Over the last two decades, groundbreaking comedian George Carlin made more appearances at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom than any other single artist, according to director of marketing Andrew Herrick. Known for his irreverent rants and clever wordplay, Carlin sometimes sold out two shows per year at the Ballroom.

“George was perhaps the most popular entertainer in the long storied history of the Casino Ballroom,” Herrick said in a press release.

Carlin was scheduled to perform two shows at the Ballroom on Thursday, July 24, but the shows were cancelled when Carlin died of heart failure on June 22, at the age of 71. Tickets can be refunded at the site of purchase. 

During his recent conversation with The Wire, comic singer Stephen Lynch took a few moments to reflect on the influence Carlin had on him. “I love George Carlin,” Lynch began. Here’s what else he had to say:

“I went to a George Carlin show as a kid, and I was very proud of the T-shirt that I bought and used to wear it in the halls of my high school, to the chagrin of my teachers and administrators. It had a picture of George Carlin on the front, and on the back it just said, in sort of simple, typewritten letters, ‘Simon says go fuck yourself.’ I thought that was sort of classic George Carlin. The kids loved it and I loved wearing it.

“You know what I really loved about George Carlin? I would never compare myself to him in any way, but he had a love of the English language, I think, that I tend to share with him. I like wordplay and sort of deconstructing words and meanings and sentences, and I do it in song form and I think he did it in a different way. But I think if there’s anything that I learned from him, it was that every word is important. That’s why I’ll spend hours and days and weeks sometimes on one song, just to get every nuance of every word right, because it makes a difference, and you can tell that when you listen to George Carlin.”

Other comedians hitting the Ballroom this summer include Brad Garrett on July 9, Frank Caliendo on July 17, Joel McHale on July 27, Carlos Mencia on Aug. 2, Lisa Lampanelli on Aug. 8 and Bill Cosby on Aug. 10.