INTERVIEW: Bringing Lord Buckley to life at 59E59

Any history of 20th century comedy or the Beat Generation will include the counter-cultural figure Lord Buckley. The self-avowed hipster had a unique brand of humor that combined bebop, cabaret and comedy. Jake Broder brings Buckley to life at 59E59 Theaters in Midtown Manhattan with His Royal Hipness Lord Buckley, which previously played London and Los Angeles.

“A friend of mine who does comedy in the U.K. passed me a Lord Buckley album, and I listened to it and flipped out,” Broder said recently in a phone interview. “Kind of have been hooked ever since. That’s how it happened, way back in 1999.”

Having toured the show around the world, Broder has an interesting vantage point to see how Buckley’s story and jokes play to different crowds. He said the London audiences enjoyed the language of the piece and Buckley being both a British lord and interpreter of so-called hip speak. American audiences have picked up more on the political tones of the piece and how Buckley spoke to civil rights issues, some of which the United States is continuing to struggle with today.

“His comedy has more of a political nerve, a more American ethical nerve,” Broder said. “It’s rawer when you do it here in this country.”

Broder’s mission with His Royal Hipness Lord Buckley, which also features three musicians, is to re-create the scene in which Buckley operated. That’s a tough balancing act but one he attempts every evening at 59E59.

“Here’s the secret: I have been working for many, many years to try not to re-create Buckley’s work but to re-create the feeling that people had when they walked away from it,” he said. “He was funny, and he was subversive. And he really was preaching a humanist gospel that a lot of really heavy thinkers in the ‘50s got into in a big way. I mean you don’t know have George Harrison, and Bob Dylan, and Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg all writing about Buckley and talking about him like he was the guy who they went out to see. … He was an artist’s artist. It’s now a lot of years later, and a lot of things have changed. And comedy has to move, so I’m interested in the effect that his work had on the audience. And I want to share that feeling with the audience.”

Broder said his goal is not to preach or educate; instead, he’s looking to entertain, much like Buckley himself. “It fills in their heart a little bit with lots of laughter and good feelings,” he said. “I think sometimes that speaks to a deeper place in people than something that’s just for your head. So that’s what we’re trying to do. Whether or not we succeed, well, people have to judge for themselves. But that’s the intent.”

The musicians in the show — Mark Hartman, Brad Russell and Daniel Glass — are referred to as “jazz cats,” and the score was more improvisational before the 59E59 engagement. In fact, Broder didn’t write down the score before the Manhattan run, but now he has worked with the musicians to have the music tighter and tighter at each performance.

“It’s like rehearsing a jazz act just with a lot of bebop, comedy, scat singing in the middle,” Broder said. “It takes time for that to happen, but this group of guys, they were super hip and with it from day one. They had like two days of rehearsal before they jumped in. Everybody has said how great they are, and I agree. But I’m biased.”

On the horizon, after His Royal Hipness Lord Buckley ends Jan. 1, Broder is gearing up for some TV work in Los Angeles and a new play in Boston in March. Of course, his theatrical interpretation of Buckley will always be ready to go for the next re-creation of hipness.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

His Royal Hipness Lord Buckley, starring Jake Broder and directed by David Ellenstein, is currently playing 59E59 Theaters in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.