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1964 comic Lenny Bruce ad and conviction...
1964 comic Lenny Bruce ad and conviction...
Item # 708211
November 26, 1964
THE VILLAGE VOICE (weekly), Greenwich Village, New York City, Nov. 26, 1964
* Lenny Bruce - stand-up comedian - satirist ad
* Conviction for obscenity comedy performance
The top of the front page has a heading: "Lenny's Censors on the Couch - p.5"
Page 5 has a heading: "The Bruce Conviction: A View from the Couch" Coverage continues on another page.
wikipedia notes: In April 1964, he appeared twice at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village, with undercover police detectives in the audience. He was arrested along with club owners Howard and Elly Solomon, who were arrested for allowing an obscene performance. On both occasions, Bruce was arrested after leaving the stage.
A three-judge panel presided over his widely publicized six-month trial, prosecuted by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Richard Kuh, with Ephraim London and Martin Garbus as the defense attorneys. Bruce and Howard Solomon were found guilty of obscenity on November 4, 1964. The conviction was announced despite positive testimony and petitions of support from—among other artists, writers and educators—Woody Allen, Bob Dylan, Jules Feiffer, Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, William Styron, and James Baldwin, and Manhattan journalist and television personality Dorothy Kilgallen and sociologist Herbert Gans.
Page 15 has a nice full page advertisement for "THE RETURN OF LENNY BRUCE" performance at the Village Theatre.
I suspect this to be an extremely rare item because their was really no reason to save it at the time.
The Village Voice was an American counterculture newspaper known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. It introduced free-form, high-spirited, and passionate journalism into the public discourse - a tradition it maintained throughout its 60+ year history. It is quite common to find great political cartoons, satirical cartoons and articles, thought-provoking editorials, and ads and reviews for both concerts and theater productions - both on and off Broadway. Many iconic writers and musicians credit their appearance in The Village Voice for at least a portion of their success.
Complete with 32 pages, tabloid size, one fold along the center, nice condition.
Provenance note: This issue comes from The Village Voice's own archives, part of their in-house collection used to create their digital archive. Rare as such.
Alert: Many issues of The Village Voice contain articles and/or photos which some consider offensive, and are certainly inappropriate for children. Please purchase with discretion.
Category: The 20th Century
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