Live At The Curran Theater

CD reissue. Lenny Bruce was a Jewish-American stand-up comedian, social critic and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-style and critical form of comedy which integrated satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon, the first in the history of New York state, by then-Governor George Pataki in 2003. 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. One of his most amusing, though daring, acts was to get around a municipal law that said one was not allowed to say 'fuck' on stage. He circumvented this by getting a microphone on a very, very long lead, walking deliberately to the stage door, going out into the streets, and swearing to his heart's content. Albert Goldman wrote: "He fancied himself an oral jazzman. His ideal was to walk out there like Charlie Parker, take that mike in his hand like a horn and blow, blow, blow everything that came into his head just as it came into his head with nothing censored, nothing translated, nothing mediated, until he was pure mind, pure head sending out brainwaves like radio waves into the heads of every man and woman seated in that vast hall. Sending, sending, sending, he would finally reach a point of clairvoyance where he was no longer a performer but rather a medium transmitting messages that just came to him from out there - from recall, fantasy, prophecy". Even 51 years after his death, Lenny Bruce still manages to confront, shock and riotously amuse in equal portions. If you are already a Lenny Bruce fan, you will buy this record because you know how good it's going to be. If you're not, buy it and you will soon be converted!

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