December 22

The holiday season puts a lot of pressure on people which is probably why, in a trial without a jury, on the 22nd in 1964 Lenny Bruce was convicted of obscenity, a decision, which when viewed from a vantage point over 40 years on, now seems just plain silly. Bruce’s brand of comedy now seems distressingly banal. But then again all too many things that at one time seemed frightening are now just terribly plain, edging ever closer to becoming unforgivably boring. As hard as it may be to believe, there was a time when rock and roll was innovative and dangerous; now it is nothing more than the rather tepid, corpulent beneficiary of corporate largesse. Today people react to a guy like Marilyn Manson whereas they responded to a guy like Alice Cooper. There is a huge difference between reacting and responding and I find this development to be somewhat sad in many ways. I think both comedy and rock and roll is far more interesting when it is dangerous.