Lenny Bruce(Loose) impersonation Steve Allen Show 1958

[tomdelayhole]

Considering that Steve Allen ended up one of the worst of the censorship nags, it's telling to see him pulling away from Lenny Bruce when formerly he'd championed him on the Tonight Show.

[oldstock1607]

If this man truly did have talent, as everyone insists, it truly escapes me. Indeed, I'm quite certain that his enduring fame has more to do with his Jewishness (which he seems to have dwelled upon incessantly in his overrated acts) than from any true merits of his "comedy." If anyone truly doubts that Jews control Hollywood, ask yourselves, "why are there mainstream movies about Andy Kauffman (also of dubious comedic talent) and Lenny Bruce, yet none about, say, George Washington?

[pistachioguy]

Hahahaha! Brilliant!

[gnativerson]

Great ! - are there any more "UFO" skits to have survived???

[beyondwithinitself]

broke character @ 1:33. very insulting otherwise, though.

[blondesally]

lol great

[giles422]

That IS Pat Harrington! COPYING

[zounds456]

This is Pat Harrington doing the impression, I believe!!

[popselias]

Do you know who that is doing that impersonation?

[unclegusyo]

hah wonder why the ratings are disabled, this is more like lee evans than lenny bruce.

[zoetropez]

Julie, I'm going to shoot up some dope and then sleep with your mother. I have many many keys.

[jb68025]

OK thats Schneider from one day at a time.

[henrybird]

this is funny period. why dont all you people just chill?

[mdee66]

Letterman's "Lyle the Intern" has a striking similarity to this.

[nyy027]

This is why Steve Allen was a TOOL.He hated anything that was new and different.He said at one time I wrote over 1000 songs.And the late GREAT Jack Parr said I never heard 1 of them on the Tonight Show.

[seangabbert1]

Hey you stupid motherfucker, Steve Allen was one of the only talk show host that put Lenny Bruce on and had him on often. He championed Lenny, and Lenny loved him. If not for Steve Allen, we might not even recognize the name Lenny Bruce SNL impersonates everyone under the sun weather they like the person or not. So why was Allen a Tool? This impression is kind of cheesy for our time, but really, I hope you're not a comic, because you don't know a goddamn thing, not one thing.

[FrankiesMom]

Paar's actual line was wittier: "Steve Allen claims to have written 1000 songs: Name two." The point being, everyone can name, "This Could be The Start of Something Big," and very few can name anything else. Sometimes a dull spoilsport will completely miss the point of the line and dredge up "The Gravy Waltz" or something.

[essaness27]

but steve was funnier, and he wrote more songs than paar.

[FrankiesMom]

Yes, I see your point, and I agree. I think Paar brought real conversation to talk shows. He could jumpstart guests into telling an anecdote, and then encourage the audience to follow his lead by actively listening, and throwing in a word here and there when a guest became tongue-tied. It was different, not as funny, but a delightful display of the now-forgotten art of anecdote telling. (Witness Judy Garland's impression of Marlene Dietrich crashing a party. "Hewwo, daw-wings!")

[essaness27]

I would not want to live on the difference between Steve Allen and Jack Paar. Jack was witty. I loved watching him perform. Great talent. But "Gravy Waltz" is also one of my favorite songs (ever hear Mel Torme's version in song?) and my dad went to school with Steve (Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa), he and I have the same name, and his reruns play better than Jack's, but I couldn't choose one over the other. I just laugh harder at Steve Allen.

[FrankiesMom]

Why do people keep responding to this? I agreed with essaness27 because who is going to easte time arguing with someone who thinks that Jack Paar was a musician? I haven't chosen one over the other. Paar brought conversation to the mix, Allen brought lightning-fast wit and sketch comedy to the mix. Apples and oranges. It was the evolution of a television show.

[weinerbongo]

Steve Allen put Frank Zappa on television before anyone else.

[mikemedeiros]

This was in the very early days of exposure to Lenny and unfotunately that was how he behaved on the air. I had never seen anyone do a Bruce impression and I think Pat captured him as he was then. I'm sure even Lenny thought itwas a gas.

[MisfitDoctor]

it is a good impression though

[fullblowngenius]

This is so on target---BULLZEYE!!! And more than likely done by a rabid admirer. There are subtleties within subtleties, within the grotesqueries. And my God, the PHYSICAL is on par with the vocal interps. I dunno, just my catch on it. Whatever the case, I'm glad Lenny's spirit floats along the TUBE for the initiated and the un-so...

[slydawwg]

What were Steve Allen and his crew thinking when they booked this clown. This guy represented everything Bruce had contempt for.

[ACcountryFan]

This clown was the show's cast-member, Pat Harrington Jr. doing a broad satire on Lenny Bruce. Broad satire deals with "capturing the personality" of the person being spoofed instead of being dead-on with the vocal. The satire dealt with the very idea of "Lenny Bruce" saying those kinds of things. It's satire...not a comedy form that everyone get's.

[DrDespicable]

I don't know about satire, but it was certainly a living caricature.  And I think Lenny would have dug it. I mean, if you look at his work, he couldn't very well have taken offense of people doing to him what he was doing to others. I don't think it was mean-spirited, and on both sides, a lot has to do with perception.

[BuckNekkid3000]

great skrimm! pat harrington absolutely shines on this great LB impersonation. totally cool. people who don't dig this just ain't gettin' it. LB was a pioneer in the spirit of lewis and clark.

[colemckelvie]

if u took offence to this, you're not a comedy fan, it's all in the name of comedy, everyone can let ther guard down

[Skrimm]

Hey MoochChassidy go Blow Yourself!Why do you Keep Returning here then to Post Your Bullshit Opinions.

[moochcassidy202]

probably the worst impression in television history

[DrDespicable]

Are you counting Rich Little's "impersonation" of Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau?

[TimS440]

It was a hilarious impersonation. And I laughed harder when I found out that Pat Harrington -- freaking Schneider from One Day At A Time! -- was doing the impersonation.

[FunnyHaHaFunnyHaHa]

great impression.

[FlannelMenace]

Terrible. Maybe if I had never heard or seen any of Bruce's original material and only listened to the lies that are perpetuated today to discredit the most profound performer of the 20th century, I would think this was good.

[Skrimm]

All you Bruce & Icon Worishipers out there looking to be offended by this,Lighten up!Take this in the spirit that it was meant-high praise & flattery.This was done before any of Lenny's legal Troubles started,and on the show that featured him twice.Consider the historical context,without bringing to bear all that you know & feel now.Bruce would have been flattered i'm sure.Lenny Bruce as profound and insightfull a social critic as he was, at his core,was still a comic.

[RakimAllah777]

is Lenny's performance up?

[RoscoeKarns]

The most profound performer of the 20th century? LOL. "Yeah, man, he had the guts to say 'fuck' on stage. He's my hero." - You Bruce worshippers are pathetic. Or should I say fucking pathetic.

[geerto]

If you think he was about that, your don't know his stuff. Go watch carrottop, idiot.

[RoscoeKarns]

"Don't you get it, man? That cat, Bruce, was speaking TRUTH to power!" LOL. And Yoko Ono is saving the world. You're the idiot.

[jamesoblivion]

Without Bruce, you could deep-six about 90% of the stand-up that's come since. If you deny that his impact was MASSIVE, the whole world will know that you're lying.