Lenny Schultz

Lenny Schultz
Born (1933-12-13) December 13, 1933
Bronx, New York City, New York
Medium Stand-up, television, gym teacher
Nationality American
Alma mater New York University (B.S.)
Hunter College (M.S.)
Years active 1969–present (semi-retired)
Genres Alternative comedy, Improvisational comedy, Prop comedy
Influenced Gallagher, Carrot Top
Spouse Helen Schultz
Children 1

Lenny Schultz (born December 13, 1933) is an American high school gym teacher and stand-up comedian of the alternative comedy genre.

Biography

Born in The Bronx,[1] he began making other children laugh at age eight by imitating chickens, making sound effects, and doing voices.[2][3] Originally hoping for a career as a major league baseball pitcher, at 18 Schultz was offered a contract by a New York Yankee-owned minor league team.[4] A shoulder injury compelled him to turn down the contract and ended his athletic career.[2]

Instead he went to college, earning a bachelor of science degree from New York University and a master of science degree in Education from Hunter College.[2] After serving in the United States Army in Special Services, he became a high school gym teacher in 1955, teaching at such New York City schools as John Adams High School and Newtown High School.[3][1][5] As a teacher, he was appreciated by his students and fellow teachers for his sense of humor, but ignored their encouragement to take up stand-up comedy. When friends convinced him to write a few minutes of an act, he debuted at open mic night at The Improv comedy club in New York in 1969 and quickly gained a popular following.[2][3]

Four months later he appeared on The Merv Griffin Show, which led to appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Ed Sullivan Show, and numerous other shows.[2] By the late 1970s he was a popular comedian both on television and at comedy clubs, particularly in the Catskill Mountains.[2] His catch-phrase was "Go crazy, Lenny!",[1] which he encouraged audience members to yell at him while he performed outrageous and zany antics in his act.[4] Schultz often incorporated props in his act, with the assistance of his wife Helen (with whom he had one child[4]). Unlike his television act, his stand-up often included lewd or adult humor.[6]

Throughout his comedy career he continued working as a high school gym teacher and was known to leave clubs early on school nights.[4][6] Schultz was known among his fellow comedians as a "hard act to follow".[2] Nick Catalano wrote that once at the Friars Club, such comedy legends as Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Alan King, and Henny Youngman refused to go on after Schultz's performance.[6] Schultz told a reporter: "I love what I am doing and the comedy is a tremendous outlet for me. It's something I just love even though I am not getting paid for it".[5] Schultz's comedy style has been called influential on such comics as Gallagher, Carrot Top, and the Legendary Wild, and praised by such comedians as Brett Butler,[4] David Letterman,[7] Jon Stewart and Billy Crystal, who both said that he always got a standing ovation and "always killed.".[8]

In 1992 Schultz became semi-retired and moved to Sullivan County, New York with his wife.[2]

Television appearances

References

  1. 1 2 3 Erickson, Hal (2000). From Beautiful Downtown Burbank: A Critical History of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, 1968–1973. McFarland. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-786-44049-8.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bosch, Adam (September 7, 2007). "Lenny's crazy Catskill antics". Times-Herald Record. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Lenny Schultz's Characters help". The Spartanburg Herald-Journal. November 15, 1980. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Cohen, Amanda (June 25, 1996). "Comedian Lenny Schultz still goes crazy after all these years". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "What's It Like to Try To Be Funny on Stage?". Schenectady Gazette. July 26, 1975. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Catalano, Nick (2008). New York Nights: Writing, Producing and Performing in Gotham. iUniverse. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-0-595-60689-4.
  7. ↑ "I like Kettlecorn". Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. June 20, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Billy Crystal Extended Interview Pt. 2". The Daily Show. September 12, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2016.

External links

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