Philosophy
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere,
This week we celebrate the birthday of Lenny Bruce, a man who truly made much of comedy what it is today. Comedy in the 1950's was cute, like Alan King, even insightful and clever like Mort Sahl, but Lenny Bruce was a completely different animal, he unloaded on it with both barrels.
Born Leonard Alfred Schneider, he changed his name when he got out of the Navy and started doing stand-up around New York. He had the energy, passion, and anger that was beginning to bubble up to the surface in the times. The cultural straight jacket of the post-war years needed not a gentle loosening, but an explosion to break through and that charge was Lenny Bruce. His discussions of sexuality were not subtle innuendo, cleverly veiled, it was in your face, oh my God, did he really just say that? And it wasn't just sex, any topic from politics to religion to relationships was fair game for his raving take no prisoners wit.
Of course, then he became the prisoner. He was arrested for his act in San Francisco in 1961 for using the word "cocksucker." Ultimately, he was acquitted, but he became a lightning rod attracting attention from the authorities wherever he went. He was arrested several times for obscenity and drug use.
The big trial was in 1964, when he and Howard Solomon, the owner of the Cafe-Au-Go-Go where he had been working, were tried for public obscenity. He was found guilty after a lengthy trial that was as much about the direction of the culture as it was about state statutes. He was released on bail as he awaited his appeal, but pulling the ultimate stunt, he got out of future prosecution by dying.
He was a master, a genius, a man with a pair the size of Manhattan:When you look at half the comedians today, what you see is Lenny Bruce as the Platonic form and these guys as imperfect representations of his bit.
I'd say rest in peace, man, but Lenny did nothing in peace.
Live, laugh, and love,
Irreverend Steve
- The Cultural Meaning Of Hitler
Today would be Adolf Hitler's 122nd birthday. Author of Mein Kampf and architect of genocide, his name is used to imply extreme evil, but all too often that is equivalent to "someone who doesn't agree with me." It seems as if the power is diminished...
- Comedy Isn't Pretty
My Fellow Comedists, With the arrival of the holiday season come all of the usual entertainment offerings, most of which make my stomach turn. But one that stands out is the up-dated version of A Christmas Carol with Bill Murray, "Scrooged." Murray, a...
- Feast Of Saint Mort
My Fellow Comedists, This week saw the feast day of Saint Mort. Mort Sahl turned 82. He was the pivot point about which comedy turned from the slapstick gags and schticks of Vaudeville to the hip, smart, topical, observational humor of today. In the early...
- Feast Of Saint Richard
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists everywhere, This week we celebrate the feast of Saint Richard. It would have been Richard Pryor's 67th birthday this week. It would not be a controversial claim to say that no one shaped comedy in the...
- A Comedic Trojan Horse
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, As you know, there is a war on comedy. The forces of unfunny are gathering. And now, this... Their latest tactic is a ploy from ancient times, the comedic version of the Trojan horse. It is called...
Philosophy
The Feast of Saint Lenny
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere,
This week we celebrate the birthday of Lenny Bruce, a man who truly made much of comedy what it is today. Comedy in the 1950's was cute, like Alan King, even insightful and clever like Mort Sahl, but Lenny Bruce was a completely different animal, he unloaded on it with both barrels.
Born Leonard Alfred Schneider, he changed his name when he got out of the Navy and started doing stand-up around New York. He had the energy, passion, and anger that was beginning to bubble up to the surface in the times. The cultural straight jacket of the post-war years needed not a gentle loosening, but an explosion to break through and that charge was Lenny Bruce. His discussions of sexuality were not subtle innuendo, cleverly veiled, it was in your face, oh my God, did he really just say that? And it wasn't just sex, any topic from politics to religion to relationships was fair game for his raving take no prisoners wit.
Of course, then he became the prisoner. He was arrested for his act in San Francisco in 1961 for using the word "cocksucker." Ultimately, he was acquitted, but he became a lightning rod attracting attention from the authorities wherever he went. He was arrested several times for obscenity and drug use.
The big trial was in 1964, when he and Howard Solomon, the owner of the Cafe-Au-Go-Go where he had been working, were tried for public obscenity. He was found guilty after a lengthy trial that was as much about the direction of the culture as it was about state statutes. He was released on bail as he awaited his appeal, but pulling the ultimate stunt, he got out of future prosecution by dying.
He was a master, a genius, a man with a pair the size of Manhattan:When you look at half the comedians today, what you see is Lenny Bruce as the Platonic form and these guys as imperfect representations of his bit.
I'd say rest in peace, man, but Lenny did nothing in peace.
Live, laugh, and love,
Irreverend Steve
- The Cultural Meaning Of Hitler
Today would be Adolf Hitler's 122nd birthday. Author of Mein Kampf and architect of genocide, his name is used to imply extreme evil, but all too often that is equivalent to "someone who doesn't agree with me." It seems as if the power is diminished...
- Comedy Isn't Pretty
My Fellow Comedists, With the arrival of the holiday season come all of the usual entertainment offerings, most of which make my stomach turn. But one that stands out is the up-dated version of A Christmas Carol with Bill Murray, "Scrooged." Murray, a...
- Feast Of Saint Mort
My Fellow Comedists, This week saw the feast day of Saint Mort. Mort Sahl turned 82. He was the pivot point about which comedy turned from the slapstick gags and schticks of Vaudeville to the hip, smart, topical, observational humor of today. In the early...
- Feast Of Saint Richard
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists everywhere, This week we celebrate the feast of Saint Richard. It would have been Richard Pryor's 67th birthday this week. It would not be a controversial claim to say that no one shaped comedy in the...
- A Comedic Trojan Horse
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, As you know, there is a war on comedy. The forces of unfunny are gathering. And now, this... Their latest tactic is a ploy from ancient times, the comedic version of the Trojan horse. It is called...