Lenny Bruce Essay, Research Paper

Lenny Bruce

Leonard Alfred Schneider, or more commonly known as Lenny Bruce, was a comedian, a

family man, drug addict, and philosopher. A conventional Jewish child from Long Island, who

joked about homosexuality, drugs, religion, and race. Arguably, he paved the way for the comics

of today, paying the price for being twenty years ahead of his time. Addicted to vulgarity and

drugs he became a regular in courtrooms across America. The humiliation he caused a

Philadelphia judge is thought to be another reason he spent so much time in court. His untimely

death still stirs speculation of murder, rather than just another junkie that overdosed.

Bruce was born on October 13, 1925 in Long Island, New York. His father worked as an

orthopedic shoe salesman, who spoiled his only child, while his mother was his best friend. When

Bruce was eight-years-old, his parents divorced. In 1936, his father remarried, and along with

Bruce, they lived a conventional life. However, the jazz musicians and drug influences around him

impacted him and the way he talked. At age seventeen, Bruce joined the Navy. But after two

years of fighting fascists, he became tired of it. He went to the medical officers proclaiming that

he was obsessed with homosexuality. Shortly after, he was dishonorably discharged (Hendra 115).

Once he came home his father had offered him a job selling orthopedic shoes. However,

Bruce had other plans; he wanted to be a comedian. Bruce started as an impressionist, although

he was not very good. In 1948 the ?Arthur Godfrey?s Talent Scouts Show? offered Bruce a

television appearance and a chance perform his act. Few bookings were made after that broadcast.

Bruce?s career had started slowly; making appearances at strip clubs and performing his act.

Harriet Lloyd, or ?Honey?, was a stripper at one of the clubs where he performed. And, in 1951

she became his wife (Kronke). Together, they moved to Los Angeles and did acts that he

directed. Bruce and his new wife soon expanded the family-having a girl whom they called Kitty.

Even with his new family, Bruce continued doing acts at strip clubs. Once while performing at a

strip club, Bruce stripped naked and said, ?What?s the big deal? This is what you came for isn?t

it??(Hendra 116). This shocking type of behavior was thought to be the turning point of his

career.

From that revealing show in 1955 to shows in 1957, he was an icon for many clubs in Los

Angeles. He worked mainly at the Crescendo, where he would get on stage and ask people if they

had babysitters at home, then he would call the babysitter and tell them that their employer had

just died in a car accident (Hendra 125). This was one of his most popular acts. Performing at the

clubs allowed him to play with the audience; even if it included playing an awful joke on someone.

A definitive moment in his career took place in 1959, when a fan of Bruce?s and a host of a

popular NBC television show, asked him to appear on the show. Steve Allen, the host of ? The

Steve Allen Show,? had Bruce on twice that year, each time the NBC producers were strictly

censoring any material he used. Words that may have made Lenny Bruce a strip-club-favorite,

were generally not allowed

2

on air. These regular appearances at clubs and television shows helped pay for a growing drug

addiction (Goldman 88).

In 1959, Bruce was busted for possession of narcotics. To stay out of jail he cut a deal

with the L.A.P.D. and agreed to turn in drug dealers that he knew. Later, while in Philadelphia in

1961, he was arrested for having prescription drugs such as amphetamines. (Kronke). After the

trial Bruce went public about a corrupt Philadelphia Judge who would drop the charges for a fee.

Once he humiliated this elected official prosecutors and judges went after him. Just five days after,

while in San Francisco, he was arrested. From that point on Bruce could not get away with

anything (Goldberg 23).

Bruce?s way of talking was not acceptable public speaking at the time. His blunt and

sometime harsh words were classified as ?dirty words?. Constantly he made fun of issues that

were not spoken in public such as homosexuality, drug addicts, and communism. He would say

things like, ?(My friend) Carmelo?s mother was a manicurist and the town whore. The symbols of

my childhood are gone–what a shame!–the country doctor, the town whore, village idiot, the

drunken family from the wrong side of the tracks have been replaced with the communist, the

junkie, the faggot, and the beatnik,? (Lenny Bruce). Once, while performing in 1964 at the Cafe

au Go-Go in New York, not long after the Kennedy assassination, Bruce made a joke about

Jackie Kennedy?s actions when the gunshots took place. She was sprawled out on the trunk trying

to get out of the backseat of the car, where the gunshots were aimed, and Bruce said she was

?hauling ass to save ass.? That night there were several N.Y.P.D. Theatrical Crit. Squad members

taking notes on everything that they felt was important. Once Bruce finished his comment about

Jackie Kennedy they arrested him (Hendra 169-170).

Bruce?s vocabulary often did not meet the standards of the society then, but now

comedy acts like his are regular. Had Bruce not stood his ground, many comedians would have

had to fight for their right of free speech. In this way, Bruce was ahead of his time and paved the

way for the comedians of today (Allen 65-68).

On August 6, 1966 Lenny Bruce died from an overdose of heroin. The suspicious part of

his death was the fact that Bruce?s normal habits when getting high were not present. Usually

when he would use heroin, there would be candles, a spoon, cotton, some blood from jacking the

spike, but none of these agents were present. For many, the scene was too clean. On the desk in

the room next to where he was found, was an IBM on which he wrote his last words, ?Conspiracy

to interfere with the fourth amendment const…? (Goldman 554).

Bruce had gone to court many times, but for few reasons. Many times over he would

defend his stance on freedom of speech and his rights. Trial after trial he fought the same loosing

battle, but he never gave up. People have referred to him as a philosopher when it came to

speaking the mind and determination of what is right (Allen 77).Lenny Bruce was a great thinker

and comedian, that did not just push the envelope to the edge, but over. Although his

3

drug habit may have killed him, it sustained his sanity. Without it, he would have either gone

insane or given up on comedy and the fight for what is right. His determination for freedom of

speech and character gave society a look into the real world, and not the sugar-coated version.

Allen, Steve. Funny People. Briarcliff Manor: Stein and Day,1981.

Goldman, Albert. Ladies and Gentlemen Lenny Bruce!. New York: Random House,1971.

Hendra, Tony. Going Too Far The Rise and Fall of Sick, Gross, Black, Sophomoric, Weirdo,

Pinko, Anarchist, Underground, Anti-Establishment Humor. New York: Doubleday,

1987.

Kronke, David. ?Comic Lenny Bruce Lionized For First Amendment Stands.? Los Angeles Daily

News 9 Aug.1999:06.

Lenny Bruce.26.Oct.1995.24.Sept.2000.http/cs.umd.edu/~flip/lenny.html