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Travis Malone History 148 Dunbar 2 March, 2010 Research Paper 2042 words

ree !peech and "o#edy in $#erica


%e&ore the co#edy revolution in the '0(s, the #a)ority o& co#edy was all out o& the sa#e *a* )o+e boo+, but that was about to chan*e, -n "hrist#as ni*ht 1.'/, when a youn* #an na#ed Mort !ahl, in his si*nature slac+s and cardi*an sweater, #ade his co#edy debut at the hun*ry i in !an rancisco, 0verythin* about hi# di&&ered &ro# the co#edians o& the day, he was cool and candid, with a lot o& wit, and delivered his #aterial in a very conversational style, spea+in* in short hand, and so#eti#es not &inishin* sentences, The only thin* he had in co##on with other co#edians o& the ti#e was that he was &unny, He was tal+in* about politics onsta*e when that was considered career suicide, -ne o& his #ost &a#ous )o+es is 1$ conservative is so#eone who believes in re&or#, %ut not now.2 He was *iven #any co#parisons to the beat *eneration, which he didn(t believe, sayin* 1The beatni+s don(t want to be involved with society, which is the antithesis o& what 3 do,2 He was o&ten )ust thou*ht o& as the de#ocrat(s boy because he had tal+ed a*ainsed the 0isenhower ad#inistration, %ecause o& the 0isenhower insults, the 4ennedy(s )ust assu#ed he would be on their side, which he too+ to spite, and attac+ed 5 4 onsta*e, which ca#e bac+ to haunt hi# a&ter 5 4 was assassinated, al#ost endin* his career, Thou*h !ahl was never as popular as he was be&ore the 5 4 assassination, he was still one o& the #ost in&luential co#edians, still to this day, He was the co#edy revolution, be&ore there 6$! a revolution, and he helped to #a+e tal+in* about, and #a+in* &un o& politics and politicians o+,

7e8t is 9enny %ruce, the only son o& a shoe sales#an and a stripper, was born in Minneola, 9on* 3sland, whose parent(s divorced by the ti#e he was ', but were separated be&ore he was born, His 1

&irst *i* as a co#edian was at a club in %roo+lyn, earnin* hi# :12 and a spa*hetti dinner, $&ter that, he *ot a chance on Arthur Godfreys Talent Scouts, and he ended up tyin* &or &irst place, $&ter *oin* on ;od&rey(s dayti#e show, %ruce was boo+ &or a wee+ at The !trand on %roadway, and he bo#bed, He said this later 13 didn(t *et one *odda#n lau*h, The audience +new it was dishonest, 3t wasn(t #e,2 $&ter that he started han*in* around dra* clubs, and doin* shows &or what would not be considered the avera*e co#edy audience, Durin* this ti#e he tried #a+in* so#e #ovies, all o& which &ailed #iserably, and his &il# career is usually consider a )o+e, Doin* stand up in strip clubs #ade %ruce learn how to *et an audiences attention, havin* to *o on in between the wo#en the audience was waitin* to see, and he would #ost o&ten capture their attention by bein* dirty, He started doin* bits about thin*s that happened in his li&e, and destroyed the usual #other in law )o+e with his version, 1My #other in law destroyed #y #arria*e, My wi&e ca#e ho#e and &ound us in bed to*ether,2 His way to cal# a hec+ler was to convince the# to co#e on sta*e, and then throw a pie in their &ace, $&ter wor+in* the strip clubs &or years, by 1.'< he was the tal+ o& the town, and the #an to boo+, and he started playin* bi**er and bi**er venues, %ut so#e o& those venues were too traditional &or %ruce, and the place that really bro+e hi# was a little place in !an rancisco called $nn(s 440, which at the ti#e, was best +now &or its &eature attraction, a rench dra* =ueen, $nn(s 440 was where Hu*h He&ner &irst saw %ruce, and *ot hi# a boo+in* at a club in "hica*o, &or :8'0 a wee+, $s he be*an to *et #ore popular, a ti#e #a*a>ine article ca#e out which populari>ed the label 1sic+ co#edian2, and writin* that he 1uses &our?letter words as o&ten as con)unctions, and tal+s about rape and a#putees,2 %ut, as Paul 4rassner said, the sic+ label 1was )ust cheap shot short hand )ournalis#2 and that 1it dis#issed hi#, so it wasn(t &air, so it wasn(t &air because it wasn(t accurate, %ruce thou*ht society was sic+ and he was the cure2 and the swearin* or vul*arity was never the )o+e, it was )ust a way to +eep the audiences attention, or to #a+e the )o+e a bit #ore interestin*, !oon, %ruce was bein* reco*ni>ed by )a>> critics, especially the !an Francisco Chronicle(s Ralph 5,

;leason, who alon* with other in&luential critics, be*an analy>in* and praisin* %ruce, He too+ on #any topics that had been discussed by co#edians be&ore, li+e ta+in* on the $#erican Medical $ssociation, which at the ti#e was also bein* done by $lan 4in* and Mort !ahl, He also did his own ori*inal ta+e on used car sales#an, li+e tryin* to sell a car da#a*ed durin* a suicide pact 1There(s )ust a little lipstic+ on the e8haust pipe, 6ipe it ri*ht o&&,2 Then a ;er#an car, 1That was )ust used a little bit durin* the war? ta+in* the people bac+ and &orth to the &urnace,2 -ther 1sic+2 co#edians( )o+es were vul*ar or perverse, )ust because they could, and never had #eanin* li+e %ruce(s did, Thou*h co#edians be&ore hi# had done blue #aterial @Redd o88, %, !, PulleyA he was the &irst one to truly be in the public eye,

3n 1.B1, %ruce started *ettin* arrested &or obscenity, and started tal+in* about law and the le*al syste# onsta*e, @13 really want the supre#e court to stand up and tell #e that &uc+in* is dirty and no *ood2A, he &elt he was buildin* so#ethin* new, but really he was )ust losin* &ans, The &irst arrest was at the 5a>> 6or+shop on -ctober 10, 1.B1, because he used the word 1"oc+suc+er2, and was arrested &or brea+in* Police "ode 7o, 20', %ruce could not convince the o&&icer not to arrest hi#, and was ta+en to the police station, He was let out on :/B< bail and was bac+ &or the 1 $,M, show, but he was never the sa#e 9enny %ruce a*ain, 3n the court case in 1.B2, his #essa*e was soon lost, and all he could do was plea &or the )ud*e to believe he was bein* #isunderstood, He continued to try to a*ue that 1certain words are only taboo because so#e people don(t *et their conte8t2 a&ter that battle was over, %ruce went to 7ew Cor+ to do a show at carna*ie hall, and didn(t do a show in !an rancisco &or two years, 6hen he did return, the audience was &illed with undercover cops, and they had raised the tic+et prices so his nor#al &ans were outside protested the price, $&ter he was ac=uitted, he pro#ised never to say any bad words a*ain 13(# never *oin* to say any &our letter words a*ain, 3(# bored with the dirty word aspect, 3(# o&& &or a bi**er #ission,2 He decided that the reli*ious @Pseudo?"hristiansA were his ne8t tar*et, !oon %ruce beca#e #ore

a preacher than a co#edian, and he was preachin* to the choir, %ruce told a &riend that a co#edians )ob was 1to *et lau*hs every &i&teen or twenty seconds,2 6hen that &riend re#inded hi# years later he said 13(# not a co#edian, 3(# 9enny %ruce2 Thou*ht the o&&icial char*e was always obscenity, o&ten the cri#e he was arrested &or was bein* anti?reli*ion, 6hen the police or loc D$(s heard he was #a+in* )o+es about the "atholic "hurch, they went a&ter hi# &ull &orce, %ruce was actually banned &ro# countries &or his act, in $ustralia they #ade hi# leave when he told and audience 1Toni*ht, 3(# *oin* to do so#ethin* that(s never been done be&ore in a ni*ht club?3(# *oin* to piss on youD2 %y (B' he had been arrested 1. ti#es, but only one conviction, 7ear the end o& his career, it sadly beca#e that the only states %ruce could do a show in were "ali&ornia and lorida, $ writer &or !ports 3llustrated saw %ruce durin* his career decline, and said 1it was a sy#pathetic audienceE there was hardly any sound at all, He droned on un#erci&ully,2 %ruce passed away on $u*ust /, 1.BB, o& a #orphine overdose, $s Dic+ !chaap wrote 1one last &our letter word &or 9enny, Dead at &orty, Thats obscene,2 %ruce(s death was one o& the *reat tra*edies o& the B0(s, but we can than+ 9enny %ruce &or #a+in* it sa&e &or any per&or#er to spea+ there opinion onsta*e without worryin* about bein* arrested, 3n 200/, than+s to a petition si*ned by #any people, includin* Robin 6illia#s, 9enny %ruce was *iven the &irst ever posthu#ous pardon by the *overnor o& 7ew Cor+ ;eor*e 0, Pata+i, 9enny %ruce was also one o& the last people to ever be arrested on an obscenity char*e,

-ne o& the people who 9enny %ruce had the #ost in&luence on was ;eor*e "arlin, who was actually with %ruce one o& the ti#es he *ot arrested, 6hile %ruce was bein* ta+en to the police car, they started chec+in* the 3D(s o& everyone in the audience, #a+in* sure no one was under a*e, 6hen they ca#e to "arlin, he told then he 1didn(t believe in 3D2 and was ta+en to prison with %ruce, ;eor*e Dennis Patric+ "arlin was born and raised in 7ew Cor+ "ity, on 121st !treet in Manhattan, His #other raised hi#, leavin* his &ather when ;eor*e was 2 #onths old, "arlin dropped out o& hi*h school at 1', and o&ten ran

away &ro# ho#e, He )oined the Fnited !tates $ir orce and was trained as a radar technician stationed in %ossier "ity, 9ouisiana, 6hile in the #ilitary he started to D5 &or a local radio station, and never &inished his ti#e in the $ir orce because he was decided to be an 1unproductive air#an2 by hi*her ups, He was dischar*ed in 1.'<, 3n 1.'. ;eor*e and &riend 5ac+ %urn started as a co#edy tea# &or on the radio station 4G-9 in Te8as, Then in 1.B0 "arlin and %urns #oved to "ali&ornia to*ether be&ore splittin* up in a couple o& years to pursue individual endeavors, 3n the B0(s, "arlin be*an appearin* on #any television show, #ost +nown would be The Toni*ht !how, %ut soon, he beca#e tired o& the )o+es he was doin*, and reinvented hi#sel&, He *rew his hair, *rew a beard, and rather than wearin* a suit, he switched to blue )eans and a t?shirt, $round then is when he started doin* what is his best +now routine, the seven words you can(t say on radio or television@1!hit, Piss, uc+, "unt, "oc+suc+er, Mother&uc+er, and Tits, Those are the heavy seven, Those are the ones thatHll in&ect your soul, curve your spine and +eep the country &ro# winnin* the war,2A This was eventually on the albu# "lass "lown, He was arrested on obscenity char*es &or doin* the routine at Milwau+ee(s !u##er est in 1.<2, but the char*es were dropped because the )ud*e said that the words were indecent but he had the ri*ht to say the# as lon* as there was not a disturbance, 6hen another si#ilar "arlin bit was played on the radio in 1.</ the station was &ined by the "" &or havin* 1-bscene2 #aterial on the air, The case #ade it to the !upre#e "ourt and in a '?4 rulin* it was decided the routine was 1indecent but not obscene2 but the "" had the ri*ht to stop such broadcasts at ti#es when children could be listenin*, Thou*h that !upre#e "ourt case did li#it the a#ount o& &ree speech *iven on radio and television, as cable was bein* invented, "arlin was able to use H%- as a way to *et his thou*hts out, uncensored, and H%- still is uncensored to this day, alon* with #any other cable channels,

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These three co#edians, !ahl, %ruce, and "arlin, all had a di&&erent e&&ect on our &ree speech, !ahl helped show us that co#edy doesn(t all have to co#e &ro# the sa#e &or#ulaic )o+e boo+, and politicians were not out o& a per&or#er reach, %ruce wanted to help ta+e power away &ro# these words that were so &eared, and "arlin helped reach %ruce(s *oal, showin* $#erica that these &our letter words are )ust that, words,

%iblio*raphy
7ach#an, ;erald, !eriously unnyI the Rebel "o#edians o& the 1.'0s and 1.B0s, 7ew

Cor+I Pantheon, 200/, Print, "arlin, ;eor*e, and Tony Hendra, 9ast 6ords, 7ew Cor+I ree, 200., Print,

4antor, Michael, and 9aurence Maslon, Ma+e He# 9au*hI the unny %usiness o&

$#erica, 7ew Cor+I ;rand "entral, 2008, Print,

Jo*lin, Richard, Comedy at the Edge How Stand-up in the !"#s Changed America, 7ew

Cor+I %loo#sbury, 2008, Print,

K;eor*e "arlin ?,K $i%ipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 6eb, 04 Mar, 2010,

LhttpIMMen,wi+ipedia,or*Mwi+iM;eor*eN"arlinO,

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