Screaming at Sam
The genius of Lenny Bruce was that he used shock and profanity to expose the meanness of language (“The New Lenny Bruce? Or Just Another Loud Comedian?” by Lawrence Christon).
Sam Kinison, on the other hand, merely uses it to expose the language of his meanness.
Kinison is reinforcing the toxicity of language that Lenny Bruce fought to render harmless.
Just another loud comedian? No. He’s just another hate stylist and witless pig, figuratively speaking, that we can do without.
PHILIP CENTANNI
Los Angeles
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