Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce, born Leonard Alfred Schneider (1925-1966), is name-checked on the cover of "Freak Out!" (1966) under the heading "These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them". He is also mentioned in "The Real Frank Zappa Book" (1989).
Bruce joined the US Navy at age 16 and served during World War II until 1946. He held various jobs while studying acting in New York. An appearance on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts television show (October 1948) brought him national attention. The next few years were spent - as a stand-up nightclub entertainer - at numerous comedy clubs across the country refining what became known as "sick comedy" routines: his scatalogical and sardonic humour was alternatively called obscene and "radically relevant".
Bruce was arrested in Philadelphia on September 29, 1961 for possession of narcotics, a charge which would later be dropped. He was famously arrested at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco on October 4, 1961 for violating the California Obscenity Code for saying the word "cocksucker" in his routine; he is later aquitted.
Bruce was arrested again on October 6, 1962 for possesing narcotics, and on October 24, 1962 for using the phrase "Where is that dwarf mother-fucker?" at the Troubador Theatre in Hollywood. His trial for obscenity in San Francisco is now considered to be a landmark in the fight to preserve the freedoms set forth in the First Amendment and a one which would cause Bruce to go broke. After being again aquitted, Bruce's act begins to take a different turn. Relying less on bits and skits, Bruce now begins to do freeform monologues focusing on race, religion and other sacred cows. After many long legal battles Lenny becomes broke, partly due to legal fees, partly due to no comedy clubs willing to take a chance in him.
Denounced for blasphemy, Bruce was banned in 1962 from performing in Australia. His autobiography, "How to Talk Dirty and Influence People" (dedicated to Jimmy Hoffa), was published in 1965. Bruce's last performance is on June 26, 1966 at the Filmore Auditorium in San Francisco. Increasingly paranoid, he died of a morphine overdose at his Hollywood home.
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Lenny Bruce - The Berkeley Concert (2LP, Bizarre/Reprise 2XS 6329, February 17, 1969) - Not counting his performance at Carnegie Hall, Bruce is recorded here unedited. Bruce once said "I'm not a comedian, I'm Lenny Bruce", and this album is true to that statement. Bruce brilliantly explores the paradoxes of the American legal system, celebrity, advertising, and performs his classic routine "Religions Inc". Being well versed in the American legal processes and Bruce's battles with the Supreme Court will certainly enhance your understanding of the material. The album pales in comparison to Bruce's Carnegie Hall concert, but remains an important document of his groundbreaking comedy.
