Presented here is a digital version of a recording of a Lenny Bruce performance at Club Renaissance in Los Angeles. The exact date is not known, but the year is probably 1962. The recording begins with the second set in progress. Bruce does some bits about air travel. He tells a story about having run into bandleader Les Elgart in Detroit. It was surprising that Elgart was smoking pot, but Bruce figures it's because Elgart's wife left him for a hipster. He feels bad that Elgart was arrested for pot, but decides maybe now he considers himself a Big Daddy. Another incident in Detroit, a scam promise of a dirty show reminds him about the top-notch brothel he went to in Algiers. He mentions scandals in Pennsylvania and entertainers Charlie Weaver and Dinah Shore. He suggests what may have been going on between Shirley Temple and Bojangles. He does short jokes about Liberace, Richard Nixon, Paul Robeson, Sammy Davis Jr. and Sophie Tucker. He refers to the fact that the previous Sunday he'd only sold 500 tickets for a show at the Curran Theater in San Francisco, leaving 1100 empty seats. He relates a scenario in which 1100 tickets are given to winos, along with a pint of whiskey. The drunks cause trouble, pass out and stay in the theater for the next engagement, a play starring Dana Andrews. He mentions a German friend from the newspaper The Californian. He talks about how Englishmen can say crap' and it sounds classy. He discusses whether various ethnic groups have paid their dues, and says midgets get away with everything. He says the midgets are getting ready for the world's fair in Seattle (the Seattle World's Fair was in 1962). He does The Romans Segregated Christians with Lions. The recording ends abruptly. The set continues on LB_57. Some of this set is also on LB_39.
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.
