When I'm Bad, I'm Better: The Groundbreakers
Series about American comedy looks at how audacious performers from Mae West to Lenny Bruce invoked 'freedom of speech' to bring laughs.
Six-part series chronicling over 100 years of American comedy, introduced by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaris.
In the ongoing war against hypocrisy, conservatism, sentimentality, liberalism, extremism and complacency, it was always the comedian who led the first wave of attack. Rather than using risque jokes and four-letter words simply to get a rise out of an audience, the most audacious comedians - from pioneers like Mae West and Moms Mabley to 1960s and 70s bad boys like Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and George Carlin - invoked what the First Amendment of the American Constitution calls 'freedom of speech' to bring the biggest and most dangerous laughs to the American public.
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Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Billy Crystal |
Producer | Michael Kantor |
Director | Michael Kantor |
Writer | Michael Kantor |
Broadcasts
- Tue 9 Jun 2009 23:25
- Wed 10 Jun 2009 02:50
- Mon 3 May 2010 23:50
- Tue 4 May 2010 03:15