Search - Lenny Bruce :: Let the Buyer Beware

BUYER BEWARE!

Edward Azlant | 11/12/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This anthology is aptly titled: LET THE BUYER BEWARE, an announcer's introduction to Bruce's show used to signal rough language forty years ago, now somewhat ironic, because the buyer of this pricey collection is getting less than a "classic" anthology of "definitive" versions. First, a disclaimer: I edited some Bruce albums for Ralph Gleason at Fantasy, including the Curran Theater concert. That said, I have major reservations about this collection. The selections and their order are seemingly without reason, not chronological or thematic. There are a number of repeats, for no seeming reason except perhaps padding. Some new materials are interesting, like the Godfrey show and the Terkel interview, but some are borderline, like the phone conversations, the microphone test, and the Z&Z commercials, compounding the general bloat of the printed materials. There are basic mistakes (Robie, not Ruby the Robot; his SF lawyer was Al Bendich). This seems like a project dictated mostly by the material available to Marvin Worth and Bruce's daughter Kitty. There's nothing wrong with marketing a stash of tapes, but not as a comprehensive, definitive, or original collection. The buyer would be much better off spending the money on the Originals collections plus the three major concert recordings, Carnegie Hall, Berkeley, and Curran Theater."

LENNY LIVES UP TO HIS LEGACY

Alan W. Petrucelli | THE ENTERTAINMENT REPORT (ALAN W. PETRUCELLI) | 02/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Remember the old story about the old actor famous for his death scenes?

"Dying," he explained to a younger acolyte, "is easy. It's comedy that's hard."

Comedy may be hard, but anyone can do it. But none ever did it as well as Lenny Bruce.

The funny man died of an overdose, at age 41, nearly 39 years go, but his legacy lives on. It's a life and legacy of laughter, and it's ripe for rediscovery.

Now, a generation who never have heard of Bruce, for those who only know him from Bob Fosse's smoky (but well intentioned) bio-flick, for those who glance at an image of Bruce and think "Castro," can grasp one of the most inventive and prismatic talents of the last century in a set of rare recordings.

"Lenny Bruce: Let the Buyer Beware" is a six-CD compendium of Bruce's best material, lovingly compiled by producer Hal Willner and Bruce's daughter

Kitty. More than half has never been heard before, and a great many variants and alternate riffs of his most well-known material has been anthologized here. His debut on Arthur

Godfrey's show is here, as well as the classic routines about Father Flotsky (a parody of Warner Brothers prison flicks), the Palladium (about an American comic dying on an

English stage), as well as (real) taped phone calls to his lawyers.

Horribly illustrated is his descent into near madness, not through drugs or degenerate lifestyle, but through the systematic persecution by the U.S. government. In

America during the '50s and '60s, you could make jokes about anything, except, maybe, Jesus Christ, Milton Berle and Eleanor Roosevelt. Sacrosanct bastions were not to be

made fun of, and especially not by an outsider, someone different, someone who was not a Christian. Bruce was a Jewish comic, steeped in the tradition, using the attitude and the

language as a position to observe the mores and folkways of mid-century American life.

It's not a stretch to see his persecution by the legal system of our country as another

blatant example of anti-Semitism, a suppression of truth and, worst of all, an illustration of

the stupidity and lack of humor inherent in a repressive government.

Bruce's take on sexuality was summed up in his observation that if the human body

was dirty, the fault lay with the manufacturer. He saw religion as a greedy profession, a

logical extension of an industrial complex to control reason and money. Unfortunately,

and fatally, Bruce believed in our government and legal system.

Like a witty Thomas Paine, Bruce was a true patriot when it came to freedom of

expression. Without Bruce there would be no Bill Maher, no South Park, no Jon Stewart,

and considerably less freedoms in general --- not only in speech, but also in equality

between races and genders. He was one of the first to use humor to attack America's

prejudice against African Americans, gays and all of the non-religious, non-republican

disenfranchised people in America.

Yet one man's patriot is another man's traitor. Bruce was vilified by the press and

by main stream contemporaries as sick, twisted and dirty.

But it's not only Bruce's material, certainly genius and of an equal to Jonathan

Swift or Mark Twain, but his performance style and presentational choices that this new

collection celebrates. He may not have been the first monologist who didn't use the "A

priest and a rabbi walk into a bar ..." joke catalogs, and certainly he had extended parables

and parodies that could be termed as "jokes." Yet his basic presentation was something

very new and different.

Rather than a standard set with the identical jokes, pauses and ad-libs for each

show, Bruce had an uncanny ability to listen ---- not only to his audience (as all performers

must), but he had the uncanny knack of being able to listen to himself. Like a brilliant jazz

musician, he could circle around a motif or a joke, listening to the sound and sense,

backing off, teasing the story, until the timing was exactly right to blast into the theme or

punchline.

In the commemorative hardcover book that accompanies Let the Buyer Beware,

there are a number of essays and appreciations of Bruce, but none so telling as a single

page by his daughter. "His truths were based on our most coveted lies," she writes. "He

left no room for rationalized bigotry or self-deception. He seduced his audience with a

rhythmic and dynamic use of his own language, acting as the slow pull of a Band-Aid off

denial."

Look around at our nation of addicts, a nation where prescription drugs have their

own snazzy TV commercials, when cell phones are required means of communication,

when the religious right still controls the White House.

Where is Lenny when we really need him?"

Perfect for new listeners, a dream come true for fans

Jason Crane | Albany, NY | 09/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a Lenny Bruce fan and collector since my teens, I was thrilled to see this painstakingly crafted boxed set. Over the course of six CDs, you'll get to hear Lenny at his creative peak as a "bit comic" and as a free-form legal scholar. Lenny was a brilliant and perceptive commentator on the world around him, and a true patriot who often seemed shocked that the country he grew up in was turning its back on its founding freedoms. This set captures all the controversy, all the passion, and all the genius.



If you're new to Lenny Bruce and you have some extra bread lying around, this is a wonderful set to pick up. (If you're more cash-conscious, start with the two-volume Lenny Bruce Originals on Fantasy records.) If you're a longtime fan of Lenny, this will not only reaffirm your love for his material, it will open new windows into the mind of one of America's great thinkers. Very highly recommended."