Reading week 4

Reading – Week 4

Bonney, J. (2000). Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century. New York: Theatre Communications Group.

LENNY BRUCE

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Lenny Bruce improvises much of his work, and he was good at changing his material to adapt for the audience he was playing to. He used his work to attack the Yiddish phrase zug gornischt (say nothing).  Bruce was happy to challenge the unsaid and the lies present in society, whether that be politics, law, gender, police etc. Many saw Bruce as ‘not respectable’ in his time.

How to talk dirty and influence people: an autobiography of Lenny Bruce

Bruce uses stereotypes to create his comedy. He plays with the Yiddish word goyish which means gentile. He lists what he sees in society as Jewish and Goyish, but things can never be both. He lists the differences between the two terms with examples, but he doesn’t prefer one to the other or see either in a negative light. He uses Jewish stereotypes throughout the piece and says that they are not Goyish. He doesn’t mock things that are Jewish or Goyish, but makes it obvious that there are differences. He uses humour to make his examples.

Psychpathia Sexualis

Bruce mocks marriage and relationships in this short piece by subtly replacing the wife/girl character with animals. He uses animal related phrases in the poem which could be used as a love poem if it were not for the animal references.

The Tribunal

This piece is not overtly funny, it seems political because he comments on the poor treatment and salary of teachers. He is disgusted that people like teachers who are in charge of the education for the next world leaders are paid so little, and he emphasises this by having a mock court scene whereby people who earn ludicrous amounts are put in jail. This is Bruce being political and showing his personal beliefs about society and its mistreatment of certain individuals within it.

Off Broadway

Bruce looks here at language and the use of offensive words like nigger. He shows that we use the word sparingly, therefore when it is heard it becomes offensive. In the piece he suggests we use it all the time so that in 6 months or so it will lose all sense of negativity and no longer be offensive. This is a political rant by Bruce about the absurdity of the arrangement of a few letters, and the fact that society holds this as controversial when it is just a word, which does no physical harm, and that can be changed if we are willing to challenge it.

Religions, Inc.

This is quite a controversial piece whereby Bruce mocks religion and the leaders of it. He shows it like an exclusive club that has its perks. He also shows it as perverse and corrupt. He sees religion as a commodity and something to be capitalized on. Religion is made to look stupid because the self professed leaders of all these religions do favours for each other and openly admit to not knowing answers. It is seen as an exclusive and swanky club, but only for a select few.

Father Flotski’s Triumph

This performance mocks the judicial system and shows that the prison wardens and guards are willing to compromise and negotiate with inmates, but also shows that they are lazy, corrupt and willing to brutally kill masses of inmates to show some sense of order. This would no doubt have gotten Bruce into trouble because it is highly controversial, it is ironic, offensive towards religion, mental conditions, homosexuals, and promotes murder; ‘Killing 6 children doesn’t make anyone bad.’ Obviously this play is a mockery of the prison system and is not to be taken too seriously but it still holds political criticism.