Jerry Seinfeld on George Carlin

I always love hearing stories of dedication to virtuosity: that you do the best possible job and push you skills to the limit simply because it feels good to get better at what you do. Here’s an essay Jerry Seinfeld wrote eulogizing George Carlin’s after his death a couple years ago:

I called him to compliment him on his most recent special on HBO. Seventy years old and he cranks out another hour of great new stuff. He was in a hotel room in Las Vegas getting ready for his show. He was a monster.You could certainly say that George downright invented modern American stand-up comedy in many ways. Every comedian does a little George. I couldn’t even count the number of times I’ve been standing around with some comedians and someone talks about some idea for a joke and another comedian would say, “Carlin does it.” I’ve heard it my whole career: “Carlin does it,” “Carlin already did it,” “Carlin did it eight years ago.”And he didn’t just “do” it. He worked over an idea like a diamond cutter with facets and angles and refractions of light. He made you sorry you ever thought you wanted to be a comedian.

via NYTimes.com