He does his bit on Barry Goldwater and his Jewish roots. Second part (of three) of a conversation among comedian Lenny Bruce, attorney Albert Bendich and journalist Ralph J. Gleason. Bruce mentions his bit Religions Inc. from four years earlier. But it comes down to society and yourself as an individual to take that powerful word that is currently suppressed, and change it so that it becomes normalised, just like the word shit. There are things you . Since a tape of the performance was played at the trial, its in the public record and he plans to release it as an album, but with a warning that whoever sells it may be subject to the obscenity laws of his locality. and Filipinos. Summary []. At the time of recording the episode, he was restricted by the authorities for using obscene language during his acts. Some of the recordings are of a personal nature, such as the phone letters and private conversations between Bruce and his friends and family. Bruce is in the midst of his King Kong bit. He does a bit on the history of obscenity law, his bit Tits & Ass, he interacts with audience members and with accompanying musicians. 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. He says he shouldnt talk politics because thats the domain of Mort Sahl and Phyllis Kirk, the Vic and Sade of show business. The next section begins as the set is in progress, with Bruce imagining that Pope Pius XII would sneak in one night to see him. But instead of being able to perform, he was taken back to the airport and deported. He refers to a gig he did in Milwaukee, then does his bit about playing at small-town venues. He comments on contemporaries Mort Sahl and Bob Newhart and does his bit Shelley Berman & Chicago Shtarkers. On the same day, he had received a foreclosure notice, but his death was not a suicide. 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. Lenny Bruce, head-and-shoulders portrait. Conversation among Lenny Bruce, Phil Spector and Allen Ginsberg. Class. I know words have power. We are nothing at all. He does Goldwater Talks to Negroes, talks about prejudice and Lee Harvey Oswald. He talks about Hugh Hefners intentions with Playboy. Bruce riffs about razor blades, his recent legal troubles, obscenity, how he got in trouble for part of his bit The Reason We Left England, the difference in the secular and the Catholic definitions of obscenity. He does the bit Chicks Are Boss. By Philip Eil In March 1964, Steve Allen invited Lenny Bruce to make his 3rd appearance on his show. In this conversation, Bruce seeks Bendichs advice as to whether he has grounds to appeal his conviction on a narcotics charge in Los Angeles. There is an unknown third man present who makes a comment and asks some questions. Bruce speaks about and reads from documents associated with his February 1962 arrest for obscenity in San Francisco, including Bruce's own letter to Judge Clayton Horn and tells how it resulted in his being charged with contempt of court. At the Purple Onion is a live album by Don Francks, Lenny Breau, and Eon Henstridge that was recorded in 1962 and released in 2004. The photographs document not only his professional career but also his personal life with family and friends. An officer tells audience members to take their seats and show identification. He refers to his 1962 obscenity trial in San Francisco, and that he was acquitted. In the third section, he plays the roles of the host of a radio talk show called Nightline, and of some callers. November 16, 2004 10 Songs, 1 hour, 7 minutes 2004 Art of Life Records. In the third and sixth clip he mentions The Chronicle, which would place the performances in San Francisco. Bruce speaks of his arrests in Los Angeles both for obscenity and for possession of narcotics. Bruce does Christ & Moses before being arrested, as was audience member George Carlin, who refused to show police his ID. He says an obscenity circus has been going on around him for the past five years. In May 2003, the governor of New York issued Lenny Bruce a posthumous pardon, based on what he called the State of New Yorks commitment to upholding the First Amendment. Gleason was a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle who was an early fan and supporter of Bruce. He does his bit on the Miami Kidnapping, then Airplane Glue, talks about marijuana, then does Christ & Moses, Small-Town Audiences, then Schmuck. He does Ive Never Been Inside a Negros House, Dick Gregory, Goldwater Talks to Negroes, Las Vegas Tits & Ass, The Best Man in the Tribe (St. Paul), Schmuck, Flashers, and Custody/Get Even and Deny It. He does No Guy Ever Cheated on His Wife/Guys Detach. With the bit We Killed Christ he explains how his arrests are really for talking about Christianity. He talks about the fallout from a joke about Cardinal Spellman, then does The Postman. Bruce is in the midst of recounting the incident for which he was accused of assault and battery on a TV cameraman in Los Angeles. Bruce talks about undetected perverts, generational differences in sexual practice, and does his bit Chick Singer With a Gimmick. He does the bit Divorce & Motels. Bruce performs his bit about the history of obscenity law and Entrapment by Cops. A series of short clips follows, date and venue unknown. who was involved with narcotics. Words may stay the same, context is always going through evolution. He ends the call with some jokes. til nigger didnt mean anything anymore, then you could never make some six-year-old black kid cry because somebody called him a nigger at school. Lenny Bruce. He speculates on Rock Hudsons sexuality. He talks about how the Yiddish approach to language is different. Bruce mentions his bit Religions Inc. from four years earlier. He does Ten Thousand Asses (Tigers & Lions) and repeats a quote where JFK used the term son of a bitch. The set ends. Could he really be that bad?! Some of Bruces routines feel dated. He criticizes Chicago columnist Paul Molloy for being sanctimonious. The second set begins. He refers to Tab Hunter's arrest for allegedly beating his dog. As Spector and Ginsberg exit the house, Ginsberg leaves the recorder on during the walk. He does the Transylvania bit, Airplane Glue, interview with George Washington, King Kong and Tarzan. Join Vimeo But at that time of recording, Lenny Bruce was under litigation for obscenity by New Yorks [then] District Attorney (D.A. Well guess whatpeople who want to offend, theyll use it to cause harm and offence to whoever feeds up to it. What is possibly a different set has Bruce doing bit with Santa Claus as the subject of Edward R. Murrows show Person to Person. A third section begins. The place might be Los Angeles, where Bruce lived, or San Francisco, where Bendich and Gleason were based. He does his bits Schmuck, Small-town Audiences, Dykes, and the Jewish mother who still doesnt know her son is gay. The truth is, New York was almost as impossible then as it is now. 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. Bruce gives permission for Levy to tape his show. Of more interest is the extended interplay between Breau and Henstridge, as Francks' silliness quickly wears thin. Were simply trying to make our ride, the best ride possible with what weve got. He does Filipinos. One of my favorites is Tea for Two. Via a dramatization of how his father used to hit him, he says he became acutely attuned to his fathers moods, and this in turn made him very sensitive to the moods of audience members (I know when youre bugged, I know when Im boring, I know when Im offensive). He does his bit about Jack Ruby and Melvin Belli. At the end of his act, Bruce exasperates that the suppression of the word came from the power that people gave to the word. Lenny Bruce - How To Relax Your Colored Friends At Parties (1961) Reelblack One 1.17M subscribers Subscribe 1.5K Share 165K views 4 years ago Classic comedy bit from controversial satirist. Instant potatoes? Bruce begins by using the microphone in a gesture of benediction; in his New York obscenity trial that was interpreted as being a masturbatory gesture. Bruce speaks of the mine explosion at Green County, Pennsylvania a few days prior. He does a bit about "chick singers", a bit about how its a myth that agents can make your career, talks of his recent obscenity trial in New York (the Caf Au Go Go trial). 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. [2] Lenny Bruce wanted to point out that your interpretation of that word, will be different from another persons. The primary goal of the meeting was for Ginsberg to hear Bruces experience with being arrested for giving performances that contained obscene material, and his views on what legal steps can be taken to fight those charges. The materials range in date from the early 1920s to the 2000s. He does How Negroes and Jews Became Entertainers and talks about his scenario for a movie about Christ and the Good Thief. He talks about the double standard in depicting sex vs. violence. Bruce talks about who gets to judge, and does a riff on Sophie Tucker as a scolding mother. Bruce does his bit about Barry Goldwaters Jewish roots. Bruce is talking about a D.A. On Capitol Hill, there are 20,000 mostly young men and women who have tremendous influence but are rarely seen, they work in the background, without recognition and often for long hours with low pay. He does Christ & Moses, Are There Any Niggers Here Tonight?, and Black Black Woman White White Woman. The recording ends abruptly, then continues (it may be the same performance, or yet another performance). He tells Catholics theyre lucky to have confession. He does We Did It to Their Mothers for Chocolate Bars, Unscrew You, Never Cop Out, Custody/Get Even, Stag Film vs. King of Kings, Jimmy Hoffa and Would You Sell Out Your Country (Francis Gary Powers). I dont care what they call me because at the end of the day, were there for each other. You can follow me on: Instagram/Facebook/Snapchat/Youtube. The writings and transcripts offer transcripts of his performances as well as showcase screenplays he had written as well as ones written about him. In the end, Lenny Bruce and comedy club owner Howard Solomon were found guilty as charged. He does short jokes about Liberace, Richard Nixon, Paul Robeson, Sammy Davis Jr. and Sophie Tucker. While Breau and Francks had worked together over the previous month, Henstridge literally had only about an hour of rehearsal with the others prior to the making of this recording, though the trio's emphasis was more on spontaneity than set arrangements. He mentions his obscenity trial in New York (the Caf Au Go Go trial). He riffs on the TV series The Millionaire. He speaks fondly of an Atwater-Kent radio he had, and sings the theme song from the Uncle Don show from Detroit. Charged and arrested the same year in Chicago, Bruce was found guilty and sentenced to one year in prison. Bruce does his bit Christ & Moses. Out of prison on bail, soon he would die. Lenny Bruce was a controversial American comedian during the 1950s and 1960s. In the words of Professor Lou Gottlieb of the Purple Onion, himself no slight satirist of our cultural mores, "Lenny Bruce is a verbal Hieronymus Bosch." For the jazz fan there is the same. He refers to his 1962 obscenity trial in San Francisco, and that he was acquitted. President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at Love Field, Dallas, Texas. Bendich had been Bruces defense counsel in his 1962 obscenity trial in San Francisco (Bruce was acquitted). The recording ends abruptly. The file ends during the bit Las Vegas Tits & Ass. The recording continues with the first part of a Lenny Bruce performance at the Gate of Horn on December 9, 1962. Lenny Bruce was going to do his performance and say that four letter word, no matter what! Bruce also attracted attention for his edgy routines that often pushed the limits of good taste. Bruce is known to have had engagements at The Den in April and during the fall of 1959. Lenny Bruce had already made two previous appearances, so why the need to give him such a dedicated introduction? The file ends during the bit. 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. He does The Best Man in the Tribe (St. Paul) and Filipinos. The truth is what is, and what should be is a fantasya terrible, terrible lie that someone gave to the people long ago. Lenny Bruce. Lenny Bruce - Equality (1961) - YouTube From Lenny's Carnegie Hall show, February 1961.http://www.amazon.com/Carnegie-Hall-Concert-Explicit/dp/B001VIK60E/ From Lenny's Carnegie Hall. Bruce starts to do Christ & Moses, then veers into I Picked on the Wrong God. how far we've come. 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