Presented here is a digital version of a recording of portions of two Lenny Bruce performances at the Gate of Horn club in Chicago. It begins with the final 16 minutes of the show on the night of December 4, 1962, known as The Bust Show (it was the midnight performance, therefore technically during the early hours of December 5). The performance ended in Bruce's arrest for obscenity. The first part of the show is on LB_8. This performance is also on file LB_32a. Bruce does Christ & Moses, first instructing the lighting man to how to light him for the bit. He refers to a gig he did in Milwaukee at which he "got punched in the face" for doing Christ & Moses, then does his bit about playing at small-town venues. He's distracted by audience-member walkouts, and says "Something is different tonight." He jokes that in a year he'll have 15 hardcore fans who will fly around the country to attend his gigs ("they get an S.O.S."), but as long as three people show up, it can be called an obscene show. Men's voices can be heard--it's the police. Bruce says "It's the first time they've made a bust right in an audience" and imagines he's "Superjew" who can fly out the back way. An officer tells audience members to take their seats and show identification. The announcer says, "Ladies and gentlemen, we now have a new star of our show." Jazz music starts playing on the p.a. Bruce was then arrested, as was audience member George Carlin, who refused to show police his ID. The tape continues with a 15-minute section of a Gate of Horn show on December 9, 1962. This performance is also on file LB_32a. A longer version of this December 9 set can be found on LB_26. Bruce reads from documents associated with his February 1962 arrest for obscenity in San Francisco. He reads from the testimony of Professor [Don] Geiger, who as part of his testimony referred to a poem by John Berryman ( Dream Song 46: I am, outside. Incredible panic rules ) that contained words that could be called obscene, but that made sense within the poem's context. Bruce reads his own letter to Judge Clayton Horn and tells how it resulted in his being charged with contempt of court. He comments on an audience member's walkout. He inserts his bit I Picked the Wrong God into his remarks about the trial. He talks about jury selection for the trial and evaluates audience members as if they were potential jurors. He pegs some young men as "Loeb and Leopold types," then speculates about the circumstances of Loeb's murder in prison. The recording ends abruptly.
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.
