New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

Lenny Bruce was – "OUTRAGEOUS"


By Bruce Chadwick

originally published: 01/06/2024


Nearly everybody over the age of 60 remembers comic Lenny Bruce and most under the age of 60 knows his name. The notorious comic was, yes, he was simply outrageous.

Bruce, whose heyday was the 1960s, was funny, to be sure, but his fame, and everlasting popularity, and rascality, was because the bits in his shows were all pieces of humorous societal majesty (well, OK, foul mouthed social majesty).

Lenny blasted everybody and everything.

He could applaud anybody and, just as fast, tear down anybody. You did something good or bad, or indifferent—he had a zinger for you.

Bruce became well known for his social criticism and knock your socks off funny lines – and oh yes, his vulgarity. His wild lines, and his vulgarity, opened the door for people like George Carlin and Mort Sahl. Lately, he has become famous again through constant mentions of him in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel television show.




New Jersey Stage provides affordable advertising for the arts, click here for info



Now he is back on stage in I’m Not a Comedian … I’m Lenny Bruce, a play that stars Ronnie Marmo, who wrote it, being staged next week (January 11, 12 and 13) at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC) in New Brunswick.

“I got interested in Lenny because a friend brought up his life history to me and said I should write a new play about Lenny and star in it. I knew a little about him. I was born when he was at the height of his fame. I really knew little about Lenny other than he was dirty and everybody thought he was just outrageous.”

What struck Marmo most was the lack of material about Bruce. “I thought there would be all this stuff to study – books, movies, records. There was very little. “He is the most unknown famous guy in America,” said Marmo. “That’s a shame.”

Marmo obtained most of his information in interviews with Bruce’s daughter Kitty Bruce.

He thinks that the story has almost come full circle, though. Bruce has regained a lot of his popularity thanks to numerous mentions on television shows, Mrs. Maisel  in particular.

Bruce’s career was short. He died of a drug overdose at the age of 40 in 1966. “40! What a tragedy,” said actor Marmo. “Imagine the career he might have had if he stayed away from drugs?”

Marmo thought that Bruce’s stature in America, and in show business, should be much greater today.




New Jersey Stage provides affordable advertising for the arts, click here for info



“I think today he blends right in with the counterculture  movement. Today, it’s cancel out the star. Lenny's outrageousness would have made him a big target for those people, but he’d get around all that somehow,” said Marmo, who, by the way, bears a striking resemblance to Bruce.

In the play, Marmo tries to show Bruce as a man who would have been just as big a lightning rod for critics today as he was fifty years ago.

Writing the play was not easy. There was the Broadway play 50 years ago and a shorter play later on, plus an unheralded movie that starred a young Dustin Hoffman. “None was really to my liking,” explained Marmo. “I wanted to show the guy in many ways, not just write a play about a funny comic. I wanted to get into his personality and stories about his early career, I wanted to talk about his family and not just his show business. There was little written about him, though. His daughter, gave me a lot of information on his off stage life, family stories and many personal tales. She really helped me to complete the sketch of the character I was putting together.”

He stopped. “Lenny was a complicated man who worked in complicated times. I tried to show that, the times as well as the man,” Marmo said.

Another pause. “And, oh, I wanted to show people that above all – above everything- Lenny Bruce was funny in all of his social and political ways, I mean really funny.”

Marmo thinks that Lenny was so popular because he was authentic.

“He believed everything that he said,” continued Marmo. “You went to one of his shows and you understood that. They said he was a social comic and they were right. In his shows, in all of his social criticism, he told the truth as he saw it. Remember now, the 1960s were important times in America. Things were happening quickly. Everything in American society was going on really fast. Lenny needed to stay on top of a lot of things and he did. Many, many others followed his lines of comedy and social commentary. In many ways, he was a pioneer.”

Lenny Bruce got into show business in the 1950s (he was buddy Hackett’s roommate for a time). His humor was “dirty” for a while and he was arrested several times on obscenity charges.

In a way, he affected the lives of millions of young people. “He may not have thought so, but everybody else did. People were always talking about him,” noted Marmo.

Lenny Bruce was never as famous as he wanted to be. TV hosts were afraid of his vulgarity and wild stories. Example: in his career he only made six TV appearances.




New Jersey Stage provides affordable advertising for the arts, click here for info



“I never understood why he was not. In his era, you had television and radio and lot of people were talking about him, yet he never got as ‘big’ as he should have been. That was a shame.”

Well? See him in New Brunswick. Was he dirty? Was he vulgar? Was he an American menace or an American hero?

You be the judge.

Performances take place January 11,12,13 at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (11 Livingston Avenue) in New Brunswick.  Showtime is 8:00pm each night.  Tickets are available for purchase online.



Bruce Chadwick worked for 23 years as an entertainment writer/critic for the New York Daily News. Later, he served as the arts and entertainment critic for the History News Network, a national online weekly magazine. Chadwick holds a Ph. D in History and Cultural Studies from Rutgers University. He has written 31 books on U.S. history and has lectured on history and culture around the world. He is a history professor at New Jersey City University.

 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Players

Players Guild of Leonia to Hold Auditions for "Where The Time Goes"

​​​​​​​(LEONIA, NJ) -- The Players Guild of Leonia will hold auditions for Where The Time Goes on Tuesday, July 15 and Wednesday, July 16, 2025 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm each night at their theater. This is a World Premiere musical featuring the iconic songs of The Baby Boomer Generation.



Speranza

Speranza Theatre Company presents "Princess Pals"

(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Speranza Theatre Company, joined by students from Speranza Studio's Summer Acting Intensive, presents its summer stage production, Princess Pals, from July 11-19, 2025 outdoors at the Museum of Jersey City History at The Apple Tree House. Written and directed by Nick Radu-Blackburn. Happily Ever was just the beginning... turns out "after" isn’t all it's cracked up to be. Bored after their fairy tale endings, princess-frenemies embark on a mischievous adventure. Can they put their differences aside to save their kingdoms, all while dealing with an unexpected twist?



"RIFT"

"RIFT" Returns To Luna For Two Nights Only Before International Debut At Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre

(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Luna Stage's commissioned World Premiere play RIFT is headed to the Edinburgh Fringe for a four-week run at Traverse Theatre this August. On July 18-19, 2025 at 8:00pm each night, the powerful and timely new play returns to Luna for two benefit performances to support the company's travel to Scotland.



PHOTOS

PHOTOS from "Jesus Christ Superstar" at Pleasant Valley Productions

(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Pleasant Valley Productions (PVP) is presenting Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's iconic rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar at the Oscar Schindler Performing Arts Center (OSPAC). The production runs July 11-12 and July 17-19, 2025. This groundbreaking musical, which revolutionized the world of theatre, tells the story of the final week of Jesus' life through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. Photographer John Posada was on hand to take photos.



Centenary

Centenary Stage presents Jimmy Buffet's Escape to Margaritaville

(HACKETTSTOWN, NJ) -- Centenary Stage Company presents Jimmy Buffett's Escape to Margaritaville from Thursday, July 10 through Sunday, July 20 in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center. Featuring a book by Greg Garcia and Mike O'Malley and music and lyrics by Jimmy Buffett, this play combines tropical vibes and feel-good humor with a collection of the singer-songwriter’s most beloved hits.



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Vivid

Vivid Summer Solos: My Name is Lucy Barton

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 @ 6:30pm
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
68 Elm Street, Summit, NJ 07901
category: theatre


 

The

The Mallard

Thursday, July 17, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
category: theatre


 

The

The MAC players at the Middletown Arts Center present "Hairspray"

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Middletown Arts Center
36 Church Street, Middletown, NJ 07748
category: theatre


 

The

The Mallard

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
category: theatre


 

Good

Good Riddance; A Gnarly Murder Mystery Dinner, Dude!

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 6:00pm
Carteret Performing Arts Center
46 Washington Ave, Carteret, NJ 07008
category: theatre