Lenny Bruce - Live at the Curran Theater

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Music reviews of Live at the Curran Theater

Music Review: Lenny Bruce is not afraid...
Rating: 4 Stars

I wasn't disappointed. You're immediately drawn in by his intimate story telling style. Public intimacy (from outside the tribe) - Lenny Bruce is not afraid and "just wants to cook" and "free-forms it all the way" whaling out concepts as quick as he clicks his fingers and snaps his Tom McCann shoes. He has a distinct northern talking tempo, man, you know, no southern drawl here daddy-o. "I see things in a ludicrous sense and I report on that kind of a scene." A useful trait for the non-trivial events that were to follow. Lenny hilariously describes the story of the cop bust when he was laid low sick. He quips: "I call for the heat and here they are!" Even putting on his shoe becomes comic ammunition: "Did you know that if I'm not involved in it this shoe takes 40 minutes to get on?" They eventually carry him away in a stretcher having to surreally prop him up vertically in the elevator thereby giving Lenny a perfect position to observe the workings of the "Combine" as Ken Kasey's Chief Bromden would say. They even have a crash on the way to the station! Lenny tells how it is changing vocal tone when necessary to invoke the characters and linking into his fantasy sequences with strings like: "...this would be beautiful, dig..."

The subsequent "language" trials that follow come complete with the proverbial outdated parochial judge, "assimilated into nothingness" juries and bribery. Lenny has a field day and just "plays it for laughs" exposing the usual corruption and makes media headlines. But that's not his purpose: "My stick is not to thwart authority - that's just a dumb generality." All that Lenny ever wanted to do was expose the "lie" as he saw it of "respectability". It's a theme that he keeps coming back to time and time again in this gig. "Respectability is - keep it under the covers." "So when I see the lie - I don't want it to be that way." This remarkable honesty on stage allows him to easily capture the essence of his time. His "Jewish-Goyish" deconstructions (especially of the sexual attitudes of his contemporaries) are full of insight as well as wit. It's as if he's standing back from society and saying: "Who the hell sets these dumbo rules anyway?"

In fairness to his material though it does require some effort from a young crew. His mentioning of well-known 1960s characters reminds us of time and place: "I cannot equate Jimmy Dean and Chubby Checker, no, I'm 36 and I'm out if it..." But other references are more difficult to place: "Alexander King - you junkie Mark Twain", "Hugh Downsey - obsequious, over salacious toches-lecker." I wonder who were these zhlobs that Lenny spoke so highly of ;-)

Which reminds me, Bruce litters this 2-hour plus flow-of-consciousness gig with Yiddish phrases all over the joint. Mitten drennen (suddenly) he'll shlep (drag) himself up to the microphone and spritz (speak) words like naches (happiness) and gelt (money) frequently, but when Lenny talks about his critics you will hear the well known putz and schmuck creep in, and when he really wants to kvetsh (complain) he'll geshrei (holler) on about zhlobs (rude and crude people) and even the odd toches-lecker (ass licker)! It's enough to drive a goy mishigeh!

When I first heard about 'legendary' Lenny Bruce the so-called "dirty Jew" I thought I would never be able to appreciate his humor, thinking him way too far before my time. I was happily mistaken. "Is this funny?" asks Lenny at the very beginning. Yip, it sure is. Granted, some effort is required to fully dig this persecuted, suppressed, bi-lingual, ad-libbing, comic man-of-his-times in this his Curran Theatre tour de force of free-flowing consciousness. He's well worth it though. His addictive, truth telling, damn the begrudges, no fear style brings you back for more, each pass uncovering new structure and comedy. A perfect mirror on the 1960's reflecting even today. Take him or leave him at the very least he's funnier than Joyce! You know I'm still trying to figure out how to pronounce "Byhre" - Goyish or what...;-)

Description of Live at the Curran Theater

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