you see on the Internet is mine unless it comes from one of my albums, books, HBO specials, or appeared on my website," and that "it bothers me that some people might believe that I would be capable of writing some of this stuff."

References

External links

Rotten Library - George Carlin

George Carlin Archive of American Television Interview

Category:1937 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Actors from New York Category:Writers from New York Category:American atheists Category:American film actors Category:American humorists Category:American political writers Category:American social commentators Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American voice actors Category:American television actors Category:Atheism activists Category:Deaths from heart failure Category:Disease-related deaths in California Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:Free speech activists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American comedians of Irish descent Category:American writers of Irish descent Category:Mark Twain Prize recipients Category:Obscenity controversies Category:People from Manhattan Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Actors from California Category:Writers from California Category:United States Air Force airmen Category:Comedians

Name	Deion Sanders
Currentnumber	21, 37
Currentpositionplain	Cornerback
Birthdate	August 09, 1967
Heightft	6
Heightin	1
Weight	198
College	Florida State
Draftyear	1989
Draftround	1
Draftpick	5
Debutyear	1990
Debutteam	Atlanta Falcons
Finalteam	Baltimore Ravens
Finalyear	2005
Pastteams
Highlights
Statseason	2005
Statlabel1	Interceptions
Statvalue1	53
Statlabel2	Interception return yards
Statvalue2	1,331
Statlabel3	Touchdowns
Statvalue3	22
Nfl	SAN282736

Name	Deion Sanders
Currentnumber	24
Position	Outfielder
Bats	Left
Throws	Left
Birthdate	August 09, 1967
Birthplace	Fort Myers, Florida
Currentteam	Cincinnati Reds
Debutdate	May 31
Debutyear	1989
Debutteam	New York Yankees
Finaldate	June 14
Finalyear	2001
Finalteam	Cincinnati Reds
Stat1label	Batting average
Stat1value	.263
Stat2label	Hits
Stat2value	558
Stat3label	Stolen bases
Stat3value	186
Teams
Highlights

Deion Luwynn Sanders (; born August 9, 1967) Over his five years with the Falcons, Sanders found his way to the end zone ten times (three defensive, three kick returns, two punt returns, and two receptions).

San Francisco 49ers

After five seasons Sanders signed on to play one season with the San Francisco 49ers, where he had arguably his best season as a professional football player, recording six interceptions and returning them for an NFL best 303 yards and three touchdowns. On October 16, 1994, Deion was the big story as he made his dramatic return to the Georgia Dome in a 49er uniform. After getting into a scuffle with his former Falcon teammate Andre Rison, Sanders intercepted a pass from quarterback Jeff George and proceeded to return it 93 yards while mockingly staring down the entire Falcons sideline before high-stepping into the end zone. Sanders was later voted the 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and recorded an interception in the 49ers 49–26 win over the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. After the season, Jerry Rice and Sanders publicly feuded — Rice fumed at the idea that the media felt Sanders was the missing link to the 49ers Super Bowl run and that it was not giving credit to the other 52 men in the locker room.

Dallas Cowboys

Following his successful season with the 49ers, Sanders, along with his agent Eugene Parker, proceeded to court numerous teams in need of an All-Pro cornerback. The several teams in the "Deion Sweepstakes," as it was coined by the media, were the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins, and the Dallas Cowboys, who had lost their starting cornerback Kevin Smith to injury for the rest of the season.

On September 9, 1995 (which happened to fall in Week 2 of that NFL season), Sanders signed a lucrative contract with the Dallas Cowboys (seven years, $35 million with a $12.99 million signing bonus), essentially making him, at the time, the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. Sanders later stated in his book Power, Money & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life that the Oakland Raiders offered him more money than any other team, but he chose to play in Dallas for more time on the offensive side of the ball, a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls, and because of his friendship with Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin. Arthroscopic surgery kept him sidelined until his debut in Week 9, which was once again in Atlanta against the Falcons, though this time Sanders' debut with his new team was not as dramatic as it was with the 49ers (the Cowboys won, 28 to 13). He went on to help the Cowboys win their third Super Bowl title in four years in Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he returned a punt for 11 yards and caught a 47-yard reception on offense, setting up Dallas' first touchdown of the game and a 27–17 victory. Sanders proceeded to play four more seasons with Dallas, earning Pro Bowl berths in all of them, though the Cowboys would only win one playoff game (in 1996 against the Minnesota Vikings) during that time.

Washington Redskins

After five seasons with the Cowboys, new Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder pursued Sanders along with other high priced free agents Mark Carrier and Bruce Smith. Sanders played one season with the Redskins, having four interceptions before retiring in 2001. Late in the 2002 NFL season Sanders contemplated a return to the NFL, specifically to the Oakland Raiders. With his rights still the property of the Redskins, he lobbied and received his release from the team and was waived. The San Diego Chargers claimed Sanders' rights and placed him on their Reserve-Retired List. Sanders opted to stay retired.

During the 2002 season, Sanders was a frequent guest commentator on Monday Night Football. On an amusing note, during a Monday Night Football game between Dallas and Washington that year, it was mentioned that Sanders, who was part of the broadcast team for the game, was still collecting salaries from both teams as part of the contracts he had held with each.

Baltimore Ravens

In 2004, Sanders announced that he was going to end his retirement, after being lured back to football by Ravens cornerback Corey Fuller, linebacker Ray Lewis and best friend Joe Zorovich. He signed a 1-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens to be a nickelback. Sanders chose to wear the number 37, which matched his age at the time, to preemptively let people know that he was well aware of his relative senior status as an NFL player (additionally, the number 21, used by Sanders throughout his career, was already being worn by Ravens Pro Bowl cornerback Chris McAlister). Against the Buffalo Bills in Week 7 of 2004, Sanders scored his ninth career interception return touchdown, moving him into a tie for second place with Ken Houston and Aeneas Williams, and behind Rod Woodson (with 12) for all-time in the statistical category.

In January of 2006, after playing two seasons for Baltimore in which the Ravens did not qualify for the postseason, Sanders once again retired from the NFL and became an analyst for the NFL Network.

Legacy

During his 14-year NFL career, Sanders was a perennial All-Pro and one of the most feared pass defenders to ever play the game. While critics argued that his tackling was poor and he was not much of a factor in run support, they could not deny his closing speed.

Sanders also occasionally lined up with his team's offense. During the 1996 season, Sanders skipped the baseball season by concentrating strictly on football and attended the first NFL training camp of his career to better familiarize himself with the nuances of the wide receiver position. He became the second two-way starter (after the Cardinals' Roy Green) in the NFL since Chuck Bednarik for the first half of the season due to Michael Irvin serving a five game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

During his career, Sanders intercepted 53 passes for 1,331 yards (a 25.1 yards per return average), recovered four fumbles for 15 yards, returned 155 kickoffs for 3,523 yards, gained 2,199 yards on 212 punt returns, and caught 60 passes for 784 yards. Sanders amassed 7,838 all-purpose yards and scored 22 touchdowns: nine interception returns, six punt returns, three kickoff returns, three receiving, and one fumble recovery. His 19 defensive and return touchdowns are an NFL record. He was selected to eight Pro Bowls in 1991--1994, 1996–1999. He was also awarded the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1994.

College Football News named Sanders #8 in its list of 100 Greatest College Football Players of All-Time.

The Sporting News named Sanders #37 in their Top 100 Football Players of the Century released in 1999.

ESPN named Sanders #74 in its list of the 100 Great Athletes of the Century released in 1999.

NFL.com named Sanders #34 on NFL's Top 100 list released in late 2010

On November 11, 2010 Deion Sanders was inducted into the Atlanta Falcons' Ring of Honor.

Sanders also had a rushing TD in the playoffs (against the Philadelphia Eagles in January 1996). This makes him (including post season) one of only two players in NFL history (Bill Dudley being the other) to score a touchdown six different ways (interception return, punt return, kickoff return, receiving, rushing, and a fumble recovery).

Media appearances and pop culture fame

Following his first Super Bowl victory with the San Francisco 49ers, Sanders was the host of Saturday Night Live, broadcast on February 18, 1995.

Sanders has been in numerous television commercials for Nike, Pepsi, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and American Express. He was most notable as the Road Runner in a Pepsi ad with Wile E. Coyote, and in a Pizza Hut commercial where he responds to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones questions ("Football or baseball?" and "Offense or defense?") with "both!!", including the question "So what'll it be, Deion? $15...20 million?" Sanders pauses to think it over, and says, "Umm...both.". He also makes a cameo as himself in the film Celtic Pride.

Sanders, known for his custom-made showy suits and flashy jewelry, frequently capitalized on his image. On December 26, 1994 Sanders released Prime Time, a rap album on Bust It Records (MC Hammer's label) that featured the minor hit "Must Be The Money." "Prime Time Keeps on Tickin'" was also released as a single. Sanders, a friend of Hammer's, appeared in his "Too Legit to Quit" music video. His alter-ego "Prime Time" is also used in Hammer's "Pumps and a Bump" video. Hammer, a big sports fan, had launched a new enterprise during his career called Roll Wit It Entertainment & Sports Management (which released DRS' two-million-selling "Gangsta Lean") and had clients such as Evander Holyfield, Deion Sanders and Reggie Brooks. In 1995, Hammer released "Straight to My Feet" (with Deion Sanders) from the Street Fighter soundtrack (released in December 1994). The song charted #57 in the UK.

After retiring from the NFL, Sanders worked as a sports pre-game commentator for CBS' The NFL Today until 2004, when contract negotiations failed. Sanders turned down a 30% salary increase demanding to be paid $2.5 million, the highest of any NFL TV analyst. He was replaced by Shannon Sharpe. During Sanders's run, he participated in several sketches. The first was "Primetime and 21st," a mock street corner where Sanders (not yet a regular panelist) would give his opinions. Another was his "Sanders Claus" persona, one of numerous sketches that involved young kids in football jerseys, representing NFL players, receiving a sarcastic gift from Sanders. Deion actually debuted as "Sanders Claus" in a set of Nike commercials. Still to this day Deion takes presents at Christmas time to local children's hospitals in his area dressed as "Sanders Claus".

Sanders frequently made guest appearances on ESPN, especially on the ESPN Radio Dallas affiliate, and briefly hosted a show called The New American Sportsman. He also hosted the 2002 Miss USA pageant.

Sanders also was co-host of the 2004 GMA Music Awards broadcast, taped in late April 2004, slated for an airing on UPN in May 2004. When negotiations with fellow Viacom property CBS failed (see above) two weeks before the broadcast, and he signed a deal with ESPN, UPN promptly canceled the broadcast, and the show aired on the i Network in December 2004 (both UPN and CBS are now owned by CBS Corporation).

Sanders currently works at NFL Network as an analyst on a number of the network's shows. Prior to the Sunday night game, Sanders, alongside host Rich Eisen and Steve Mariucci, breaks down all the action from the afternoon matchups on NFL GameDay Highlights. At the conclusion of all the action on Sunday, Sanders, Mariucci, Michael Irvin and host Fran Charles recapt the day’s action on NFL GameDay Final with highlights, analysis and postgame interviews. For the 2010 season, Sanders joined Eisen, Mariucci and Marshall Faulk on the road for Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Lexus, NFL Network’s two-hour pregame show leading into Thursday Night Football. The group broadcasts live from the stadium two hours prior to all eight live Thursday Night Football games and returns for the Sprint Halftime Show and Kay Jewelers Postgame Show. Sanders also has a segment called "Let's Go Primetime" on NFL Network.

Sanders currently stars in his own reality show -- -- centered around him, his wife, and their five children, all of whom live in the small town of Prosper, Texas.

"Prime Time" persona

Deion Sanders will often be remembered for sporting his famous "do-rag or bandana" and for his "High-Stepping" into the end zone followed by his touchdown dance celebrations. At the same time, Sanders will also be remembered for being one of the most visible and outspoken football players to ever take the field due to his alter-ego, Prime Time. A marketing ploy as much as an alternate personality as it was given to him by a friend and high school teammate, Florida Gators defensive back Richard Fain. The two played pickup basketball games together during the prime time television hour, and Sanders' athletic display during those games won him that title. Once in the NFL, Sanders felt he deserved to be paid as much as NFL quarterbacks and in 1995 he used the "Prime Time" strategy to sign a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys (the contract was essentially five years, but was given a seven-year length for an easier cap hit and the signing bonus was $12,999,999.99, one cent under $13 million due to a superstition of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones). At one point, he was the highest paid defensive player in the league and set the benchmark price-tag for future "shut-down corners". Prime Time was upset that he was placed #34 on the list of Top 100 NFL players and said that he should at least be in the top 10.

Other ventures

In addition to his sports career, Sanders has moved on to other ventures after his retirement. In 2003, Sanders took interest in Devin Hester a return specialist from the University of Miami Hurricanes. Sanders mentored Hester, counseling and advising him during various points of his collegiate career. The Chicago Bears drafted Hester in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Since then, Hester has broken, tied, or approached many NFL return records. Hester has cited Sanders as one of his major inspirations and idols, and thanked him for his training and advice. Hester, also known as “Anytime,” occasionally performs Sanders’ signature touchdown dance and high-steps in homage to his mentor.

Sanders also tried to adopt a high school running back, Noel Devine, who was one of the top recruits in 2007. Sanders was advised against this, but responded, "He doesn't have parents; they died. God put this young man in my heart. This is not about sports. This is about a kid's life." He now mentors Devine, and was a factor in Devine's extended wait to sign a letter-of-intent to West Virginia University. Devine eventually signed to play football for the Mountaineers. Sanders has also been the mentor to San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree, as well as Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, Dez Bryant.

In January 2004, Sanders was hired as an assistant coach to the Dallas Fury, a women's professional basketball team in the National Women's Basketball League, even though Sanders had never played organized basketball either in college or the professional level.

On September 2, 2005, in response to the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina, Sanders challenged all professional athletes in the four major sports to donate $1,000 each to relief efforts, hoping to raise between $1.5 and $3 million total. Sanders said "Through unity, we can touch thousands....I have friends and relatives that feel this pain. Help in any way you can." In April 2006, Sanders became an owner of the Austin Wranglers, an Arena Football League team.

Sanders has occasionally served as a celebrity spokesperson, such as representing Monitronics, a security system firm, at an industry conference in the spring of 2010.

Discography

See also

List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases

List of Major League Baseball triples champions

Notes

External links

Sanders Claus

Deion-Sanders.com

Deion's column at news-press.com, Fort Myers, Florida

Football statistics

Deion Sanders ZFOOTBALL 4-on-4 Flag Football Tournaments

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Name	Brian Regan
Birth name	Brian Joseph Regan
Medium	Stand-up
Nationality	American
Notable work	Comedy Central Presents, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, Short Attention Span Theater
Website	http://www.brianregan.com/

Brian Regan () is a stand-up comedian. Regan uses observational humor and his performances are relatively "clean" as he refrains from profanity and off-color humor. Regan's material typically covers everyday events, such as shipping a package with UPS and a visit to an optometrist. Regan makes frequent references to childhood, including little league baseball, grade school spelling bees, and science projects. His clean, off-center humor has been praised by critics and contemporaries alike and Regan enjoys a fanbase that crosses young tastemakers to middle-aged adults; he is respected in the comedy community for being a "universal comic," his work has been applauded by such diverse sources as Comedy Central, Slate, The Onion and The Wall Street Journal.

Fellow comedian Patton Oswalt wrote in his blog that Regan is "the best stand-up comedian working today," praising his versatility and ability to find new humor in classic comedy targets:

"Brian Regan's comedy stuns me. It stuns me because he can start down the road with a premise that EVERY COMEDIAN KNOWS has not one scrap of flesh left on its bones, and find a new angle of attack that yields prime cuts of comedic meat."

Recorded shows

Regan released his first CD, Brian Regan Live, in 1997. In 2004, Regan self-released a DVD of his performance at the Irvine Improv titled I Walked on the Moon.

In April 2007, Brian signed a deal with Comedy Central to star in two one-hour stand-up specials, release the specials on DVD, develop a show for the network, and headline a theater tour, “Brian Regan in Concert: A Comedy Central Live Event,” which began June 8, 2007.

Brian’s first one-hour special Standing Up debuted on Comedy Central on June 10, 2007. The special was recorded in April at The Barclay Theater in Irvine, CA and a DVD of the performance was released August 14, 2007. His second Comedy Central Special, entitled The Epitome of Hyperbole, premiered on September 6, 2008. A DVD of the performance was released September 9, 2008.

Brian's new performance, All By Myself, is available for download exclusively on his website.

Filmography

References

External links

Brian Regan's official site

Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American comedians Category:American comedians of Irish descent Category:Living people Category:Heidelberg College alumni Category:People from Miami, Florida