You naughty, naughty comedian!

I feel that both Lenny Bruce and Bill Hicks are 'nasty comedians' but in these instances I do not feel this is a bad thing.

Lenny Bruce destroyed censorship and a lot of his work has been taken out of context. Bruce on many occasions did not commit an illegal act but was arrested because of his political beliefs. Without Bruce’s actions we would not have so many greats after him and would not have freedom of speech like we do now. I do not think that Bruce had the same effect as people like Martin Luther King but I think his contribution to the counter culture was important. The film Lenny gives a better impression of the man than the tabloids ever did and shows how troubled the man actually was. (the film however may give him too much credit! see... )http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcoceOhB0QM

Bill Hicks was clearly also a troubled man but he used his pessimistic perspective of America to try and open others minds, trying to prevent the 'mall society'. He intentionally caused controversy as a tactic to get attention and both Hicks and Bruce had strong political intentions when they got on stage. For this I admire both of them, even if I do not agree with their lifestyles.

Thanks for listening. (sort of!)