Thank You Mask Man

Classic Lenny!

I found this on a 'Cartoon Scandals' video that I picked up in Philly in 1989. Since I can't find this anywhere else, I kept this video even though I've been changing to DVD's.

The way the story unfolds is actually pretty good. And pay attention because he fills it with non sequitors. ("How many times did he take out the garbage? Sweep the yard?")

The best line? "I like what they do with fags, they put them in jail with other men. Very clever."

Despite the limited animation, this is well worth owning. I've never seen animation like this anywhere else either come to think of it.

I only wish it were easier to find.

Usually most (controversial) cartoons are done in Hollywood and they are made by such as Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, Universal and Paramount and the make fun of Japanese and black people. This one is an independent film and it makes fun of homosexuals. This short subject is the earliest form of "Stanimation" (basically it is a cartoon, in which the soundtrack is nothing but a stand-up comedy act) before Comedy Central's "Shorties watching Shorties". If I am making a Top 11 list of controversial cartoons, this would be number one. The rest will be all Hollywood-made. Be surprised who made this cartoon. Could you guess? Jeff Hale. Now what's he known for, apart from playing Auggie Ben Doggie in "Hardware Wars" (1977)? Give up? He is known for doing the Ringmaster segments, the Typewriter guy skits and the Pinball Machine sequences from "Sesame Street". I bet you are all surprised now by the time you are done reading this comment.

Bottom line: Not suitable for children.

Not rated: but a PG-13 would do fine due to all the language and sexual references going on.

I first saw this Lenny Bruce skit on video when I was in college(20 years ago)....Actually never thought I'd see it again, but I was fortunate to get my hands on a VHS copy! Lenny was a pure genius and the Lone Ranger skit is so damn funny...Just thinking about the idea of the Lone Ranger being gay is enough to make you laugh..LOL.

Too bad that people in the 60's were so uptight....They had the "Leave it to Beaver" family mentality....So of course, they couldn't accept outlandish humor like this! If Lenny were around doing comedy TODAY, he'd be a big hit!

You can find this gem at the END of the Lenny Bruce Performance Film, which is hard, but not impossible to find.... Amazon.com has several sellers offering it as well.

I think I better transfer this to DVD...just in case the VHS tape breaks!!

Easily the best thing about the Lenny Bruce: Performance Film video. While the performance portion is one of Bruce's worst, this short shows him at his satirical best. The riff on homophobia isn't even the best part...the commentary on accepting thank-yous and the resultant egotism and self-aggrandizement are priceless, especially when the Mask Man goes to his mailbox only to discover that the Messiah has returned, and society has no need for him once evil has been eliminated.

Contrary to the review above, Lenny did not co-write and co-direct this film, unless he somehow managed to do so five years after his death. If anyone could do that, it would be Lenny.

Bruce's stream-of-consciousness comedic riffing, his ridiculing of homophobia and the denigration of Native Americans, his doing all the voices of the various characters, epitomize his genius, accomplished while he encountered endless formidable adversaries, the direct descendants of fanatical Comstockery. What torment he endured was a product in no small part of religious fanaticism, the same sort of social control that required the Supreme Court to decide against the forces of theocracy in Griswold v. Connecticut, Roe v. Wade, and Lawrence v. Texas.

Commentators here have complained about the quality of the film, but in 1971, lacking both the budget of a Disney studio and the current state of technology that allows for instance, for South Park, it captured the essence of the man and the quality of his work. Without Lenny, we couldn't have had Richard Pryor.