MODERN TIMES WITH LARRY JOSEPHSON: LENNY BRUCE
REMEMBERED: PORTRAIT OF A COMIC GENIUS {PART 2 OF
2} (RADIO)
Summary
One in this series of radio interview programs hosted by Larry Josephson. Part two of this two-part program commemorating the life, influence, and enduring legacy of American comedian Lenny Bruce, who challenged obscenity laws with his provocative material. Broadcast in 1991 -- the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bruce's death from a heroin overdose -- this tribute consists of several of the Long Island-born comedian's classic routines and interviews with friends, associates, and law enforcement rivals. The program opens with Bruce's spoof of the gangster film genre called "Father Flotsky's Triumph." A jazz record producer and friend of Bruce recalls the comic's nature and the reasons for his self-destruction. Three recorded Bruce routines follow, including an impersonation of Bela Lugosi; a bit called "Three Commercials that You'd Never Hear Anywhere," which includes a mock-commercial for a brand of marijuana cigarettes; and a routine about the difference between New York and Los Angeles. Next is an interview with Philadelphia disc jockey Sid Mark, who recalls the way he persuaded the reluctant comedian to be a guest on his show, relates his opinion that Bruce would have been a "pathetic junkie" if he hadn't overdosed, and recalls Lenny's sexual escapades with an undertaker's wife in a coffin. Next is a recording of Bruce examining race relations (along with Eric Miller) calledÊ"How to Relax Your Colored Friends at Parties," followed by a recording that Bruce and his final girlfriend made a few days before his death. Josephson identifies Bruce as "obviously strung out" on drugs at the time of the recording, as the comedian berates filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock as a mean person who spits on people, and asserts that Tony Curtis's real name is Bernie Schwarz. Bruce's final girlfriend then describes how the pair met, the comedian's death from an overdose, and the time he jumped out of a window and broke his legs during a drug-induced frenzy. Next is the comedy bit, "Thank You Masked Man," after which fellow comedian Mort Sahl analyzes Bruce's popular martyrdom, followed by a recording of a routine "The Bust," detailing the comic's arrest in San Francisco for using a ten-letter profanity. Two law enforcement officials who prosecuted Bruce on obscenity charges recall their involvement with the acerbic comic. A repeat of "The Bust" is followed by "Shelley Berman," which has Bruce discussing his fellow comic handling hecklers. Josephson plays a recording of a 1963 critique of Bruce's skills, rendered by Albert Goldman, whom the host refers to as "the most hated man in America." The program concludes with a Bruce routine called "Marriage, Divorce and Motels," a recording of Jean Sheperd performing a eulogy at Bruce's funeral, and a recording of Bob Dylan's "Lenny Bruce," a paean to the late blue comic.
Details
- NETWORK: APR American Public Radio
- DATE: November 30, 1990
- RUNNING TIME: 1:58:07
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R:10035
- GENRE: Radio - Talk/Interviews; Radio - Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Drug abuse
- SERIES RUN: APR American Public Radio - Radio series, 1989-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Larry Josephson … Producer, Host, Interviewer
- Sylvia Kalmans … Associate Producer
- Shelley Berman
- Lenny Bruce
- Tony Curtis
- Bob Dylan
- Albert Goldman
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Orin Keepnews
- Bela Lugosi
- Sid Mark
- Eric Miller
- Mort Sahl
- Jean Shepherd