Now and then, somebody decides to come out with a subjective list of the greatest something or another that seems designed to make people scream into a pillow. One such list was compiled by the folks at Comedy Central in 2004; according to the network, it is the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. The top-three comedians on their list were Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Lenny Bruce (in that order). Not to be outdone, Rolling Stone put out its own list of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time in 2017; the top-three spots were identical to the Comedy Central list.
This isn’t all that surprising, seeing as how Pryor, Carlin, and Bruce have long been considered to be among the best and most influential people in their field. What’s extra interesting about those selections, however, is the fact that all three of them were in the military before doing stand-up. And fittingly enough, for three of the most rebellious comics on those lists, each of them was kicked out after a brief stint. Veteran’s Day seemed like an appropriate time to look back on their short-lived military careers.
Lenny Bruce
In 1942, Lenny Bruce joined the U.S. Navy at just 16 years old. He was a shell passer and would see action in Africa, Italy, and France. Though he had an excellent record for the most part, he wouldn’t last the entirety of his teenage years. In 1945, he told a group of psychiatrists at Newport Naval Hospital in Rhode Island that he “sometimes” enjoyed wearing women’s clothing. “When is that?” they asked. He replied, “When they fit.”
Bruce was initially given an undesirable discharge for his behavior. After an attorney reviewed his case and saw how ridiculous it was, they eventually changed it to an honorable discharge.
George Carlin
George Carlin joined the Air Force in 1954 and served as a radar technician. It was during that time that he first started working as a radio DJ in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was court-martialed three times in three years and received several other disciplinary punishments in addition. In 1957, he received a general discharge; among the reasons listed in his discharge papers were “driving while intoxicated” and “disrespecting an Air Policeman.”
Richard Pryor
First joining the Army in 1958, Richard Pryor would serve for just 18 months. As Pryor told it, his experience transformed him into a “vicious killing machine” one weekend when his unit was watching the Lana Turner movie Imitation of Life. During one of the more racially sensitive scenes in the film, a white soldier started laughing, which led to an altercation between him and one of Pryor’s friends. The white soldier had the upper hand, prompting Pryor to stab him with a switchblade several times. He got thrown in jail for the incident, and, fortunately, was able to get an honorable discharge because the base commander was about to retire and didn’t want to deal with the situation.
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