The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up

You understand?

Right now, ladies and gentlemen, it's showtime!

Hello!

What's up?

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay.

Very, very cool. I need that more than you know.

Hey, everyone. We are here tonight to induct some of the greatest stand-ups

of all time into a place of honor we're calling The Hall.

Yes.

So welcome to the first ever Stand-Up Comedy Hall of Fame

Introduction Ceremony. I am Pete Davidson.

Yes.

The guy who took the special out of comedy special.

So we're gonna kick off this event honoring comics who passed away

and I'm pretty sure it's because they're betting, like, I might not be alive

by the time this airs.

Trust me, I think I'm a weird choice to intro a Stand-Up Hall of Fame too.

In the last few years, I've been onstage less than

the babies inside Ali Wong.

Tonight, we are honoring true legends.

Like Joan Rivers, who sparked... yeah.

Yeah.

It sparked a very fierce debate at Netflix about which face we were going to use

for her picture.

Well...

we landed on that one.

Robin Williams, who is the-- yeah.

The GOAT.

He's also the literal opposite of me in energy, talent, and body hair.

George Carlin.

The soothing-- yes.

George Carlin.

The soothing voice of the conductor on Thomas the Tank Engine.

And the guy who taught you the word cocksucker.

And of course, Richard Pryor.

Right?

Richard Pryor, he redefined comedy despite tragically giving Chevy Chase

the confidence to say the N word.

It's a real thing. Google that.

The class tonight is very special.

The Hall did their research in picking the four nominees, okay?

They didn't just select comedians that were young and trendy,

in hopes of boosting viewership.

For some reason, they think I'll do that.

Our four inductees tonight were all legitimately voted in

by a board of agents, club owners, managers, and other influential members

of the comedy community.

Which is a long-winded way of saying Jews.

It's going to be a really fun night, seriously.

We've got Mix Master Mike from The Beastie Boys deejaying.

Fucking sick.

Super tight.

And lots of great alive comedians to talk about the dead ones.

Like we got Mulaney, Chappelle, and Handler, yeah.

You could only see together these people in a really nice theater,

or an even nicer rehab.

The Hall is going to be a part of the National Comedy Center

in Jamestown, New York.

Yeah, that's a real place.

But tonight, thank God, is not about me.

It's about these legends that are finally getting the respect they deserve

on the same streaming platform that airs Is it Cake?

So let's enjoy a healthy mix of laughter and crying.

Like me when I masturbate.

And now, come on, I had to have a few little hey... zingers in there.

Want to know something really funny? I... I couldn't do...

this is the weirdest sentence I think I've ever said.

I couldn't put makeup on for this because I got a spray tan.

Which I think is the weirdest thing I've ever said.

Ever. And I asked my-- I'd never gotten a spray tan before,

I asked my boy, I was like...

"Do I do my dick and ass?"

Like, I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

Do I get one of those Borat fucking Speedos? I had no idea.

And my boy was like,

"No, leave it white. More impressive that way."

And now, it's my honor to introduce my friend, Jon Stewart, okay?

Jon Stewart...

was recently honored with the Mark Twain award.

And is such a consummate performer, he's equally excited to be doing this.

Jon Stewart, everyone!

Ho!

Pete Davidson!

Thanks to Pete Davidson. You know, there are not a lot of comics

who can come right from a duck blind to the show.

And still kill.

I'm here to induct someone that I have great respect for.

I had the pleasure of knowing for a little bit.

Mr. George Carlin.

Let us begin.

Shit.

Piss.

Fuck.

Sorry, scroll up.

Cunt.

You don't hear enough applause for that.

Cocksucker.

I see where the crowd's at.

Motherfucker.

You're going to love the last one.

Tits.

Piss has got some work to do.

Cunt and tits are killing it.

1972, George Carlin uttered the seven words

you cannot say on television.

Shit, piss, cunt, fuck, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.

I was nine.

And I fell in love.

I didn't know any of it, what it meant, but the tits bit...

cheese tits.

It was then that George Carlin established himself

as a counter-culture hero.

But it wasn't just about saying the words. He had a point to it.

It was the absurdity that these seven words

carried power when they were just words.

They weren't deeds. They weren't thoughts.

They weren't bad intentions. They were just words.

George Carlin was arrested. Lenny Bruce was arrested.

They were sued. They were taken to court. They were brought in...

on charges for saying words.

Ladies and gentlemen, that was 50 years ago.

Today, those would be the titles of the next seven Netflix shows.

That was his moment.

You know, we're a fortunate group.

Comedians.

Even more rare is when a comedian has a moment

in the culture

when the times somehow meet the talent.

And there's an alchemy that creates greatness.

That was George Carlin in the 1970s.

He was everything!

But even more rare, almost unheard of,

is a comedian who gives up making a living on the road

to try and become a legend of the time.

And that's where George Carlin's courage and bravery,

and not enough is said about that.

This cat started in the 1960s wearing the sharkskin suit.

And the thin tie, and going on Merv Griffin.

And doing the impressions. And he was making a living.

His wife, Brenda. His young daughter, Kelly.

He bought a house. They were making it.

And he was empty.

He wasn't himself. He wasn't actualized as an artist.

And so he fucking threw it all away.

The idea that you would give up the dream of making a living

and supporting your family-- they put their house in escrow.

Because he felt he wasn't being himself. He grew a beard, he grew out his hair.

And he threw on some jeans.

And he started doing bits about Muhammad Ali getting thrown

to the wolves

for not allowing himself to be drafted into Vietnam.

And the bit was basically... Muhammad Ali beats people up

for a living. And what he said was,

"I'll beat people up, but I don't wanna kill them."

And the government said...

"If you're not gonna kill them,

we're not gonna let you beat them up."

He didn't give a shit. He just went out there.

He was an artist.

I was fortunate enough in the '90s

to become friendly with George.

I finally got a chance to go out and spend some time with him out in Los Angeles.

I was going to interview him for a special.

He was celebrating 40 years in comedy.

We were doing it in Aspen, Colorado.

Because generally, the people that produce comedy shows have the wisdom

to take a guy whose had four heart attacks,

and have him perform where there's very little oxygen.

That's why I don't do the "HBO Is A Joke Festival."

I do the Netflix Is A Joke Special.

Look at you people.

Displaying brand loyalty. That's very exciting.

You know, in his later years, everybody said Carlin got real dark.

You know, he cheered for the demise of the world. That he became nihilistic.

But it wasn't that at all. It was disappointment.

I'd never been with somebody who had such empathy

for the human condition.

And I think his material in later years was just a reflection of the fact that

he was fucking truly heartbroken

about what we were doing to each other. And what we were doing to ourselves.

But the interesting thing to me was,

for a counterculture hero like George Carlin,

he really was a blue collar worker.

He'd go to his office at 9:00 a.m., and he'd sit and write.

I mean, I've never met a person

who smoked that much pot

and worked that hard.

He would write his jokes...

and then, he would get out the weed, or as he would say to me