Carnegie Hall Concert

Live at the Curran Theater Once Lenny Bruce had amassed legal troubles, he turned a corner, going from standup performer doing funny, if acerbic, routines (which is more than being simply a comedian) to being a free-improvising social commentator. Here is the first CD reissue of Bruce's 1961 show at the Cu...	The Lenny Bruce Originals, Vol. 1 These 1958 tracks from The Sick Humor of Lenny Bruce and Interviews of Our Times are the roots of the rage but not the rage itself. When Bruce first made the scene in the late 1950s, he was considerably tamer than he would become (although he was already quite volatile by the era...	The Lenny Bruce Originals, Vol. 2	How to Talk Dirty and Influence People In 1963, before the law and his drug habit brought the curtain down on the comedian, Hugh Hefner asked then-superstar Lenny Bruce to write his autobiography. Lenny hired writer Paul Krassner to help him edit the book, which appeared in Playboy over the next two years. Though ...	Lenny Based loosely on the Broadway play, this film biography of late comedian Lenny Bruce captures his fiery brand of provocative humor while looking at his less-than-savory personal life. Dustin Hoffman earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Bruce, a seminal figure in stand-...
Let the Buyer Beware UNEDITED, UNCENSORED, UNAPOLOGETIC...The ultimate Lenny Bruce box set 10 years in the making! Let The Buyer Beware is an unprecedented 6-CD boxed collection of Lenny Bruce's popular recorded performances, never-before-released performances, and various private recordings that te...	Class Clown	Standup Comic Compiled from Woody Allen's legendary standup routines of the mid 1960s, Standup Comic is an absolute necessity for any acolyte of the man's solid work from his Casino Royale and New Yorker phase. "Here's a good example of oral contraception. I asked a girl to go to bed with me...	The Berkeley Concert	I Have a Pony No Description AvailableNo Track Information AvailableMedia Type: CDArtist: WRIGHT,STEVENTitle: I HAVE A PONYStreet Release Date: 08/23/2005

I don't get it...
I'm still waiting for a funny line from this icon of comedy. After listening to it, and not laughing. I wonder if his lofty reputation is merely because he was persecuted and hounded so much for his so-called "obscene" language. I feel sympathy for the horrors he experienced, but I don't find his act to be funny in this cd.

A Critical and Hilarious Roadsign on the Highway of American Social History
In the humble opinion of this Bruce-o-phile, "The Carnegie Hall Concert" is the most valuable document of what was great about Lenny Bruce and why he mattered. From a performance standpoint, he was at the height of his powers. From a social standpoint, this show was just prior to the beginnings of his problems with the law and features the best balance of his comedy and social commentary. Earlier than this, he was a bit "schticky" (as he often said himself). After the trials began, his understandable preoccupation with legalities began to imbalance his act (though he remained fascinating). Here, you get the undiluted best. I can't even pick out moments, because it should really be experienced as a whole. It's a 90-minute statement on where America stood in 1962, on the cusp of a social revolution, and it's brilliant. Buy this. If you want to know why Lenny Bruce became an icon who deserves to be discussed alongside Kerouac, Kesey, Tom Wolfe, and Hunter S. Thompson; if you want a snapshot of our cultural mindset before the turbulence of the 60's erupted; or, if you just wanna laugh--Buy this. Whatever it costs, it's a giveaway. It's a parchment of history.

Lenny at his best....
On February 3, 1961, in the middle of one of the worst blizzards in New York City's history, Lenny Bruce walked onstage to a packed house at Carnegie Hall and for two solid hours, gave what all Lennyphiles agree was the greatest performance of his all-too-brief career. To the uninitiated, this CD is as good a place as any to discover the genius of Lenny Bruce. Even now, almost 45 years later, The Midnight Concert is still screamingly funny; A testiment to Lenny's depth as a social commentater and comic philosopher. This was two years before the onset of the physical and mental decline that would end with his death, at age forty, from an overdose of heroin on August 3, 1966. Why is Lenny Bruce remembered as a brilliant comedian all these years later? The answer is right here. Happy listening! Tom Degan Goshen, NY tomdegan@frontiernet.net

Vintage Dirty Lenny...
Like many jazz and blues musicians, Lenny Bruce was truly in his element when performing live. His studio recordings simply do not have the spontaneity of his live stuff. This is why his Carnegie Hall Concert is essential listening for any fan of Bruce or stand-up comedy in general. There would be no Eddie Izzard, Bill Hicks or a host of thousands of other comics without Lenny Bruce. He paved the way and was a pioneer.Listening to this recording is to hear the man in his element, riffing off the crowd and going off on anything that came into his head. He zips all over the place and it is almost as if you can hear his mind at work, racing from topic to topic. While his material is dated at times, it is an incredible snapshot of the times he lived in. He brutually skewered social conventions (like how we refer to minorities) and was quite political as well. But most of all he was just damn funny and this performance shows him in great form.This is easily one of the best live recordings of Lenny at his uncensored best. Before he got beaten down by endless obscenity trials and his slide in substance abuse. Essential.

One More Note
When Lenny Bruce performed at Carnegie Hall, the cabs weren't even running in New York. It was one of the worst snow storms that ever hit The City. Nobody could get out. Bruce filled the freaking hall...check out the liner notes. Even Jesus would have had a problem filling that gig up...maybe that's why the Church at large got so... off about the man, maybe not. Maybe it was just before 200 channels of cable showing nothing.