WEBVTT - Comedian Lenny Bruce's Filthy Mouth 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:09.765 School of Humans. 0:00:11.325 --> 0:00:15.485 Oh, it's the spookiest time of year, isn't it. And 0:00:15.525 --> 0:00:18.045 I'm not talking about Halloween filth heads, No, no, no, 0:00:18.605 --> 0:00:23.005 I mean it's almost the election. I hope you guys 0:00:23.045 --> 0:00:26.405 have voted, unless you're voting for the person who I 0:00:26.445 --> 0:00:29.405 don't want you to vote for. Yes, I'm using this 0:00:29.485 --> 0:00:33.845 podcast for voter suppression. Also, by the way, my voice 0:00:33.845 --> 0:00:38.045 is a little hoarse because I was doing a lot 0:00:38.045 --> 0:00:42.005 of karaoke to Nickelback songs and I wish that was 0:00:42.045 --> 0:00:45.925 a lie, but it's not. Anyway, It's been a wild week, 0:00:46.285 --> 0:00:49.525 especially in the world of stand up comedy, and I 0:00:49.565 --> 0:00:51.085 am going to go on a bit of a rant now. 0:00:51.165 --> 0:00:53.325 I'm so sorry, but don't worry. We'll get to the 0:00:53.485 --> 0:00:58.445 history soon. So Tony Hinchcliffe he is a comic known 0:00:58.485 --> 0:01:02.685 for his amazing podcast called Kill Tony. And by amazing, 0:01:02.805 --> 0:01:05.885 I mean it more in the context like, wow, that 0:01:05.965 --> 0:01:08.165 amount of shit my dog shat is amazing. 0:01:08.405 --> 0:01:11.965 Wow. Well, the news is that he. 0:01:12.085 --> 0:01:15.925 Mister Tony Hinchecliff, was at the Donald Trump rally are 0:01:15.925 --> 0:01:19.245 they called rallies or events? I don't know, at Madison 0:01:19.285 --> 0:01:24.045 Square Garden earlier this week, and Tony did a speech, 0:01:25.005 --> 0:01:29.885 specifically a hate speech. At the event, he punched down 0:01:30.005 --> 0:01:33.605 upon various groups. For example, he called Puerto Rico a 0:01:33.725 --> 0:01:37.725 floating island of garbage, which first of all, is a 0:01:37.805 --> 0:01:41.405 rude way to characterize a territory of the United States 0:01:41.605 --> 0:01:44.965 that has been routinely neglected by the government, you know, with. 0:01:45.005 --> 0:01:47.245 Hurricane relief and other resources. 0:01:48.205 --> 0:01:55.365 And secondly, Tony Hinchecliff islands don't float, freaking idiot. The 0:01:55.405 --> 0:01:58.085 silver lining of his speech though, is that I'm sure 0:01:58.125 --> 0:02:01.525 many Trump supporters are now learning for the first time 0:02:02.125 --> 0:02:04.805 that Puerto Rico is a part of the United States. 0:02:05.565 --> 0:02:07.445 In the past few years, in the world of stand up, 0:02:07.725 --> 0:02:11.005 Tony Hinchcliff has become one of the supreme edge lord 0:02:11.125 --> 0:02:15.725 comedians living in Austin, Texas, which is the holy place 0:02:15.805 --> 0:02:18.085 of the Joe Rogan cinematic universe. 0:02:18.845 --> 0:02:19.645 Tony, he's a. 0:02:19.605 --> 0:02:23.605 God to in cells and sexual predators alike. And he 0:02:23.725 --> 0:02:26.965 said a lot of racist stuff in the past, notably 0:02:27.005 --> 0:02:30.365 making fun of an Asian comedian who opened for him, 0:02:30.445 --> 0:02:33.605 and by making fun, I mean using mini slurs against him. 0:02:34.485 --> 0:02:37.205 So honestly, it was not surprising that he said some 0:02:37.285 --> 0:02:40.965 horrific stuff at the Trump event. But the sad thing 0:02:41.085 --> 0:02:44.685 about the comedians who adhere to the Austin, Texas Code 0:02:44.765 --> 0:02:47.605 of Comedian Ethics, which by the way, is a blank 0:02:47.645 --> 0:02:50.965 sheet of paper, is that they really think they're doing 0:02:51.005 --> 0:02:56.725 something revolutionary. They consider themselves the punks, the rock and rollers, 0:02:56.765 --> 0:03:00.885 the counter culture of today, fighting against the oppressiveness of 0:03:00.965 --> 0:03:06.445 things like diversity, equity and inclusion and political correctness, and 0:03:06.525 --> 0:03:10.765 what they deliver is shock comedy, jokes that often don't 0:03:10.765 --> 0:03:15.405 have a punchline. And why can they say stuff like this, Well, 0:03:15.485 --> 0:03:20.685 freedom of speech. It's the first amendment, the very first one. 0:03:21.245 --> 0:03:23.685 The founding fathers were like, yes, we must have the 0:03:23.765 --> 0:03:26.805 right to talk shit upon everyone and not be thrown 0:03:26.845 --> 0:03:30.325 in jail. And yeah, freedom of speech, it's great. It's 0:03:30.325 --> 0:03:32.685 great to be able to say what you want. And 0:03:32.725 --> 0:03:33.725 then is free. 0:03:33.405 --> 0:03:34.605 Speech versus hate speech. 0:03:34.605 --> 0:03:38.765 It's a whole complicated mess because freedom of speech is 0:03:38.805 --> 0:03:44.325 not straightforward. Throughout history, free speech hasn't been completely free. 0:03:44.805 --> 0:03:48.685 Even today, politicians are suppressing speech in the form of 0:03:48.765 --> 0:03:52.765 bills like Florida's Don't Stay Gay, And throughout our country's 0:03:52.805 --> 0:03:56.005 histories there have been a lot of trials, laws, court decisions, 0:03:56.045 --> 0:03:59.725 protests that have led US to this moment where a 0:03:59.765 --> 0:04:03.485 professional comedian can get on stage in clubs and venues 0:04:03.485 --> 0:04:07.885 across the country and say truly offensive and or obscene 0:04:07.965 --> 0:04:12.005 stuff without being hauled off to prison. So let's go 0:04:12.085 --> 0:04:15.685 back in time to when Tony Hinchcliff wasn't even a 0:04:15.725 --> 0:04:19.285 lump of cells. Yet, back to the nineteen sixties, and 0:04:19.405 --> 0:04:22.205 let's take a look at a different comedian, a comedian 0:04:22.245 --> 0:04:26.245 who has arrested multiple times, went through multiple obscenity trials 0:04:26.525 --> 0:04:30.565 and became a central figure and the conversation around free speech. 0:04:31.485 --> 0:04:34.365 A comedian who paved the way for people like me 0:04:34.845 --> 0:04:38.085 to be able to talk about abortions and vaginas at 0:04:38.125 --> 0:04:40.365 an open mic at a coffee shop at five pm. 0:04:41.525 --> 0:04:44.845 Who am I talking about, of course, the great Lenny Bruce. 0:04:50.485 --> 0:04:52.925 This is American filth and I'm Gabby Watts. Every week 0:04:52.925 --> 0:04:56.005 I tell you a filthy story for American history. This 0:04:56.045 --> 0:05:06.525 week's episode free speech and Lenny Bruce. For those of 0:05:06.565 --> 0:05:08.605 you who don't know who Lenny Bruce is, he was 0:05:08.645 --> 0:05:11.165 a big time stand up comedian in the nineteen fifties 0:05:11.205 --> 0:05:15.205 and sixties, and back then Americans had some pretty conservative 0:05:15.245 --> 0:05:17.925 ideas of what you should be allowed to say in 0:05:17.965 --> 0:05:24.565 public performances. Back then, Tony Henchcliff would have been arrested 0:05:24.565 --> 0:05:29.285 on the spot, and so would Donald Trump probably, And 0:05:29.325 --> 0:05:31.605 if I'm being honest, me too if anybody saw my 0:05:31.645 --> 0:05:35.845 stand up. Back then, the standard for what constituted obscenity 0:05:35.965 --> 0:05:38.845 was often rooted in moral beliefs and societal norms of 0:05:38.885 --> 0:05:42.205 the time, and also based on the nineteen thirty three 0:05:42.285 --> 0:05:46.685 Supreme Court decision United States versus Ulysses, a book by 0:05:46.765 --> 0:05:51.045 James Joyce, which permitted greater latitude in literature but not 0:05:51.205 --> 0:05:55.525 in public performances, basically being like, yeah, you can say 0:05:55.565 --> 0:05:57.725 bad words and say obscene things in a book, but 0:05:57.765 --> 0:05:59.525 if you're doing a stand upset, if you did in 0:05:59.525 --> 0:06:01.805 the theater, no no, no, no no, you got to 0:06:01.885 --> 0:06:05.045 keep your mouth shut. You got to be appropriate. And 0:06:05.125 --> 0:06:08.445 under the framework from this Supreme Court decision, any material 0:06:08.525 --> 0:06:11.525 deemed to offend the moral sensibilities of the average person 0:06:12.165 --> 0:06:16.045 could be classified as obscene, making it illegal for public 0:06:16.085 --> 0:06:24.645 distribution or performance. Lenny Bruce was born in nineteen twenty 0:06:24.685 --> 0:06:29.205 five as Leonard Schneider, but he changed his name and 0:06:29.285 --> 0:06:31.845 since he was young, he was a silly yet provocative 0:06:31.885 --> 0:06:35.565 goose like at age twenty and nineteen forty five, he 0:06:35.685 --> 0:06:38.125 was kicked out of the army because he would wear 0:06:38.165 --> 0:06:39.165 women's clothing. 0:06:40.525 --> 0:06:41.845 That's huge to be kicked out. 0:06:41.685 --> 0:06:43.405 Of the army at that point, because if you recall 0:06:43.445 --> 0:06:46.445 in nineteen forty five, there was this little war that 0:06:46.525 --> 0:06:50.685 was kind of winding down that needed man you know, 0:06:50.765 --> 0:06:55.245 explicitly man power. When he got into stand up comedy, 0:06:55.645 --> 0:07:00.245 he did observational humor, he did some social criticism, and woohoo, 0:07:00.485 --> 0:07:05.485 he used explicit language. He also talked about taboo subject 0:07:05.885 --> 0:07:10.445 like sex, politics, religion, race, topics that at that point 0:07:10.485 --> 0:07:15.365 were considered largely off limits for public discussion, even though 0:07:15.405 --> 0:07:17.525 today I'm like, those are the only subjects you're supposed 0:07:17.525 --> 0:07:17.845 to talk. 0:07:17.725 --> 0:07:20.045 About in stand up What are we talking about? 0:07:20.805 --> 0:07:23.245 And it makes sense that he developed this style because 0:07:23.285 --> 0:07:28.165 he started his career doing burlesque comedy, which means that 0:07:28.285 --> 0:07:33.045 he was honing his act in strip clubs in southern California, 0:07:34.965 --> 0:07:37.045 and at a strip club, you know, not much as 0:07:37.045 --> 0:07:40.405 off limits, though it would be funny to get arrested 0:07:40.405 --> 0:07:44.045 at a strip club for obscenity like saying titties is 0:07:44.045 --> 0:07:47.965 more offensive than actual titties, and yes, on this podcast, 0:07:47.965 --> 0:07:53.565 American filth. We are considering titties very obscene. Lenny Bruce 0:07:53.605 --> 0:07:57.605 wrote an autobiography called How to Talk Dirty and Influence People. 0:07:57.565 --> 0:08:02.005 Which is a haha. He he a satirization. 0:08:01.445 --> 0:08:04.165 Of how to win friends and influence people. And in 0:08:04.205 --> 0:08:07.125 his book, Lenny talked about how he developed his style. 0:08:07.325 --> 0:08:10.245 He said, four years working in clubs. 0:08:10.525 --> 0:08:13.645 That's what really made it for me. Every night doing it, 0:08:13.765 --> 0:08:17.005 doing it, doing it, getting bored and doing different ways. 0:08:17.005 --> 0:08:20.085 No pressure on you, and all the other comedians are 0:08:20.165 --> 0:08:23.725 drunken bums who don't show up, So I could try anything. 0:08:26.205 --> 0:08:29.165 And oh boy, for the time, he really did try anything. 0:08:30.005 --> 0:08:32.845 And because of that, his stand up career was marked 0:08:32.885 --> 0:08:36.405 by numerous arrests and legal battles that had a lasting 0:08:36.445 --> 0:08:39.245 impact on the rights of artists and the interpretation of 0:08:39.285 --> 0:08:43.965 free speech in the United States today. So let's get 0:08:44.005 --> 0:08:46.765 to his first arrest, why don't we. It was in 0:08:46.885 --> 0:08:53.685 nineteen sixty one. At that point, Lenny Bruce was mega successful. 0:08:54.165 --> 0:08:56.845 He'd appeared on television, He'd done a huge show at 0:08:56.845 --> 0:09:01.405 Carnegie Hall. He'd been called by television host Steve Allen 0:09:01.805 --> 0:09:04.885 the most shocking comedian of our time. A young man 0:09:04.925 --> 0:09:09.245 who was scared rocketing to fame. Time magazine called his 0:09:09.285 --> 0:09:14.085 act sick comedy, social criticism liberally. 0:09:13.685 --> 0:09:15.645 Laced with cyanide. 0:09:15.765 --> 0:09:19.445 His act was characterized by a personal and highly disturbing 0:09:19.485 --> 0:09:26.725 hostility toward all the world. Well, what's an example of 0:09:26.765 --> 0:09:30.645 some of these poisonous bits by Lenny Bruce. Well, let's 0:09:30.645 --> 0:09:33.565 hear me butcher some of them. 0:09:33.605 --> 0:09:35.885 We got this gym from nineteen fifty eight. 0:09:36.445 --> 0:09:39.405 If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school 0:09:39.485 --> 0:09:42.685 children would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks 0:09:42.765 --> 0:09:47.765 instead of crosses. Haha, he he. He had a lot 0:09:47.805 --> 0:09:51.045 of things criticizing religion. For example, he had if you 0:09:51.125 --> 0:09:53.885 live in New York, even if you're Catholic, you're Jewish, 0:09:54.325 --> 0:09:59.165 or people are leaving the church and going back to God. 0:09:59.845 --> 0:10:03.445 Of course Lenny Bruce he had some classic material about 0:10:03.485 --> 0:10:06.685 men versus women, which honestly is most comedy. 0:10:07.605 --> 0:10:09.325 One of his jokes goes, a. 0:10:09.325 --> 0:10:11.765 Lady can't go through a plate glass window and go 0:10:11.845 --> 0:10:14.685 to bed with you five seconds later, but guys can 0:10:14.725 --> 0:10:17.645 have head on collisions with greyhound buses, and on the 0:10:17.645 --> 0:10:20.405 way of the hospital in the ambulance, the guy makes 0:10:20.405 --> 0:10:24.845 a play for the nurse Wow, isn't he speaking the truth? 0:10:24.965 --> 0:10:32.045 Dudes are horny. He'd also talk about current events celebrities, 0:10:32.925 --> 0:10:36.045 like one joke he did was about Elizabeth Taylor, who 0:10:36.085 --> 0:10:38.925 was about to marry the Jewish actor and singer Eddie Fisher, 0:10:39.685 --> 0:10:43.245 and Lenny Bruce said, will Elizabeth Taylor become bar mitzvud? 0:10:44.685 --> 0:10:45.245 Whoa, whoa woe? 0:10:45.325 --> 0:10:50.085 Apparently this was very scandalous. And he had a lot 0:10:50.085 --> 0:10:52.485 of bits about race. He had one bit where he 0:10:52.605 --> 0:10:55.565 just yelled the end word a lot. I know, not great, 0:10:55.965 --> 0:10:58.605 but here's one of his bits about race that I 0:10:58.605 --> 0:11:01.365 think holds up. I mean, it's still kind of crazy, 0:11:01.845 --> 0:11:04.845 but here it is. You have a choice of spending 0:11:04.845 --> 0:11:07.445 fifteen years married to a woman, a black woman or 0:11:07.485 --> 0:11:10.645 a white woman, fifteen years kissing and hugging and sleeping 0:11:10.685 --> 0:11:13.725 real close on hot nights with a black black woman 0:11:13.885 --> 0:11:16.925 or a white white woman. The white woman is Kate 0:11:16.965 --> 0:11:20.685 Smith and the black woman is Lena Horn. So you're 0:11:20.685 --> 0:11:22.405 not concerned with black or white anymore? 0:11:22.445 --> 0:11:25.925 Are you? You are concerned with how cute or how pretty. 0:11:26.125 --> 0:11:29.885 Then let's get basic and persecute ugly people. 0:11:31.685 --> 0:11:34.365 What a fun bit. And for context in. 0:11:34.325 --> 0:11:36.445 The joke, Kate Smith was a white singer who many 0:11:36.445 --> 0:11:39.365 people thought was very unattractive, and Lena Horne was a 0:11:39.365 --> 0:11:46.445 black actress and singer who was considered very attractive. And then, 0:11:46.445 --> 0:11:48.725 of course Lenny Bruce. He used a lot of obscene 0:11:48.805 --> 0:11:52.525 language and his bits, like one he had was take 0:11:52.525 --> 0:11:55.085 away the right to say fuck, and you take away 0:11:55.085 --> 0:11:58.845 the right to say fuck the government. So true, Lenny Bruce. 0:12:01.005 --> 0:12:05.045 So yes, Lenny was skyrocketing to fame. But as he 0:12:05.125 --> 0:12:08.485 was making his jokes being provocative, he was also getting 0:12:08.485 --> 0:12:10.085 hooked on drugs. 0:12:11.245 --> 0:12:11.845 In the fall of. 0:12:11.805 --> 0:12:14.685 Nineteen sixty one, Bruce was thirty five and on September 0:12:14.765 --> 0:12:18.405 twenty ninth, he was in Philadelphia. There he was arrested 0:12:18.445 --> 0:12:22.725 for possessing narcotics, and that same week he got that 0:12:22.845 --> 0:12:29.965 first obscenity arrest. So on October third and fourth, nineteen 0:12:30.005 --> 0:12:34.405 sixty one, he was performing at the Jazz Workshop, a 0:12:34.445 --> 0:12:36.245 popular nightclub in San Francisco. 0:12:36.805 --> 0:12:38.605 He was doing some of his usual bits. 0:12:39.285 --> 0:12:43.445 One employed the word cocksucker, and then you guys aren't 0:12:43.445 --> 0:12:46.125 going to be able to handle this. He started talking 0:12:46.125 --> 0:12:50.565 about coming. You guys know coming what happens when you 0:12:50.605 --> 0:12:56.085 have sex. Allegedly, he said two is a preposition come 0:12:56.245 --> 0:12:59.405 is a verb, the verb intransitive. I've heard these two 0:12:59.445 --> 0:13:00.765 words my whole adult life. 0:13:01.405 --> 0:13:02.125 To come. 0:13:03.725 --> 0:13:06.525 It's been like a big drum. So did you come? 0:13:06.605 --> 0:13:09.725 Did you come good? Did you come good? Now, if 0:13:09.765 --> 0:13:12.245 anyone in this room or the world finds these two 0:13:12.245 --> 0:13:16.525 words decadent, obscene and moral a sexual, the words to 0:13:16.565 --> 0:13:19.925 come really make you feel uncomfortable, you probably can't come, 0:13:21.325 --> 0:13:23.405 and then you're of no use because the purpose of 0:13:23.445 --> 0:13:27.725 life is to recreate it. The bits better when he 0:13:27.765 --> 0:13:31.525 says it, I think it's funnier. I'm just I'm just 0:13:31.565 --> 0:13:36.405 saying it, you know, But the whole thing anyway, both 0:13:36.485 --> 0:13:39.525 nights of the Jazz Workshop, the audiences were rolling their 0:13:39.605 --> 0:13:42.005 say and he he ha ha looel this is so good, 0:13:42.445 --> 0:13:46.405 so fun, so provocative. Also, he just made a good 0:13:46.485 --> 0:13:49.245 point about those who are uncomfortable about coming, they probably 0:13:49.245 --> 0:13:49.685 can't come. 0:13:49.725 --> 0:13:51.525 That's probably true. 0:13:52.205 --> 0:13:54.605 But there was one person in the crowd who wasn't laughing, 0:13:55.445 --> 0:13:58.805 and that was an undercover police officer of the San 0:13:58.845 --> 0:14:04.085 Francisco Police Department. He was there to be the literal 0:14:04.205 --> 0:14:07.325 fun police and see if Lenny Bruce said anything too 0:14:07.445 --> 0:14:13.045 crazy and whoa with cocksucker with coming, He sure did 0:14:14.845 --> 0:14:18.325 once he'd seen enough lewdness, this undercover cop left the 0:14:18.325 --> 0:14:22.045 show to tell his sergeant, and this is what he 0:14:22.085 --> 0:14:26.085 said about Lenny's show. Geez, you know, I can hardly 0:14:26.125 --> 0:14:29.125 believe this myself. The man is up there on stage 0:14:29.405 --> 0:14:33.165 and he's performing, and he's taken the term cocksucker and 0:14:33.325 --> 0:14:40.165 using it. Wow, doesn't this guy seem like so much fun? 0:14:40.525 --> 0:14:43.885 But anyway, the sergeant was like, I've heard enough, and 0:14:43.965 --> 0:14:46.125 so he and the boys went down to the Jazz 0:14:46.125 --> 0:14:51.445 Workshop and arrested Lenny Bruce for violating California's obscenity laws. 0:14:53.285 --> 0:14:56.445 But don't worry, Lenny Bruce made bail and he got 0:14:56.485 --> 0:14:59.085 out in time to perform his one AM show that night. 0:15:03.085 --> 0:15:06.565 A month later, Lenny Bruce was on Try and in 0:15:06.605 --> 0:15:09.765 his defense, he and his lawyer were like, Hey, you 0:15:09.805 --> 0:15:11.725 got to look at the stand up set as a whole, 0:15:11.845 --> 0:15:15.725 not just pick and choose obscene language, because if you 0:15:15.765 --> 0:15:20.325 see it as the whole, it's important social satire. Yeah, 0:15:20.365 --> 0:15:23.725 when Lenny say and cocksucker, it's for a very important 0:15:23.845 --> 0:15:29.525 artistic and intellectual reason. They called witnesses to the stand 0:15:29.565 --> 0:15:33.005 who are arts critics and literature professors who are like, yes, 0:15:33.085 --> 0:15:37.405 he's doing important work. And the reason they made this 0:15:37.605 --> 0:15:41.125 argument was because of this Supreme Court decision from nineteen 0:15:41.205 --> 0:15:45.925 fifty seven Roth versus the United States, which basically said, yeah, 0:15:46.485 --> 0:15:52.325 if the work has social value, it's not obscene. The 0:15:52.445 --> 0:15:55.125 jury side with Lenny Bruce on this one. But that 0:15:55.245 --> 0:15:58.845 was just the beginning of his legal troubles. In nineteen 0:15:58.885 --> 0:16:02.165 sixty two, Lenny Bruce was arrested twice, once in Los 0:16:02.205 --> 0:16:05.885 Angeles and once in Chicago for violating obscenity laws. 0:16:06.805 --> 0:16:07.765 He managed to beat. 0:16:07.565 --> 0:16:09.885 The charges in LA but things did go his way 0:16:09.925 --> 0:16:13.405 in Chicago, where he was convicted the following year. In 0:16:13.485 --> 0:16:16.965 nineteen sixty three, he was kicked out of England after 0:16:17.005 --> 0:16:19.285 British authorities caught wind of some of the stuff he 0:16:19.405 --> 0:16:23.925 said at a performance he did in London. Literally, they 0:16:23.965 --> 0:16:26.605 seized him, took him to the airport, and deported his 0:16:26.725 --> 0:16:32.325 ass Then in nineteen sixty four, Bruce's legal problems continued 0:16:32.645 --> 0:16:37.085 when California authorities arrested him yet again, claiming he'd broken 0:16:37.125 --> 0:16:38.805 the state's obscenity laws. 0:16:38.845 --> 0:16:39.805 For a third time. 0:16:41.645 --> 0:16:43.725 So at that point, Lenny Bruce was fed up with 0:16:43.765 --> 0:16:47.765 California and a growing number of clubs and venues didn't 0:16:47.765 --> 0:16:52.085 want to work with him, fearing legal action against them, 0:16:52.285 --> 0:16:55.925 and along with dealing with these obscenity trials, Lennie Bruce 0:16:55.965 --> 0:17:00.085 was still doing drugs. In nineteen sixty three, he was 0:17:00.125 --> 0:17:04.845 confined to a rehab center for his drug addiction. But 0:17:04.925 --> 0:17:08.485 in sixty four, Lenny Bruce decided to take his act 0:17:08.525 --> 0:17:11.085 to the last bastion of free speech in the country, 0:17:11.525 --> 0:17:15.405 New York City, Or at least that's what he thought, 0:17:16.325 --> 0:17:21.005 because that same year he'd be arrested multiple times, and 0:17:21.045 --> 0:17:25.005 that legal battle led to a swift decline of his health, 0:17:25.125 --> 0:17:29.205 his well being, his money, and his career be right 0:17:29.245 --> 0:17:39.565 back after these soothing advertisements. In nineteen sixty four, Lenny 0:17:39.565 --> 0:17:42.005 Bruce was doing shows at Cafe O Go Go in 0:17:42.085 --> 0:17:45.485 Greenwich Village to a three hundred and fifty capacity crowd, 0:17:46.205 --> 0:17:50.165 most nights selling out. As I was saying earlier, Lenny 0:17:50.285 --> 0:17:52.925 wasn't in great shape. He'd been strung through the ringer 0:17:52.965 --> 0:17:55.925 with all these obscenity trials. He was getting older, he 0:17:56.005 --> 0:17:59.165 was out of shape. He had his addictions to deal with. 0:18:00.165 --> 0:18:03.005 He was also suffering with bouts of inflammation around the 0:18:03.085 --> 0:18:06.405 lungs called pleurisy, which would make his chest hurt like 0:18:06.445 --> 0:18:10.085 a motherfucker. Don't tell the State of California that I 0:18:10.125 --> 0:18:14.125 said that. And unfortunately, New York City was gonna treat 0:18:14.165 --> 0:18:17.645 Lenny Bruce just the same as California. 0:18:18.885 --> 0:18:19.885 On March three first. 0:18:19.885 --> 0:18:23.325 In April first, the New York City District Attorney's Office 0:18:23.365 --> 0:18:26.845 sent some undercover agents to go spy on Lenny and 0:18:26.925 --> 0:18:31.685 write down any offensive stuff he said. Lenny, being Lenny, 0:18:32.165 --> 0:18:34.405 was doing some of his classic jokes, the hits. 0:18:35.285 --> 0:18:36.845 You know. He did that coming joke. 0:18:37.325 --> 0:18:40.445 He did another one called Infidelity, another one called red 0:18:40.485 --> 0:18:41.285 hot Enema. 0:18:42.125 --> 0:18:44.245 He also had a joke called Guyser Carnal. 0:18:44.885 --> 0:18:48.405 And from these titles alone, you can imagine they might 0:18:48.445 --> 0:18:54.285 be considered obscene by the nineteen sixty sensibility. Here's some 0:18:54.325 --> 0:18:57.125 of the offensive stuff that one of the undercover agents 0:18:57.165 --> 0:19:01.045 noted in his notebook. Lenny said things like jack me off, 0:19:01.485 --> 0:19:06.765 nice tits, and go come in a chicken. The nice 0:19:06.805 --> 0:19:09.845 tits was from a joke about Eleanor Roosevelt. He said, 0:19:10.325 --> 0:19:14.525 Eleanor Roosevelt has the nicest tits of any lady in office. 0:19:14.565 --> 0:19:16.885 He also had a bit called Pissing in the Sink. 0:19:18.405 --> 0:19:20.925 The bit starts now, I wonder how many of you 0:19:20.965 --> 0:19:23.845 and the audience have ever performed an unnatural act like 0:19:23.925 --> 0:19:27.525 pissing in the sink? And it ends with I can't, Mama, 0:19:27.565 --> 0:19:28.845 there are too many people looking. 0:19:28.925 --> 0:19:31.605 I can't piss when all these people are looking so. 0:19:31.645 --> 0:19:34.645 Want some water down there tun on the hoses. Can't 0:19:34.685 --> 0:19:39.965 you see the boy wants to peepee? Comedy is amazing anyway, 0:19:41.165 --> 0:19:44.365 So with all of these bits, Lenny Bruce got arrested 0:19:44.565 --> 0:19:51.725 yet again on April third, nineteen sixty four. The charges 0:19:51.765 --> 0:19:54.965 against Bruce focused on his use of vulgar language and 0:19:55.005 --> 0:19:59.925 what authorities labeled in decent subject matter, and they particularly 0:19:59.965 --> 0:20:03.525 focused on his criticisms of organized religion and the government. 0:20:05.525 --> 0:20:07.525 He got out on bail the next day and returned 0:20:07.525 --> 0:20:10.805 to the stage to a sold out crowd. He continued 0:20:10.845 --> 0:20:13.605 performing for the next few days, and then on April seventh, 0:20:13.685 --> 0:20:22.605 he was arrested again. The obscenity trial began on June sixteenth, 0:20:22.725 --> 0:20:26.245 nineteen sixty four. It was postponed a few times because 0:20:26.285 --> 0:20:29.045 Lenny Bruce had other trials to deal with and also 0:20:29.085 --> 0:20:33.765 had some hospitalizations with his chest pain. In the meantime, 0:20:33.845 --> 0:20:37.525 his arrest had become a focal point for debates on censorship, 0:20:38.325 --> 0:20:41.725 as Lenny Bruce's defenders argued that his language was an 0:20:41.845 --> 0:20:44.325 essential tool for challenging social. 0:20:43.965 --> 0:20:45.165 Norms and hypocrisy. 0:20:46.125 --> 0:20:49.805 A bunch of celebrities signed a petition in defensive Lady Bruce, 0:20:50.405 --> 0:20:55.925 including Paul Newman, Bob Dylan, Susan Sontag, Elizabeth Taylor, and 0:20:55.965 --> 0:20:57.205 she'd even beend the butt. 0:20:56.965 --> 0:20:58.645 Of some of his jokes. 0:21:01.605 --> 0:21:04.605 In this trial, Bruce had two lawyers, the renowned First 0:21:04.645 --> 0:21:09.045 Amendment defender Eve from London and his protege Martin Garbis, 0:21:10.325 --> 0:21:11.885 and they were going to do the same thing that 0:21:11.925 --> 0:21:15.125 Bruce had been doing in his other trials, being like, hey, 0:21:15.325 --> 0:21:18.885 according to Roth versus USA, if what you're saying has 0:21:18.925 --> 0:21:23.445 a redeeming social value, it can't be considered obscene. But 0:21:23.525 --> 0:21:27.845 the prosecutor was like, ugh, that's dumb. Bruce's show doesn't 0:21:27.925 --> 0:21:29.285 have redeeming value. 0:21:29.365 --> 0:21:29.805 Oh No. 0:21:30.725 --> 0:21:34.485 In fact, the prosecutor said the show was nauseating word 0:21:34.605 --> 0:21:38.685 pictures interspersed with all the three and four letter words 0:21:38.725 --> 0:21:43.125 and more acrid ten and twelve letter hyphenated ones spewed 0:21:43.165 --> 0:21:46.805 directly at the audience. I think he's just saying that 0:21:46.845 --> 0:21:52.685 Lenny Bruce has a great vocabulary. The trial lasted almost 0:21:52.685 --> 0:21:55.725 two months, and this one wasn't going to be determined 0:21:55.725 --> 0:21:58.885 by a jury, but by a panel of three judges. 0:22:00.525 --> 0:22:03.125 And the stakes, you know, they couldn't be higher. He 0:22:03.285 --> 0:22:06.485 was there with three charges, each carrying a potential sentence 0:22:06.525 --> 0:22:10.405 of three years in prison. Now Lenny, as I said, 0:22:10.485 --> 0:22:14.125 wasn't doing too good. He wasn't in the best physical shape. 0:22:14.245 --> 0:22:16.605 He was also losing a lot of money having to 0:22:16.605 --> 0:22:21.885 defend himself at these trials. He was losing work. But 0:22:22.005 --> 0:22:24.325 the bigger issue was that his bits were going to 0:22:24.405 --> 0:22:28.725 be read aloud by one of the agents and the prosecutor. 0:22:29.965 --> 0:22:31.685 Lenny was like, they're not going to be able to 0:22:31.725 --> 0:22:34.845 deliver it correctly. He said, I'm going to be judged 0:22:34.885 --> 0:22:40.485 by his bad timing, his ego, his garbled language. Lenny 0:22:40.485 --> 0:22:44.685 Bruce's lawyers presented a lot of witnesses, psychiatrists who are like, 0:22:44.725 --> 0:22:48.125 Bruce's stand up isn't obscene, as it's not sexually arousing. 0:22:49.245 --> 0:22:51.765 They had media experts who are like, hey, people in 0:22:51.805 --> 0:22:55.005 New York aren't offended by this stuff. There are intellectuals 0:22:55.005 --> 0:22:59.245 and critics being like, oh, his work is literarily important. 0:22:59.725 --> 0:23:05.485 One journalist even compared him to James Baldwin and Tennessee Williams. 0:23:05.485 --> 0:23:10.085 Despite all of these witnesses, despite sighting Wroth versus the 0:23:10.165 --> 0:23:19.765 United States, Lenny Bruce was found guilty, which, honestly, I 0:23:19.765 --> 0:23:21.685 feel like it's not fair that he had those three 0:23:21.765 --> 0:23:23.445 judges instead of like a jury. 0:23:24.565 --> 0:23:26.525 I feel like he had a jury, they'd be like, oh, yeah, no, 0:23:26.605 --> 0:23:29.045 his bits are great, it's fine. 0:23:29.765 --> 0:23:32.445 And the punishment for his conviction, he was sentenced to 0:23:32.485 --> 0:23:38.925 four months in a workhouse. This conviction took a heavy 0:23:38.965 --> 0:23:42.925 toll on Lenny Bruce's career in health. These legal battles 0:23:42.965 --> 0:23:45.805 had left him emotionally drained and, as I was saying, 0:23:45.885 --> 0:23:52.005 also financially. In nineteen sixty five, he declared bankruptcy. He 0:23:52.045 --> 0:23:55.885 appealed the verdict, but before a decision could be made, 0:23:56.245 --> 0:24:00.245 in nineteen sixty six, he died of a morphine overdose. 0:24:07.405 --> 0:24:12.005 Lenny Bruce's relentless fight against obscenity laws, however, had a profound. 0:24:11.645 --> 0:24:13.285 Impact on American society. 0:24:13.885 --> 0:24:17.605 Following his death, public sentiment began to shift toward greater 0:24:17.725 --> 0:24:24.045 acceptance of controversial speech. Another comedian, Howard Solomon, was also 0:24:24.125 --> 0:24:27.525 arrested at Cafe Gogo at the same time as Lenny Bruce, 0:24:28.045 --> 0:24:30.845 and he was able to get his obscenity conviction reversed 0:24:31.005 --> 0:24:36.765 in nineteen sixty eight. In nineteen seventy three, the Supreme 0:24:36.805 --> 0:24:42.205 Court's decision in Miller versus California clarified the definition of obscenity, 0:24:42.725 --> 0:24:47.925 establishing the Miller test to assess whether material had artistic, literary, 0:24:48.005 --> 0:24:51.885 or political value, and if this criteria had existed during 0:24:51.965 --> 0:24:56.765 Lenny Bruce's career, he might have been protected. Thirty seven 0:24:56.845 --> 0:25:00.045 years after Lenny Bruce's death, on December twenty third, two 0:25:00.085 --> 0:25:06.125 thousand and three, the New York Governor pardoned him. So, yeah, 0:25:06.125 --> 0:25:09.365 he had a big, important legacy. And in comedy today 0:25:10.165 --> 0:25:13.765 you can really say whatever you want comparatively to Lenny 0:25:13.765 --> 0:25:16.925 Bruce's time, and it's nice not to be arrested. 0:25:19.525 --> 0:25:20.445 I mean it also. 0:25:20.285 --> 0:25:22.965 Opens the door for people like Tony Hinchcliff, where you 0:25:22.965 --> 0:25:25.885