The Lenny Bruce Performance Film (1965)

Lenny Bruce is considered to this day to be America’s most controversial comedian. Having been arrested numerous times for obscenity over the course of his career, Lenny performed only in San Francisco during the last year of his life. Filmed live at the Basin Street West in San Francisco in 1965 in what would be his second-to-last live performance, Lenny directly addresses the accusations and allegations stemming from his multiple arrests for obscenity. This rare live performance also contains some of his famous stand-up bits including the prison riot with Dutch, the Warden, Father Flotski and Sabu, the prison doctor.

NOT FOR THE NEOPHYTE!

At the outset let me say that I am not a Lenny Bruce fan!
I remember seeing this film in the late 1970's at a midnight showing and not 'getting it'. It was not until sometime in the 1990's that I had an unquenchable desire to reconnect with Lenny Bruce only after I was given a copy of the double LP "Live in Berkeley".(Thank you Mr. Zappa!) That started an obsession for me with all things Lenny.
After having read LB's autobiography and most all of the other books, it was time to revisit this film. [BTW...The Trials of Lenny Bruce is a heavyweight; but essential reading if you can handle it. I must also highly recommend the 6 CD set titled "Let The Buyer Beware"]
Now,forget about what other reviewers have written about "a dying and broken man" or that Lenny was drugged out!
I found this DVD to be 'the grail' as Lenny delivers cogent arguments to his detractors while also imparting some very funny material. In hindsight it's sad that Lenny's supporters could not do more to champion this prophet; but that's the way it was back in the mid 1960's. Sadly, the system took the 'fight' out of the man but could never take the man out of the 'fight'. Only Lenny could do that.
In closing let me restate that I highly recommend this to anyone who has done a little bit of 'under graduate' study of Lenny Bruce. Then, buy this DVD! As I said, I am not a fan of Lenny Bruce but a lover of this philosophical genius! Lenny Bruce was one of the greatest teachers of all time (and also one of the most honest and spiritual human beings) THANK YOU LENNY BRUCE! September 19, 2006

still burning at the end

Although Lenny was near the end when this performance was filmed, he still puts on a riveting show. He does go on about the legal system a lot but what he says makes so much sense. You almost wish he could have used something like this in some of his courtroom defenses. He always said the prosecutors would do a "bad" Lenny Bruce in court! For people who assume he was constantly harrased and busted for his foul language, get a hold of this film and see how brilliant he was. January 27, 2006

AN ESSENTIAL PIECE OF HUMOR --- AND HISTORY

George Carlin says it best: Bruce's genius' was the unique ability to investigate hypocrisy and expose social inequities in a street rap that was really a form of poetry. In this--- the only complete stand-up performance of Bruce ever captured on film --- the iconoclast poet speaks. Loudly. Filmed in 1965 at San Francisco's Basin Street West (in what would be his penultimate live appearance), the show consists of Bruce's responses to the accusations and allegations stemming from his multiple arrests for obscenity and the trials that followed. While the production values are far from superior, it is an important piece of history for humorists and historians to embrace. January 1, 2006

Lenny Bruce nearing the End - Funny but Damaged

I'm a Lenny Bruce fan. I know about Lenny Bruce, and I know about 'The Lenny Bruce Performance Film'. I know the circumstances under which the film was made, and the circumstances of Lenny's life and career at that time. Consequently, my expectations for this performance were low.

But from the very start... he's good. Not brilliant... but good. Unfortunately, good is such a come-down for Lenny Bruce. And the performance is not helped by the way it is filmed. Lenny is never seen in full figure, which tends to be the best way to show stand-up. The dim lighting was also as strong as Lenny's eyes could stand.

He looks rather chubbier than in his prime, and the trademark sharp suit has been replaced with looser clothes to hide his bulkier body. But THIS IS Lenny Bruce performing on film, and it is because so little of this exists, this this film has the fascination it does.

Lenny is working with a document in hand - a transcript of one of his prosecutions - and the bulk of his performance revolves around what this contains... How what he has said and done in nightclubs was misrepresented by the legal system of America.

And this main section of his performance works remarkably well. He knows the points he wants to make, he easily find the sections of the transcript he needs, his vocal technique is still very much in evidence, and he is FUNNY.

But very soon, we see what is lacking in this Lenny Bruce. The incisive mind may still be there, but the playfulness is gone. While discussing the law, he talks about mime artists losing their "freedom of speech". What an opportunity! He misses what could have been one of the best laughs of the night.

But even this adequate performance can't be sustained. The end is heart breaking. An obligation of this performance was that Lenny reproduce some of the classic routines of just a few years earlier... and suddenly he tries.

Very sad. He can't do it. He can't reproduce his original passion or delivery of those bits. Maybe he can't remember. One routine lasts a few seconds, before he tries another. Important lines we know should be there are missing. Lenny is clearly in trouble.

It is like watching one of those "peace officers" he earlier criticizes for hopelessly trying to portray Lenny Bruce the performer in court. Without the real Lenny Bruce speaking, these famous routines quietly die a death.

Eventually the performance dwindles to a close. Lenny goes to a side door, and improvises some lines to passers-by. We can't really hear what he is saying, and it seems embarrassing to try. After a minute or so, the door allows his escape.

This was Lenny's next to last nightclub performance. Within a year he will be dead.
December 4, 2005

Lenny Bruce In Action

For any Lenny Bruce fan, this film is absolutely essential. It is the only time in his all-too-brief career that Lenny's nightclub act was filmed from begining to end.

This is Lenny at the end of his life. It is August of 1965 and he has less than a year to live. The effects of four years of unrelenting persecution and personal self destruction are painfully evedent. He's not the Lenny of 1959: The hyper-energetic, brilliant young comic who burst apon the national consciousness with two riotous appearances on the Steve Allen Show. By the summer of 1965 it is obvious to even the most casual of viewers that Lenny Bruce is a broken, dying man.

And yet, even in this tragic condition, he is still screamingly funny. Some people have criticized his obsession with the American legal system during this period as ponderous and rambling. But when viewed within the context of historical hindsight and a knowledge of his own personal saga, Lenny's observations are fresh and eye opening.

A writer from Newsweek once refered to Lenny Bruce as "a sad, sick, self destructive genius of a dirty time". This film is an important document that records what it was that made him so unique.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net October 2, 2005

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