Beth Lapides’ wildly effective workshop comedy writing and performance workshop. Cultivate your authentic voice for one-person shows, personal essays, standup, scripts, books, teaching and your evolution as a human.
Lenny Bruce committed his life to telling the truth, but his truth pissed off a lot of people. To those attending his brilliantly profane rants in small clubs and lounges his words were not only sharp and incisive, they were a light in the dark repression of the early 1960s.
Fifty years ago, in April of 1963, Lenny Bruce was in a downward spiral. Considering the night club stage as “the last frontier” of uninhibited entertainment, he uttered his provocative words and was arrested for obscenity in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Chicago.
George Carlin was present at Lenny Bruce’s arrest for obscenity. As the police detained members of the audience for questioning and asked for ID, Carlin said he did not believe in government-issued IDs. He was arrested and taken to jail with Bruce in the same car. George Carlin would later be arrested in July, 1972, by Wisconsin police and charged with public indecency for violating obscenity laws by performing the routineSeven Words You Can Never Say on Television, which would become central to the 1978 Supreme Court case in which the justices affirmed the government’s power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves.
Lenny Bruce and George Carlin weren’t the first artists to be convicted for obscenity. Eighty-six years ago, in April, 1927, Mae West was sentenced to 10 days in jail for Sex, a play she wrote, produced, directed and starred in. The theater was raided and West was arrested and prosecuted on morals charges for “corrupting the morals of youth.” She served eight days with two days off for good behavior and the media attention turned her notorious and only enhanced her career.
It is always a treat to drop in at UnCabaret and see what sort of stellar line-up Beth has lined-up. One of the distinguishing elements of UnCabaret at First & Hope is that everyone is so friendly. From Suzanna’s warm greeting at the door when you arrive to Beth’s curtain speech, the vibe of the night always feels a little bit show and a little bit party.
¡Dios mío! UnCabaret’s Cinco de Mayo show is going to be more fun than a piñata party!
We’ll be spicing things up with Sam Pancake, who rescheduled his recently cancelled appearance for reasons to be revealed in a new story definitely worth waiting for!
Sam’s latest sold out show “Wasted on a Boy” proved his talent is definitely not wasted on this boy. Whether he’s stealing scenes on TV and in movies like “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde,” making YouTube relevant with videos like “My Drunk Aunts” Sam Pancake is always delightfully delicious. But never more so than at UnCabaret.
Also returning to UnCabaret this Sunday are hot tamale Kira Soltanovich (the voice of the phone booth on Leno), Emmy Award-winning writer Greg Fitzsimmons (see him in Episode 3 of UnCabaret Amazon) and comic in residence Rebecca Corry – who may finally follow through on her threat to tell her story of being locked in Courteney Cox’s bathroom. Plus soulful music from Sam Morrow! And funny tunes from Karen Kilgariff (look for her in Episode 1 of UnCabaret Amazon) who will be sing new songs.
Grab your serape and help us turn Cinco de Mayo turn into Cinco de My-oh-my-oh!
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We’re very excited to have 3 UnCabaret Debuts this Sunday April 28! New new new! It’s spring, a time when stuff sprouts and blooms and explodes and, you know, just grows! Tickets!
Missi Pyle, Tom Lenk, Shelby Fero!
Today The Nerdist called Shelby Fero one of the 4 women comics you should know about! Do you know about her? You should! Not to make you feel bad. There are so many things you should know about. We are here to help! They also say you should know about Tig Notaro who is featured on our UnCabaret Amazon shows.
Tom Lenk’s YouTube video of his call to Tim Gunn is one of the funniest and most endearing videos we have ever seen. You may have loved him on Buffy but you will love him more on UnCab!
Missi Pyle is the rare exception of the blonde bombshell who doesnlt just get by on her looks. In the tradition of one of our other fave blonde bombshells, Jennifer Coolidge!
We’re also thrilled to have Rebecca Corry, Melanie Mayron (30 Something), Kelly Carlin (yes, she of Dad George Carlin) and Raspin!
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