Ronnie Marmo brings his one-man show I\u2019m Not a Comedian … I\u2019m Lenny Bruce to the Chutzpah! Festival Nov. 18. <\/i>(photo from dorensorellphotography.com via Chutzpah!)<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/i>In 2017, with the expectation of a six-week run, creator and performer Ronnie Marmo and director Joe Mantegna brought I\u2019m Not a Comedian … I\u2019m Lenny Bruce<\/i> to the stage. Now, celebrating eight years and 468 performances, Marmo told the Independent<\/i>, \u201cwe can not wait to bring it up to Vancouver for 469!\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m Not a Comedian … I\u2019m Lenny Bruce<\/i> is part of this year\u2019s Chutzpah! Festival, which runs Nov. 12-23. It\u2019s being presented on Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m., at the Rothstein Theatre.<\/p>\n
Bruce, a groundbreaking standup comedian and satirist, was born Leonard Alfred Schneider in Mineola, on Long Island, NY, in 1925. He consistently pushed social and legal boundaries, being arrested more than once for what was considered obscenity in his day, including a conviction in 1964 for a performance he gave at Caf\u00e9 Au Go Go in New York City. Bruce died two years later, at age 40, from an accidental overdose. He was bankrupt, basically not having been employable after the conviction. It would be 37 years before he was posthumously pardoned, by then-governor George E. Pataki.<\/p>\n
In I\u2019m Not a Comedian … I\u2019m Lenny Bruce<\/i>, Marmo told the Independent<\/i>, \u201cWe bookend the show with the final moments of his life and take you on a journey through his first performance all the way to his demise. We learn about his family, we see his charm and success, his struggle with addiction, his long-standing fight with the judicial system. We don\u2019t hold back. You really get a full theatrical experience of his entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bruce is one of Marmo\u2019s heroes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat inspires me about Lenny is how ahead of his time he was and how passionate he was about his pursuit of the truth. I have so much respect for someone who is willing to sacrifice everything and put it all on the line just to make sure he didn\u2019t fall into suit with everyone else. I\u2019m proud to be entrusted by the family to be the one to tell his story to the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marmo landed on the title for the show after hearing Bruce say, in an audio clip, \u201cI\u2019m sorry I wasn\u2019t funny tonight … I\u2019m not a comedian, I\u2019m Lenny Bruce.\u201d For Marmo, that comment resonated. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t a comedian \u2013 he was so much more than that,\u201d said Marmo of Bruce. \u201cHe was a satirist, a social commentator and a true advocate for the freedom of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show has evolved a lot since its creation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the writer, I am always tinkering with the script,\u201d said Marmo. \u201cFor example, I removed the famous \u2018N-word\u2019 bit when we came back after the pandemic. I felt as though, even though the bit itself was in support of removing power from words so we don\u2019t give them the chance to harm us, I knew that people might have a hard time hearing what Lenny was actually trying to say. Plus, even though I loved the impact it had on an audience, it kept me up at night thinking about it even before<\/i> events like what happened to George Floyd. I have a responsibility as an artist to tell the absolute truth but also to not be tone deaf to the world around me. I don\u2019t believe Lenny would have done that bit today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI also had long discussions with Kitty [Bruce, Lenny\u2019s daughter] and my director, Joe Mantegna, who both agreed that it was best to remove it. So, I replaced it with \u2018The Meaning of Obscenity,\u2019 which, in my opinion, supports the show even more. So, I\u2019m happy to make the switch, knowing it is not only the best fit culturally in this climate but also the strongest choice for the show overall. As a performer, my portrayal of Lenny evolves as I explore my own life and how I tell his story resonates differently depending on where I am in my life. I think it takes passion, dedication and an openness to watch it grow and evolve along with me.\u201d<\/p>\n While I\u2019m Not a Comedian … I\u2019m Lenny Bruce<\/i> premiered in 2017, Marmo said, \u201cI\u2019ve actually been with Lenny since 2005, when I did another show about him, called Lenny\u2019s Back and Boy is He Pissed<\/i>. On stage, I don\u2019t separate us \u2013 it is my job as an actor to find where we meet in the middle. I try to focus on all the similarities that I identify with for Lenny. It is easy to keep it fresh because it is such an emotional ride and massive performance. I don\u2019t feel like I \u2018have it\u2019 yet, which is refreshing, because it always feels just slightly out of reach.\u201d<\/p>\n When Marmo did Lenny\u2019s Back<\/i>, which was brought to him by comedian Charlie Brill, he became \u201cintimately involved with Lenny Bruce and his life.<\/p>\n \u201cIn getting to know him, I realized that there was so much of his story we weren\u2019t telling. I wanted to get into the nitty gritty, I wanted to do his bits,\u201d said Marmo. \u201cSo, I set out to write my own show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe initially started the show anticipating a six-week run,\u201d he said. \u201cThis thing has caught fire in the most incredible way. It is a testament to just how relevant Lenny is today \u2013 perhaps even more than he was over 60 years ago! It truly has been a perfect storm: free speech, first amendment, cancel culture and not to mention the success of the Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel<\/i>. They really helped catapult Lenny\u2019s name back into pop culture and have sold thousands of tickets for us. We have, in some ways, come very far and, in others, not far at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Marmo described Bruce as \u201ca very proud Jewish man,\u201d who often incorporated Judaism and his Jewish heritage into his material. \u201cHe openly incorporated his Yiddish vocabulary into his bits and there is quite a bit of familiar references sprinkled throughout the show,\u201d said Marmo. \u201cHis relationship with religion overall was complex but, rather than hiding his heritage, he celebrated it.\u201d<\/p>\n As for what he thought gave Bruce the courage to run up against the country\u2019s obscenity laws, Marmo said, \u201cThe truth. He held a mirror up to society and asked questions that everyone wondered about but never found any resolution to. He also fervently believed in our judicial system and always believed that it would prevail and he would be redeemed \u2013 something that he, unfortunately, didn\u2019t see in his lifetime, but did come to fruition with his posthumous pardon in 2003 \u2013 the first in New York history, in fact. He spoke out loud what everyone whispered to themselves and his popularity was proof of how profound he was.\u201d<\/p>\n Even though Bruce wasn\u2019t alive to receive the pardon, Marmo still believes it was an important action.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a landmark symbolic victory for free speech,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it was redemption. It was validation that Lenny had something to say to this society and that we are free-thinking creatives entitled to our artistic expression.\u201d<\/p>\n