Presented here is a digital version of a recording of an interview by journalist Gary Shenfer of Lenny Bruce in Miami (or Miami Beach) at the El Patio club. The exact date is not known but it is likely December 1959. There is an unknown third man present who makes a comment and asks some questions. Bruce strikes a balance between answering questions seriously and doing entertaining shtik. Bruce talks about the early years of his career. He says that whereas audiences used to be different in different regions, television has been an equalizer. When asked where young comedians can get their start, Bruce wonders why no one asks about the old bitter guys, who might be playing places like St. Augustine. There's a discussion of thinking man's humor. Bruce recounts how he got the label sick comic. He talks about the cover of his album The Sick Humor of Lenny Bruce and says he has a new album ( I Am Not a Nut, Elect Me, which was recorded in 1959 and released in 1960). He talks about critics and is asked about the recent Congressional hearings about rigged quiz shows at which Charles Van Doren was questioned. He lists his favorite painters, says he writes columns for Rogue magazine and The Realist, and lists magazines he reads and books he's read recently. He discusses how he develops material for his act, and how spontaneity figures in. When talking about segregation, he says that both white and black children are scarred by it. He ends by riffing about Perry Como and how he can't always be that relaxed maybe it's his family who sees the real Perry. Bruce identifies the club owner Barney (Buddy Barnett), who at one point looks in on them.
Full length copies of the recordings are available for use in the department. Please contact the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University for more information.
