hi, paul!

(to Paul Krassner:)

a few weeks ago, Linda found your obit of George Carlin online. First, what you and The Realist did for Carlin in the mid- sixties, you did for me too!

Carlin: "All through this period I was sustained and motivated by The Realist, Paul Krassner's incredible magazine of satire, revolution and just plain disrespect. It arrived every month, and with it, a fresh supply of inspiration. I can't overstate how important it was to me at the time. It allowed me to see that others who disagreed with the American consensus were busy expressing those feelings and using risky humor to do so. Paul's own writing, in particular, seemed daring and adventurous to me; it took big chances and made important arguments in relentlessly funny ways. I felt, down deep, that maybe I had some of that in me, too; that maybe I could be using my skills to better express my beliefs. The Realist was the inspiration that kept pushing me to the next level; there was no way I could continue reading it and remain the same."

But this line in your piece stood out for me:

As a performer, George Carlin was uncompromising, knowing that his audience trusted him not to be afraid of offending them. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-krassner/remembering-george-carlin_b_109548.html

recently I got tired of people thinking they have the right to be NOT be offended and to have their "comfort zones" be respected, honored, and forcibly protected. So I went after COMFORT ZONES even more than usual. I call my performance series UNCOMFORTABLE ZONES OF FUN experiments in experience/participation performance. They even come for "uncomfortable." But as soon as the performance dips into depth, they use their being uncomfortable to pull back! And they start yammering about staying in their comfort zones!

In Freedom,
Frank Moore