He says he was hip to the Bay of Pigs before most people. He does the bits Would You Sell Out Your Country (Francis Gary Powers) and Las Vegas Tits & Ass. The recording ends in the midst of his bit White Collar Drunk. Politics. 50 years ago, Lenny Bruce was found dead on his bathroom floor, up in the Hollywood Hills. He mentions his obscenity trial in New York (the Caf Au Go Go trial). Bruce blames the Maryland Hotel cleaning service for the fact that hes wearing a raincoat. It makes no sense to restrict our ride because of what was. Bruce discusses the Maryland Hotel cleaning service, the Captain Howdy Show, and singer Gary Crosby. The truth is, New York was almost as impossible then as it is now. He does No Guy Ever Cheated on His Wife/Guys Detach. To find out more about these recordings, please contact us! He refers to Tab Hunter's arrest for allegedly beating his dog. Joey's Solo (Feat. He mentions a practice from the time of Christs crucifixion. He does a bit on the history of obscenity law, his bit Tits & Ass, he interacts with audience members and with accompanying musicians. Others still crackle with raw energy. It was performed in front of a diverse audience in a jazz club, which he explains his point perfectly at the end. Back in California, Bruce was again arrested, as well as ordered to go into rehab for drug addiction. The last three tracks feature tap dancer and singer Joey Hollingsworth with Lenny Breau as his sole accompanist. He does his bits Schmuck, Small-town Audiences, Dykes, and the Jewish mother who still doesnt know her son is gay. [2] In Which The Artist Discusses Critics, Definitions, His San Francisco Bust, Courts, Juries, Side 1: Critics, Definitions, His San Francisco Bust, Courts, Juries, Cops, His Philadelphia Bust, Corruption, Obscenity, Defines Jewish And Goyishe, Side 6: The Eichmann Theme, The Thomas Merton Poem, Christ And Moses, The Legalization Of Pot, Hillbillies, Judy Garland's Farewell, Side 2: 'The Lie', His Courtroom Fantasy, George Shearing And Guide Dogs For The Blind, Tropic Of Cancer, Cops And Bad Toilet Training, The Philadelphia Hotel, Side 5: Fantasy With The Judge, Las Vegas, The Paradox Of Obscenity, Tits And Ass, Nuns, Paul Robeson And Adolph Eichmann, Side 3: Ride To Jail In Philadelphia, Jails In General, The Philadelphia Lower Courts, Side 4: The Shirley Beck Letters, Blue Suits, Bobby Kennedy, Russians, Integration, Juries, Humour. The materials range in date from the early 1920s to the 2000s. However, the appeal was never completed. Bruce starts to do Christ & Moses, then veers into I Picked on the Wrong God. He does his bit about wanting to give the audience members lie detector tests about infidelity and homosexuality and refers to Tab Hunter's arrest for allegedly beating his dog. He starts his bit The Clap, then has an exchange with an angry man in the audience who wants his money back ($5). The tape ends during an exchange between Bruce and Gate of Horn owner Alan Ribback about Jackie Mason having just criticized censorship (this was witnessed by Ribback, but its unknown whether it was live or on television or radio). He does Barney & the Hecklers, talks to a doctor and his wife in the audience. He never gave up on his first amendment right, freedom of speech. He does his bit of George Washington interviewed by Mike Wallace. Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 - August 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and screenwriter. In the third section, he plays the roles of the host of a radio talk show called Nightline, and of some callers. Interview by journalist Gary Shenfer of Lenny Bruce in Miami (or Miami Beach) at the El Patio club. In the third and sixth clip he mentions The Chronicle, which would place the performances in San Francisco. He went on to influence future comedians such as; Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Jon Stewart, Marc Maron, Louis C.K, Richard Pryor, the list goes on. It was a small, basement club that had its heyday in the 1950s and 60s -and helped launch the careers of Phyllis Diller, The Smothers Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, and Richard Pryor. The exact date is not known, but the year is probably 1962. His performance at Carnegie Hall took place two years before his 3rd appearance on The Steve Allen Show. A new set begins. On that day, Lenny Bruce was making his debut appearance at Carnegie Hall, a sold out performance. The place might be Los Angeles, where Bruce lived, or San Francisco, where Bendich and Gleason were based. A series of short clips follows, date and venue unknown. When I heard them use the word, I took it in a light hearted way and asked Whoa! He talks about the prosecution witnesses at his recent New York obscenity trial, and does Art With a Little Piece of Shit in It. He does Las Vegas Tits & Ass, then Would You Sell Out Your Country (Francis Gary Powers), Doing It Is Dirty and We Did It to Their Mothers for Chocolate Bars. It begins while the show is in progress. He says he doesnt do bits anymore and prefers to cook and free-form it. Speaks of the judge in his San Francisco obscenity trial. When the police arrived, they found a kettle of water turned on and an electric typewriter with an unfinished sentence. 4 . Bruce does a bit about how his generation of men is terrified of being considered a faggot. He relates his surprise, when at Phil Spectors jamboree rock concert, at seeing 10-year-old kids out without their parents. He wonders if the name Pope Pius was, like Rip Torn, dreamed up by Hollywood talent agent Henry Willson. Eulogy to Lenny Bruce, written and performed by Hardin after Bruces death. Bruce refers to the fact that the previous Sunday hed only sold 500 tickets for a show at the Curran Theater in San Francisco, leaving 1100 empty seats. Bruce is in the midst of Shelley Berman & the Chicago Shtarkers. The first clip begins as the set is in progress, with Bruce imagining that Pope Pius XII would sneak in one night to see him. Reading law books and other commentaries on free speech now took up most of Bruces time. To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. The set is in progress. He does Custody/Get Even, Stag Film vs. King of Kings, History of Obscenity, Transvestites Posing as Policemen, Never Cop to It, Lie Detector, Would You Sell Out Your Country (Francis Gary Powers), Italians Were the Enemy and Gypsies, He does Are There Any Niggers Here Tonight?, The Clap, Las Vegas Tits & Ass, Lie Detector, Thank You Masked Man, and Dykes and Flashers. Bruce performs various bits and speaks of: J.J. Johnson, the magazine Downbeat, Copacabana owner Jules Podell, Mafia-connected club owners, his manager Jack Sobel, Jackie Paris, Mort Sahl, Burt Boyar, How to Relax Your Colored Friends at Parties, Sophie Tucker, Ted Shapiro, Bill Stern, the Paramount in Brooklyn, Miles Davis, Leopold and Loeb, Don Winslow, scenario of a Jewish boy visiting home from military school, George Washington interviewed by Mike Wallace. He died of an accidental drug overdose. But at that time of recording, Lenny Bruce was under litigation for obscenity by New Yorks [then] District Attorney (D.A. However, that episode of the Steve Allen Show was eventually shelved by the censors, it was never aired. He does How Negroes and Jews Became Entertainers and talks about his scenario for a movie about Christ and the Good Thief. Copyright 2023 The Forward Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Recorded by Lenny Bruce in the days before his death on August 3, 1966, plus a song written and performed by Tim Hardin after Bruces death. He does the bits Jewish vs. Goyishe and (Chicago columnist) Paul Molloy & Christianity. Bruce believes he was framed. Race. The prosecution used the testimony and notes of the city license inspector, as well as from police officers who attended some of Bruces other performances. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Men's voices can be heard--it's the police. On August 3, 1966, he died of a morphine overdose in his home. Bruce riffs that he was late because hed been kidnapped. The show is known as The Berkeley Concert. He makes the first of several comments on a woman in the audiences meshuggener laugh. He does Transvestites Posing as Policemen. He does Goldwater Talks to Negroes, talks about prejudice and Lee Harvey Oswald. He jokes that hes still trying to get even with everyone who did their job, referring to the Steve Allen people and to his New York City obscenity trial (the Caf au Go Go trial), which is in postponement because of his ailment. It contains the routines Jackie Kennedy Hauled Ass, To Come: The Verb Instransitive and Deny It. ), Frank Hogan. He uncharacteristically tells a joke with a punchline, and inserts JFK into it. When he first appeared on the show in 1959, Allen described him as the most shocking comedian of our time, a young man who is skyrocketing to fame. Goyish. He does Communism/The Phone Company. The recording ends in the midst of his bit White Collar Drunk. who was involved with narcotics. Summary []. and Black Black Woman White White Woman. Lenny Bruce was way ahead of his time. The tape ends during a passage in which the band is playing and Bruce is interacting with an audience member. Bruce refers to his attire, a raincoat, pants and mismatched socks. He discusses aspects of his trials. Another bit described men as oversexed beings willing to have sex with anything that moved, including a chicken. He mentions Judge Clayton Horn from his second San Francisco obscenity trial and Judge John Murtagh from his current New York trial (the Caf Au Go Go trial). The audience reacted positively. The comedy of Lenny Bruce was changing. In the second section, he says some phrases in Spanish. Bruce refers to his attire, reads from the transcript of his trial for obscenity in San Francisco earlier that year, talks about the hostility in the audience. The recording ends abruptly, then continues (it may be the same performance, or yet another performance). Bruce notes the set is being recorded by Max Weiss of Fantasy Records, and starts repeating a phrase so that the tape editor will be confused. He does The Best Man in the Tribe (St. Paul), Custody/Get Even, Deny It, Are There Any Niggers Here? He reiterates what Allen stated, that his current litigation was surrounded by a four letter word that started with an S and ended with a T. He does the Transylvania bit, Airplane Glue, interview with George Washington, King Kong and Tarzan. Bruce contends that much of his legal trouble in the preceding four years has been because of his material on religion. (2) The bit The Reason We Left England is in progress. The recording abruptly switches to a different performance, in progress, that most likely takes place in 1964, because he mentions Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater. But guys can have head-on collisions with Greyhound busesand on the way to the hospital, in the ambulance, the guy makes a play for the nurse. A new set begins. He explained that Bruce is not a comedian who just told dirty and foul jokes, but instead; He deals with [the] subject matter which many people consider off limits. He does his bit about Jack Ruby and Melvin Belli. He talks about mixed race marriages which at the time was illegal due to many states passing anti-miscegenation statute, in previous decades and it was only until the case for Loving vs Virginia was presented to the supreme court that on June 12th 1967, two months after it was presented and argued, the supreme court ruled Virginias anti-miscegenation as unconstitutional of the 14th amendments Equal Protection Clause.