The Carnegie Hall Concert

Back when it took a computer the size of the Pentagon to do long division, Lenny Bruce was the personification of hypertext, connecting ideas through puns, jokes, impressions, and the weaving together of complex tales. As Don Friedman says in his spoken introduction to this prestigious gig by America's (then) "nastiest" nightclub standup act, it's not Bruce that's nasty per se, but society. And while that's true, Bruce was dirty--a master of filth, from sexual innuendo to dirty words. In addition to all that heavy stuff, he gives you everything that was totally funny in second grade and still is, including the shaggy-dog story. Sure, there's a lot going on; you have to listen to it a dozen times to get the hushed-breath synaptic leaps uttered in between the big jokes that aim for the bleacher seats. This set is Lenny Bruce in rare form, at his most soberingly funny. --Mike McGonigal