I've heard recordings of Carlin way back when he was funny. He had some bit about moving his stuff around on vacation in Hawaii and the difference between Baseball and Football. Funny stuff. This beat poem he did tonight was impressive in that he remembered it without flubbing up the words, but it didn't enter the category of "comedy."
Exactly, and thats what struck me about him was that this was just another of his performed madrassa rants.. I loved that guy as a kid but its all just rhythm and news to Carlin
What he did last night was an updated version of what he's been doing for years - stringing together phrases he considers culturally relevant that contain some opposition to one another, like "I'm an alpha male on beta blockers."