LENNY BRUCE – ONE MAN COMEDY SHOW – UT CACTUS CAFE – AUSTIN, TX
In 1980, I decided to put together a one man standup comic show based on the life of the infamous comedian Lenny Bruce. But first, here’s a little background history about my interest in comedy.
I had done some standup comedy on an informal basis going back to age 14 when I began to mimic Bill Cosby – a then new comedian to the scene. My parents had a couple of Bill’s albums. I listened to them many times, learning to duplicate his voice, characters, and punch lines – all of it. I performed Bill’s bits at high school functions, in speech tournaments via our drama department at Highlands High School and even a dance party event at another high school in San Antonio. I found that I had a knack for comic timing. I also loved performing and making people laugh.
As time went by, I was cast in plays and musicals, first at Highlands, then San Antonio College in a Comedia del’Arte 16th Century Italian comedy (?) as Zanni, several musicals and plays at Ken Johnsons Center Stage in Austin including Finian’s Rainbow (as Buzz), Guys and Dolls (as Nathan Detroit), That Championship Season (as the Mayor), Kiss Me Kate (as one of the gangsters), Carnival (as Marco the Magnificent), Little Mary Sunshine (as ?) at the Ritz Theatre on 6th Street, and Carousel (as The Heavenly Friend) at UT’s B. Iden Payne Theatre. Kate and Carnival were staged at the Paramount by Ken. (Note: Rocco. Emil Wolk won a Lawrence Olivier playing one of the gangsters in Kiss Me Kate at the National Theatre in London.)
The point of all this information is to illustrate that I was getting a chance to perform for a variety of audiences in various venues as an amateur actor, gaining experience along the way. I also sharpened my sense of comic timing which I would put up against any one.
Doreen Bauman, who was the director of special events for UT’s student union, had become a very good friend. We actually co-presented some touring shows at the Paramount wherein they bought blocks of seats for the students, helping us immeasurably to cover our expenses.
It must have been during this time that I evidenced an interest in producing a one man show about Lenny Bruce where I would play Lenny. She commissioned the show and gave me the UT Cactus Café – a beloved venue which housed an untold number of various singers, comics, performing artists and the like. Lenny was given the green light and off I went to put the show together.
I am a fiend of a researcher – sometimes too much so. However, I wouldn’t change my approach. You never know what diamond in the rough you may find if you dig in to a subject deeply enough. I checked out several of Lenny’s comedy albums to learn his many “bits” and to mimic his many “voices”, delivery style and the rest. I recorded these albums on reel to reel tape to analyze and break down, over and over, to get Lenny right. Then, I transcribed the bits I wanted to re-create by starting and stopping the reel to reel tape dozens upon dozens of times so I could type what I had heard, sentence for sentence. This was necessary as the show would be composed of Lenny’s sketches, verbatim.
There was very little video coverage. Lenny was known as a blistering comedian who took on social mores no one would touch. He was also extraordinarily profane which, in those days, was “unique”. As a consequence, he was arrested over 275 times of obscenity. You can imagine why no talk show host in his sane mind would gamble on having Lenny as a guest. Remember, television was mostly “life” i.e. no 7 second gap to “bleep” out an expletive before the public heard some colorful metaphor. I did see an interview with Jack Paar where Lenny was a guest. Jack was a big fan of Lenny’s work which is surprising. Jack seemed like a very staid, professional, classy and somewhat conservative talk show host. I’ll bet the network censure had apoplexy when they heard Lenny would be on the show.
Well, the show went off without a hitch. Lenny was incredibly charming and engaging. My guess is that he would never have done a bit that would have offended Jack who was a towering presence in television at that time. That was the only video I could find but it was enough. (Note: Johnny Carson replaced Jack as host of The Tonight Show which Jack created.)
There was also a vapid film entitled Lenny, starring Dustin Hoffman in 1974, some years before my show. Personally, I found the film to be unfunny. Lenny was a riotous act. He could also get it to politics – some of it funny and some of it serious and even scathing. But this film was emotionally flat, choosing to focus on the tragic figure of a junky rather than going for the comic juggler. Dustin is not a standup comedian. In short, it gave me no meat on the bone.
It didn’t matter. By this point I had a very strong fix on Lenny’s nature and style. There was a seminal book on his life which was rife with information that really delved in to the depths of Lenny as a man, a son and a trailblazing comic. It was Lenny that laid the groundwork for acts to come like George Carlin, Robin Williams, Chris Rock and others. I had a wealth of information. It was off to the races to try to create a sequential show from so many of his bits. He would talk to the audience about this and that and then launch in to an actual bit or sketch. A sketch is a standalone mini play that focuses on one character and/or a specific target subject. You couldn’t just do bit after bit with no connecting tissue. Lenny was not a joke teller like Bob Hope, Jack Benny and Henny Youngman. Lenny’s specialty was building these short stories that were like comic howitzer with heavily stylized characterizations of Lawrence Welk (hiring a junky unbeknownst to him to replace a sick musician) and The Lone Ranger in a bit called Thank You Mask Man. This bit was later turned in to an animated short – about 8 minutes in length. Go to Amazon and buy it or to YouTube.
I pulled together what I felt were the strongest bits recognizing that I had to keep in mind the length of the show for myself as a performer and for the audience i.e. ability to stay connected and interested in the show. (See Script in this Lenny folder). Susie Higley, one of my oldest friends from UT, helped me by watching me rehearse at my house in Travis Heights. She would help me with objective comments about what was working or not working, my performance, the length and so on. That was a huge help. Now it was time to do the show.
I created a very small program flier which told the audience the time was 1964 at the Hungry Eye in San Francisco – a nationally known club for comics and jazz. This was one of the clubs Lenny played many times. The show needed a context so that the audience could put their heads back in the 1960’s to get the flavor of the dynamic back then. I think I only did 3 performances over a weekend.
I won’t repeat the show – see the script. I did have a drum kit on stage behind me for the “Did You Cum bit” which is off the charts funny. Lenny would say “Did you cum” followed by one drum shot on a tom. “Did you come good” followed by two more drum shots. This went on and one with a frenetic beating of the drums ab9out all issues regarding to cumming a la Gene Krupa or Buddy Rich.
Suddenly, a huge figure of a man stood up behind the audience, roaring “You’re under arrest” as he showed his badge. He made his way up the aisle towards me. I was still beating the hell out of the drums. He grabbed me by the collar and body and physically escorted me out of the club. The audience sat in total silence not knowing what was happening. The “cop” was an actor friend of mine that I used as a plant in the audience. The audience finally realized the gag and the applause started in earnest.
I was exhausted after each performance. The show ran about 75-80 minutes – longer than I had anticipated. I forgot to add in time for laughs between bits. One night I “blew up”. That is a term that means an actor’s mind has done a memory dump and forgotten the lines, where he is in the show, where he is in the world i.e. a total fucking blank in front of the audience. They had a follow spot set too low in the back of the club. It was right in my eyes with the audience in complete darkness. I zoned out. My mind battled itself to find a way to get back to the point where I lost it. To me, it seemed like minutes. I imagine, though, it was seconds. I found a spot in the show close to where I was when I blew up and kept going. You see your life pass before your eyes under such an event. The 3 performances were successful. I was proud of the show.
At one time in my life I had considered trying to make it as a comic. I even did a show at the Improvisation in NYC. Sitting backstage in a very aged dressing room by myself I thought, “Is this the life you want? Being on the road alone, performing alone, no support, the prospect of bombing, rejection and a phone book worth of motels? The answer was “No”. So, I didn’t pursue it. I regret that decision in some part. There was probably another way for me to go without having to pound the club circuit, with its smoky bars, drunks, hecklers and shifty club owners.
In 1980, we were at the very peak of the conclusion of the Paramount restoration and the re-opening of the theatre* for our 1980/81 season. It took every minute of my time, every ounce of energy and heart to see us through that new, inaugural season. I had a career that allowed no extracurricular activity like touring. The dream of being a comedian gave way to the reality of my life and my responsibilities. Still, I continue to make my audiences laugh one person at a time.
“Humility is the worst form of ego” – LENNY BRUCE
