+
upworthy
More

The huge price one comedian paid so that George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and others could make it big.

Lenny "Bruce" Schneider blazed a trail for comedians starting in the 1950s, and our world has never been the same.


"I think some people have erroneously connected me with Lenny Bruce for one simple common denominator, and that is the use of profane language. I think everything else is quite different...Lenny and I had this language in common, and he was the first one to make language an issue, and he suffered for it. I was the first one to make language an issue and to succeed from it...Obviously, I was very influenced by his approach to comedy, as I was with Mort Sahl's, because I was in my formative stage and I was a rebel at heart and an anti-authoritarian at a time when they were succeeding by taking those positions."
— George Carlin

Before George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and others radically pushed the boundaries of comedy in our culture, there was one comedian who hurled himself against the roadblocks of conservative American society in the late-1950s and early-1960s and, ultimately, didn't survive it.


Lenny Bruce considered himself a jazz wordsmith, riffing layers of complex ideas and thoughts into word streams while onstage. His mother, a jazz musician herself, inspired him to think in those terms. He liked to speak his mind freely without censoring himself. In 1959, "Time" magazine wrote about comedians like him who tried to break down some of these barriers, calling them "sick comics." He responded:

"The kind of sickness I wish Time had written about, is that school teachers in Oklahoma get a top annual salary of $4,000, while Sammy Davis, Jr. gets $10,000 a week in Vegas."
— Lenny Bruce

He recorded some comedy albums in the late-1950s before trying his hand at onstage versions of his work. But his headlong encounter with the uptight culture of the time began in 1961, when he used the word "cocksucker" onstage, becoming the first person ever to do so. He was trying to describe why the act should not be considered a pejorative against homosexual men. He was arrested that night, harassed constantly with police presence at his gigs thereafter, and acquitted the next year of that particular charge.

In March 1964, the "New York Post" wrote, "Bruce stands up against all limitation on the flesh and spirit, and someday they are going to crush him for it."

"In the Halls of Justice, the only justice is in the halls."
— Lenny Bruce

In all, he was arrested seven more times over the next three years, twice for narcotics possession (both fabricated charges) and the rest for "obscenity." His last arrest and sentence of four months in a workhouse (for using profanity in a comedy routine) was still being appealed when he died of an accidental overdose in 1966.

But that would be much later. During his ephemeral rise and fall, he inspired other comedians of the time and served as a bit of caution to others. He was banned from several countries, clubs, and from many television shows as well. Not so much because of his routines but because people were afraid of what he might say when he "riffed" live. Also, the implied threat of arrest for club owners for letting him perform was a huge factor.

"I won't say ours was a tough school, but we had our own coroner. We used to write essays like: 'What I'm going to be if I grow up.'"
— Lenny Bruce

Ultimately, the 1960s saw a huge cultural shift in our country, and the world for that matter. Lenny Bruce was a harbinger of things yet to come.

While his final years featured some of his best work, they were just as likely to see him onstage reading from arrest records and lawsuits, which of course did not make for great comedy.


Why does it take these kinds of dramatic, sometimes violent, shifts in culture for things to change for the better? Of course, some would argue that the change was not for the better, that using profanity and vulgarity on stage or in music and films was ultimately a negative for all of us.

But I don't think so. Humans crave freedom of expression. Words are created to represent something in all of us, something that we need to get out sometimes, in whatever form those words take.

"There are never enough I Love You's."
— Lenny Bruce

Was Lenny Bruce seeking reactions? Maybe. Did he get them? Certainly. And that's one reason he belongs on the short list of the greatest standup comedians of all time. In fact, Comedy Central has that short list as 1) Richard Pryor, 2) George Carlin, and 3) Lenny Bruce.

In the about section below, you can find a few video clips of actual performances by Lenny Bruce, all of which are 10+ minutes. It's worth checking them out. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of great videos because much of his best work was never filmed. There are, however, many audio recordings, mostly from albums.

In 1974, Dustin Hoffman delivered an Oscar-nominated performance in the movie "Lenny," just eight years after Lenny Bruce died. It's about a gig he did a few nights after he was arrested for using a word describing someone who performs fellatio. Several cops were on hand to see that he didn't do it again, but he managed to talk about the act itself without actually using the word. Watch:

When Lenny Bruce died in August 1966, all the press reported it as a heroin overdose; however, it was an accidental overdose from morphine. He was a pauper at the time, having spent every dime he had on legal defense and trying to clear his name.

Who's to say where stand-up comedy would be today if Lenny Bruce hadn't probed the edges of what was considered acceptable to talk about onstage? Possibly, somebody else would have done the same thing. In fact, George Carlin was also arrested for his famous "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" routine in 1972, just six years after Lenny Bruce's death. And Richard Pryor was never arrested for performing his routines, but he took full advantage of the more colorful words in the English language when he began working profanity into his act in 1967.

"Life is a four-letter word."
— Lenny Bruce



Pop Culture

Here’s a paycheck for a McDonald’s worker. And here's my jaw dropping to the floor.

So we've all heard the numbers, but what does that mean in reality? Here's one year's wages — yes, *full-time* wages. Woo.

Making a little over 10,000 for a yearly salary.


I've written tons of things about minimum wage, backed up by fact-checkers and economists and scholarly studies. All of them point to raising the minimum wage as a solution to lifting people out of poverty and getting folks off of public assistance. It's slowly happening, and there's much more to be done.

But when it comes right down to it, where the rubber meets the road is what it means for everyday workers who have to live with those wages. I honestly don't know how they do it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

5-star Scottish resort offers whimsical afternoon tea experience with 'naughty sheep'

Cameron House's Woolly Wellness retreat includes tea in the garden with adorably rude guests.

Cameron House/Naughty Sheep

Cameron House's Woolly Wellness retreat includes a unique sheep encounter.

Remember when "goat yoga" was all the rage? And then "cow cuddling" and "turkey cuddling" made everyone's bucket lists?

Now we can add "nuzzling with naughty sheep" to the mix, but with a fancy Scottish twist.

Less than an hour from Glasgow, Scotland, the Cameron House resort sits on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, looking as if it were plucked straight out of a fairy tale. Sprawling green grounds, gorgeous lake views and a four-story castled mansion greet guests as their "home away from home" (only better), and a perusal of the reviews show guests raving about the 5-star resort's elegance, beauty and exceptional service.

I mean, just look at this place:

drone view of cameron house grounds and lakeCameron House sit on Lake Lochmond in Scotland.Cameron House


Keep ReadingShow less

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less
@caitlin.the.realtor/TikTok, used with permission

Wait, so 90's fashion is in, but 90's hair is out?

Every era has its own version of what’s attractive. And very rarely does that aesthetic hold power with the following generation. In fact, it often becomes the opposite of cool.

Just think of Elvis. He might have been a universal sex symbol for a time, but it also wasn’t long before his pompadour became passé. Same goes for Paul Newman’s rugged manliness, David Cassidy’s babyface, Tom Selleck’s mustache. Indeed, for everything a season.

Which brings us to the 90s. The age of beach blonde surfer boys (real surfing skills not required, but a plus). Of flannel, lots of flannel, and super chiseled bodies. Let’s not forget this was the dawning of the term “metrosexual,” and also the time period that brought us that Calvin Klein ad with Mark Wahlburg.

How exactly would these guys measure up with the Gen Z kids today?

Keep ReadingShow less

A Eurasian crow.

A family from Denmark has created a touching video montage documenting their unique friendship with a wild Eurasian crow. This crow, affectionately named Russell, has become an honorary member of their household, forming special bonds with each family member, including the pets.

However, the crow's relationship with their son, 2-year-old Otto, is truly extraordinary. “They could spend hours just playing,” Otto’s mother, Laerke Luna, says in a video shared by The Dodo. "When Otto is outside, he will never leave Otto’s side.”

Russell, the free-spirited crow, ventures away from the family's home from time to time, but never for too long. He always comes back and announces his return by tapping on the door, swooping in to lounge on the sofa, or awaiting Otto's return from school atop their roof.

“When we are inside, he will sit inside the window because he wants Otto to go outside with him,” Laerke said.

The family’s relationship with Russell didn’t come out of nowhere. When Russell was a young bird, he had health problems so the family took him and nursed the bird back to health. Eventually, they witnessed his first attempts to fly.

Recently, Russell became friends with another family member, their second child, Hedwig. Although he does get a little annoyed with the bird’s frequent attempts to nab his pacifier.

Even though it’s rare for humans to strike up such a close bond with a crow, according to research, it’s not that surprising. Audubon says that crows are “some of the smartest animals in the world” with an intelligence “on par with chimpanzees.” They are also very social and family-oriented, so no wonder Russell loves Otto and his family.

Crow Named Russell Waits For His Favorite Kid To Get Home From School | The Dodo


Learning

Why you shouldn't throw your dishwasher pod into the bottom of your dishwasher

Dishwashers actually use the dirty water to know how to wash your dishes.

Photos by cottonbro studio and PhotoMIX Ltd. via Canva

Why your detergent shouldn't go in the bottom of the dishwasher

There always seem to be something going on with the pods and powders you're supposed to use in the dishwasher to clean your dishes. Either the pods don't dissolve completely or the powder gets all goopy and hard, never really fully dispensing into the dishwasher.

The inconsistency in product dispensing can leave you wondering if the dishes are even getting cleaned, causing some to toss the detergent pod into the bottom of the dishwasher. It would seem that placing the detergent at the bottom would allow for it to actually reach your dirty dishes. But Melissa Pateras, a domestic expert, explains that doing it that way isn't doing what you think it's doing.

Pateras actually breaks down exactly how dishwashers work to clean your dishes while explaining why putting the detergent on the bottom is ineffective.

Keep ReadingShow less