Lenny Bruce in 'Lenny Bruce' [Lenny Bruce]

New York: Film-Makers' Distribution Center, 1967. Vintage two-color flyer for a benefit night of screenings of the 1967 documentary, presented at the Village Theatre on February 17, 1967, and hosted by legendary filmmaker Jonas Mekas and the Film-Makers' Distribution Center. Flyer designed by Fluxus artist George Maciunas.

A wonderful confluence of three iconic revolutionaries in their field. Held to benefit the Film-Makers' Fund, an organization established by Mekas to help fund independent filmmakers, the screenings were also a tribute to Bruce, who had died only six months earlier. As stated on the flyer, "Lenny, who was rarely satisfied with any of his work, called this 'maybe the best thing I've ever done'. He wanted it be called simply 'Lenny Bruce'. He hoped it would be shown unedited, unexpurgated. It will be." Mekas honored Bruce's wishes, and it was.

Alternately known as "The Lenny Bruce Performance Film" and "Lenny Bruce in 'Lenny Bruce,’" the documentary captures Bruce's penultimate nightclub performance, a year before his death, and is the only live performance of Bruce captured on film. Filmed at San Francisco's Basin Street West in August 1965 after a lengthy and costly obscenity trial (which he lost), Bruce's performance largely eschews his comic 'bits,' instead concentrating on the absurdity and hypocrisy of the trial and the charges, often reading allegations and transcripts from the trial and refuting them.

8.5 x 8.25 inches. Near Fine.

[Book #158065]