Lenny Bruce raided a Bruce performance. By others: Lenny Bruce Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-style and critical form of comedy which integrated satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon, the first in the history of New York state, by then-Governor George Pataki in 2003. Bruce is renowned for paving the way for future outspoken counterculture-era comedians, and his trial for obscenity
Alfred Vance Alfred Vance Alfred Peek Stevens (1839 – 26 December 1888), best known by his stage name of Alfred Vance, was a 19th-century English music hall singer. Vance was born in London in 1839. He worked initially as a solicitor's clerk, before appearing in music halls. His first solo appearance was at the South London Palace in 1864, but he had earlier performed in a blackface act with his brother in 1860. His act, initially as a Cockney singer, evolved into comedy. He was also known as The Great Vance, and Alfred Grenville. Throughout the 1860s, Vance along with contemporaries, Arthur