The Official Website of Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, – August 3, ), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and screenwriter. He was renowned for his open, free-style and critical form of comedy which integrated satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. His conviction in an obscenitytrial was followed by a posthumous pardon, the first in New York State history, by then-Governor George Pataki in He paved the way for future outspoken counterculture-era comedians, and his trial for obscenity is seen as a landmark for freedom of speech in the United States.
Early life
Lenny Bruce was born Leonard Alfred Schneider in Mineola, New York, grew up in nearby Bellmore, and attended Wellington C. Mepham High School. His parents divorced when he was young, and Lenny lived with various relatives over the next decade. His British-born father, Myron (Mickey) Schneider, was a shoe clerk and Lenny saw him very infrequently. Bruce&#;s mother, Sally Marr (real name Sadie Schneider, born Sadie Kitchenberg), was a stage performer and had an enormous influence on Bruce&#;s career.[15]
After spending t
Lenny Bruce
| American satirist, master of humorous improvisation, author of books, articles and records, who gained fame in the s and s Date of Birth: Country: USA |
Content:
- Lenny Bruce: The American Satirist and Symbol of Free Speech
- Rise to Fame and Controversial Humor
- Arrests and Legal Battles
- Cultured Icon and Posthumous Influence
- Legacy through Writing and Publications
- Publications about Lenny Bruce
- Biographies and Critical Analyses
- Underworldby Don DeLillo (Simon and Schuster Inc., )
- What the Psychic Sawby Brian Josepher (Sterlinghouse Publisher, )
- Lennyby Valerie Kohler Smith (Grove Press, Inc., )
Lenny Bruce: The American Satirist and Symbol of Free Speech
Early Life and Turbulent ChildhoodBorn Leonard Alfred Schneider in Mineola, Long Island, Lenny Bruce was the son of a British shoe salesman and a dancer who later changed her name to Sally Marr. Growing up, Bruce experienced an unstable and chaotic home life, spending much of his time with relatives.
Rise to Fame and Controversial Humor
In the s and s, Bruce rose to prominence as a master of satirical comedy, known for his irreverent, confrontational, and often vulgar humor. His fearl
The success of Mort Sahl, who was just breaking loose with a new improvisational, topical style of comedy, hastened Bruce&#;s transformation, says Weide. &#;When Lenny saw that you could do something so different as a comedian, he ran with it.&#;
Performing in Beat-era clubs in New York and San Francisco, Bruce began making a name for himself. His new style might best be described by a phrase coined by Mel Brooks in his movie &#;History of the World, Part I&#;: &#;stand-up philosopher.&#; Although Bruce&#;s subjects &#; television, the movies, advertising and modern society, as well as edgier topics like race and religion &#; weren&#;t that different from what his contemporaries were talking about, he pushed the boundaries of satire and acceptability.
In his routine about the Lone Ranger, for instance, Bruce recast the cowboy as a neurotic loser. After saving a town, the Lone Ranger gallops off while a resident complains:
What&#;s wrong with that putz? The shmuck didn&#;t wait! Momma made a cake and everything! I got my hand out like some jack-off &#; and he&#;s on his horse already! What an asshole. I&#;m standing there with the mayor and a plaque and everything. I&#;m gonn
Lenny Bruce, striding past taboos that stood as barriers to communication, was a liberator of language. When Bruce ripped through his monologue, his audience could do one of two things: laugh in self-conscious embarassment or leave in a huff. The early '60s comedian--probably the most controversial in the trade's history--mined a rich, dark vein of American humor; he dug for the mother lode--religion, race, drugs, sex, morals. He rooted through the secret and sordid alleys of the subconscious, exposing them to an unsettlingly clear light. By , six years after Bruce died of an overdose of heroin, comedian George Carlin would safely record a nationally-distributed album on which he calmly rattled off the "seven words you can never say on television." By then, of course, the shock value had dissipated. Carlin managed to keep the words funny only by stringing them all together in one breath: "shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits." A lot had changed since Lenny Bruce last stood on a nightclub stage, and a lot of the change had resulted from Bruce's persistence in saying what he wanted to. Between and he was arrested four times for obscen
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