Lenny Bruce Returns to the Stage — And He’s Still Not Afraid

“That’s great, It starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes and airplanes, and Lenny Bruce is not afraid.”

Though this R.E.M. lyric may have been selected to fit the rhyme scheme, it speaks to something about the late great comedian’s career: He wasn’t afraid to challenge mainstream norms of the 1950s and 1960s of what was acceptable to talk about as a stand-up comic, even if it ended up costing him his career.

The story of Bruce’s life and career, from his groundbreaking comedy to his infamous 1964 obscenity trial, is the focus of “I’m Not a Comedian … I’m Lenny Bruce,” a one-man show written by and starring Ronnie Marmo and directed by Joe Mantegna that will be performed at The Suffolk in Riverhead on Thursday, July 17, at 8 p.m.

Growing up, Marmo had heard his parents mention Bruce’s name, but he didn’t become familiar with Bruce’s work until 20 years ago when comedian Charlie Brill asked him about it and said he reminded him of Bruce. Brill then recruited him to star in a new one-man show “Lenny Bruce Is Back (And Boy Is He Pissed)” and offered to direct it.

As Marmo began researching Bruce, he saw multiple parallels between their lives, citing their respective bonds with their mother and daughter and struggles with addiction. But he was most struck by Bruce’s resolve was to not be restricted in what he could and couldn’t say on stage and television.

“I just thought ‘Wow, look at this guy who was willing to lay it all on the line just to say what he wanted to say and really exercise his right for free speech and the First Amendment,” said Marmo in a recent phone interview. “I was really taken by him, the way people saw and felt about him and how he was right before George Carlin and Richard Pryor and how he paved the way for those guys.”

Marmo performed as Bruce in “Lenny Bruce Is Back” in two separate six-month runs over the course of five years starting in 2010. But after doing this, he woke up one day and realized that there was a lot about Bruce’s life that this show had left out.

One of the key missing pieces was Bruce’s actual material. The writers of “Lenny Bruce Is Back” didn’t have the rights to include the actual dialogue, so they could only refer to these monologues instead of using them line-for-line.

“I felt like every Lenny piece I had ever read about kind of pigeonholed him into this bitter, angry comic at the end of his life,” he said. “And I thought it would be really cool to not only do his material, but also really focus on him as a man with all his flaws and successes.”

To get the rights to include Bruce’s material, Marmo had to first earn the trust of Kitty Bruce, Bruce’s daughter. Marmo noted that others who have made works about Bruce have done so without her permission, and he wanted to do it the right way. After a few years of the two discussing it and Marmo laying out his vision, he was given permission to include them.

Armed with material and Bruce’s 1965 autobiography “How To Talk Dirty and Influence People,” Marmo wrote the script for “I’m Not a Comedian” over the course of five years. Marmo said that “I don’t sit at my laptop all day and write, I kind of have to receive it and get crazy inspired,” so he wrote the script in short bursts. Oftentimes, he would write for a few days and then not return to it until months later.

The show opens with Marmo as Bruce dead on the toilet, where he died in 1966 of an overdose. The idea came from his director Mantegna to serve as a nontraditional introduction to the show.

“It was such a striking image and it’s very tasteful, it’s more of a suggestion,” said Marmo. “I felt it would be interesting to start the story in Lenny’s last moment and tell it in reverse.”

The 90-minute show tells Bruce’s story over the course of three acts. Not only does Marmo play Bruce, but also other figures in his life, weaving in and out of them throughout the show, with the audience, lighting and sound design serving as his scene partners.

Marmo started performing “I’m Not a Comedian” in 2017; this show at The Suffolk will mark the 456th time he’s performed it. However, he admits that the show is still a challenge with its demanding content as one man performing it all.

“What’s crazy is that I feel like I don’t know it, it’s overwhelming and very humbling,” he explained. “I think that’s why I still do it because every time I don’t know what’s gonna happen It’s slightly out of reach and that humbles me and makes it a challenge, I feel like I’m climbing a mountain every time I do it.”

Marmo credited Mantegna’s direction as a key factor for the show’s success and his performance, saying that “it’s so great when your director is someone that you admire so much, both personally and artistically.”

“He was the perfect gentle hand to navigate this story, because in the wrong hands, this could be a very indulgent play for an actor, as well as a director,” he said. “But he and I made sure the pace was great and make everything so precious.”

As he continues to perform the show, Marmo emphasized the importance of performing it in a time where he believes free speech is under attack, even more than during Bruce’s life.

“We need Lenny’s voice now more than ever,” he said. “There’s a lot of hypocrisy in the world, especially in our country. Lenny Bruce really held a mirror up to society and I’d like to do that again now.”

Ronnie Marmo performs “I’m Not a Comedian … I’m Lenny Bruce” at The Suffolk on Thursday, July 17, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39 to $79 at thesuffolk.org. The Suffolk is at 118 East Main Street in Riverhead.