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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1974)
) ' -aXW .... x Book traces Jewish comic's life TKE BEATLES "AWAY WITH WORDS" The World's Largest Traveling Multi-media Production Comes to Lincoln for Eight (8) Unforgefan! Performances Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 22. 23. and 24in. Advance tickets only $3.25 on sale now at DIRT CHEAP. BRANDEIS TICKET OFFICE (Cash or Credit Card), Special Students discount at U of N TICKET CENTER and NEBRASKA WESLEYAN TICKET CENTER. $3.75 at the door. 3 Shows Friday and Saturday at 8 p m. and 10 p.m., plus Special Midnight Freak Show t 'Shews Sunday at 6 p.m. (matinee) and 8 p.m. Final M LINCOLN S ACOUSTICALLY PERFECT O'DONNE LL. AUDITORIUM the Greg flllman Band in concert Omaha Civic Auditorium Arena Thursday, November 21st-8:00 p.m. fx. m Air w 5 . Ml . I I f v - 41 ' I ? ' ) Hik. .v !.. ( V" i; lif xUiL- Ticket Prices: $5.00 In Advance; SO. 00 Day of Concert. Tickets on Sale at Auditorium Box Office Daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lenny Bruce: The Comedian as Social Critic and Secular Moralist. By Frank Kofsky. Monad Press, New York ($1.95). . As the author says in his introduction, a plethora of books, two broadway plays and a major film production to be released ah testify to the increasing cult recoanition of Lenny Bruce. In" the same breath, Kofsky, an associate professor of history at Cali fornia State University at Sacramento, explains that his work predates the recent flood of Bruce-inspired works. vince boucher footnotes Kofsky divides the took into three sections. The first, 'The Phenomenon of Lenny Bruce" explores how Bruce was received during his lifetime and how he has been perceived after his death. The second section, "Blacks, Jews and Lenny Bruce," deals with the origins of Bruce's comic and satiric vehicles. Finally, the book includes an extensive critique of the various Bruce recordings which survive or have been more recently released. Hard to understand The casual reader may not under stand this book, because the details of Bruce's life are glossed over to give the author a greater chance to explore Bruce the performer. For instance, Bruce was not a liberal in any sense of the word, says Kofsky. As an example, he traces Bruce's feelings about Julius and Ethel Rosen berg (The Rosenbergs were the cause ceiebre couple of the Red-scare efa, who were convicted and executed for sharing U.S. atomic secrets with the Russians.) Bruce did not clamor for the execution of the Rosenbergs, unlike so many of his Jewish contemporaries who felt the Rosenbergs were traitors to the Jewish people. Bruce's approach was- some what different: ' 'Goddamn the priests and the rabbis. Goddamn the Popes and all their hypocrisy. Goddamn Israel and its bond drives. What influence did they exert to save the lives of the Rosenbergs guilty or not?. ..The Ten Commandments doesn't say, "Thou Shalt Not Kill sometimes...." Three influences Bruce's chief influences came from three distinct groups, all of which "lie outside the framework of respectable white Anglo-Saxon Protestant society, with its socially sanctioned hypocrisy and amorality," according to Kofsky. Black jazz language was the first of these. Kofsky says Bruce's work is much like a jazz piece. He varies his bits to fit the mood of the audience. Bruce was often sought and befriended by black musicians. His audiences were about 30 per cent black, an unusual amount for middle-class nightclubs of the fifties and early sixties. Secondly, Bruce often coupled his tales and comments in Yiddish dialect at a time when the Jewish community and other Jewish comedians were elimi nating all traces of Yiddish from their speech. Bruce retained a residue of shame all his life for being Jewish, yet he embraced his ethnic roots. Underworld influence. Finally, and least importantly, Bruce was influenced by characters from the underworld, who were frequently asso ciated with the clubs where he played. It is an uneven book. The analysis is interesting and the author builds a case for explaining Bruce's destruction at the hands of a society which would later embrace all the sensitive topics that Bruce became obsessed with. At times the author rants about Vietnam; despite 4the strength of his feeling it. detracts " from the book and obscures the picture he is try ing to draw. But he is successful in showing how Bruce circumvented the established order of the day which was ultimately both his appeal and his death. i If Si !teV c l ' S (III) i I " " o J K J J I mm I J I mw&fammwmi& r.. fl .... M (l-lTr- ALL STORE LOCATIONS C V I nS. ONLY 3Wf7if THURSDAY, OMW iJpS) NOVEMBER y BIG BOY 21st f $T FAMILY RESTAURANT 1 1. . -ii- inif'-'--" "' ""'''- ' '-' - it 'tmmmmatu-nt, r, irir'fmj MMaaHMMMMHnaMMBanH 1115 "P" Join us for lunch! Try our ncv lunch menu and enjoy a free Coke with your meal or sandwich. Come on down for our 2 for 1 Cocktail hours Monday thru Thursday 6pm to 8pm . Remember .... the last day of every month is Ncv Year's 8 Eve. Party hats, horns, Champagne and General Hell Raising. page 8 daily nebraskan thursday, november21, 1974