People Who Ought to Be Killed

By 1996, George Carlin had fully embraced his role as comedy's misanthrope-in-chief. "Back in Town" featured some of his darkest material, and "People Who Ought to Be Killed" was the centerpiece—a gleefully homicidal wish list that targeted not murderers or dictators, but the minor irritants of daily life.

"People who whistle. Not the kind of whistling where you're trying to get someone's attention—that I understand. I mean people who whistle for no reason. Just walking around, whistling. Like they're the only person in the world."

The list grows. Each entry is accompanied by Carlin's particular brand of prosecutorial fury—he doesn't just dislike these people, he indicts them.

We live in a society that requires constant compromise with people who annoy us. We suppress our irritation, smile politely, and move on. Carlin refuses to suppress. He names the irritation, amplifies it to homicidal fantasy, and in doing so releases the pressure valve for everyone in the room.

It's not his most important bit. It might be his most cathartic.