Looking for Lenny | movie | 2011 | Official Trailer - video Dailymotion

In-depth documentary that uses Lenny Bruce's legacy to explore the present condition of the fear of words and expression | dG1fS3hHa2s0R3JOdlU

Transcript

00:00Ladies and gentlemen, here is a very shocking comedian, the most shocking comedian of our time,

00:04a young man who is skyrocketing to fame, Lenny Bruce.

00:07Here he is.

00:09By comedy continuity, I'll behave myself.

00:19Lenny set the bar for comedy, for everybody.

00:23He opened the door for anybody who ever stands in public and speaks.

00:26But you might be interested in how I became offensive.

00:30It's all different than it was when we started.

00:33When I first got into stand-up comedy, you couldn't have a cleavage or your knees showing.

00:38He took on Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Black, he took on everybody.

00:42By the way, are there any s*** tonight?

00:44I think I see one s*** back there between those two s*** and three s***.

00:48He wasn't just being dirty, he was pointing out the hypocrisy of words.

00:51He obviously knew there were certain buttons he could press that would get a reaction.

00:56Governor Farbis, segregation, offend me.

00:59You didn't know for sure what was going to happen on the night you went.

01:03In one of his anecdotes relating to New York policemen...

01:06Oh, really?

01:10What I saw in him was a guy who was being relentlessly pursued by bad guys for bad reasons.

01:16The reason I got arrested, I picked on the wrong guard.

01:18We haven't come very far as far as freedom of speech.

01:21That's where I think the media is entirely irresponsible.

01:25What has happened for our moral values?

01:28He's not a s***! He's not a s***!

01:29That's a nappy head of s***, sir.

01:31We're in Nuremberg and they're trying people for comedy crimes.

01:34I don't think things have changed very much.

01:36For a different set of reasons, it's the same result.

01:38And that's scary.

01:39Lenny, when you watch him, so far ahead of his time.

01:41So far ahead of his time.

01:43People that paid to see Lenny Bruce came and they saw a man starting to crumble.

01:48He became obsessed with the arrest itself.

01:50It impacted the very nature of his act, but not always in a positive way.

01:54Do you feel that this prejudice is the case?

01:55No, I have concern for that.

01:57I'm concerned about the fact that crime is committed.

01:59In a lot of people's minds, self-destructive is the first thing they think of.

02:03And then, brilliant.