Presented here is a digital reproduction of the first part of a recorded performance by Lenny Bruce at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Also known as The Midnight Concert, the show took place in the early hours of February 4, 1961. Bruce is introduced by booker Don Friedman. Bruce talks about the fantasies that come to mind as he faces a Carnegie Hall audience for the first time. He describes his ordeal getting to the gig, having flown north from Miami during a winter storm. He reacts to people in the balcony who yell for him to speak louder. He talks about changes in Miami and an absurd kidnapping there. He talks about the Romans' treatment of Christians and anti-Semitism. He does Black Black Woman White White Woman. He doubts that audiences over the age of 40 can relate to him because of his hip idiom. He's excited that young John F. Kennedy has replaced grandfatherly Eisenhower. He does his bit Schmuck, Small-town Audiences, Dykes, and the Jewish mother who still doesn't know her son is gay. The concert continues on file LB_49.
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.
