Photo: Kravis Center/Lenny Marmo
A show at the Kravis Center this weekend is billed as a "compelling look at the life of the most groundbreaking and impactful comedian of all time."
Ronnie Marmo stars in "I'm Not a Comedian... I'm Lenny Bruce."
"Lenny was the original...he was the first guy cancelled."
He says the comedian was ahead of his time and paved the way for people like Richard Pryor and George Carlin. Marmo refers to Dave Chappelle and others as the "modern day Lenny Bruces."
Bruce was arrested multiple times, often for profanity on stage in the 1960's.
Marmo, who also wrote this one-man show, says "Lenny was the first guy to get on stage and hold a mirror up to society." He says there are similarities between what he went through and what goes on today.
"I think Lenny would have a field day right now between cancel culture, the 'woke' generation. Free speech is still under attack, more than ever."
Bruce took his battle for free speech all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost.
"(Lenny Bruce) got arrested for saying words. He actually got arrested in 1961 in Los Angeles for saying schmuck."
The show is directed by film and stage star Joe Mantegna and there are four performances in the Rinker Playhouse spready out between Friday and Sunday.
Click Here for ticket information.