Kitty Bruce: The House that Lenny Built

Summary

Podcast Summary: Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch

Episode: Kitty Bruce: The House that Lenny Built

Air Date: March 25, 2026

Host: Rachel Dratch

Co-host: Irene Bremis

Guest: Kitty Bruce

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Episode Overview

In this rich and heartfelt episode, Rachel Dratch and Irene Bremis welcome Kitty Bruce, daughter of groundbreaking comedian Lenny Bruce. Together, they explore the legacy of Lenny Bruce—his influence on modern comedy, his battles with censorship and the law, and his impact on free speech. Kitty also shares her own journey, including her work helping women in recovery through the Lenny Bruce Memorial Foundation and the story of manifesting "Lenny's House." The episode is threaded throughout with poignant memories, moments of humor, and some classic “woo woo” spiritual exploration.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Woo Woo Moments to Start (01:31–07:29)

• Rachel Dratch recalls a serendipitous "woo woo" experience from her appearance on Celebrity Jeopardy, where her hairdresser mentioned the “Spanish Armada” just hours before it came up as a question on the show.

  • Quote: "Everyone’s like, that was so woo woo. That was so woo woo. And yes, it was pretty crazy. Woo woo, Irene." — Rachel Dratch (03:57)

• Irene Bremis counters with her own experience of a cardinal repeatedly tapping at her window, which she viewed as a potential sign from the universe.

2. Introducing Kitty Bruce (08:05–09:18)

• Irene passionately introduces Kitty, emphasizing Lenny Bruce’s revolutionary role in stand-up comedy and how he paved the way for comics like Richard Pryor and George Carlin.

3. Growing Up with Lenny Bruce (10:11–14:06)

• Kitty describes her father as a gentle, shy, and intelligent man—more comfortable with law books than crowds.

• Shares anecdotes about their home full of interesting guests (e.g., Tiny Tim) and the close father-daughter bond they shared.

  • Quote: "He was a very gentle soul, very kind, and treated me like I was 20 when I was six, sir. Yeah, he didn’t have time for Goo Goo Gaga. That wasn’t his thing." — Kitty Bruce (11:11)

• Stories of waking up at 4 a.m. to plant vegetables under the West Coast’s unique blue sky.

4. Meeting Her Mother & Family Dynamics (16:28–17:53)

• Kitty details her mother’s transformation from Harriet Jolliffe to Hot Honey Harlow and finally Honey Bruce. Her parents met working together—her father as a comic and her mother as a stripper.
• Reflects on her mother’s struggles with addiction and eventual sobriety.

5. Lenny Bruce’s Comedy and Legal Battles (18:10–32:26)

Lenny’s Style and Impact (18:10–19:41)

• Kitty summarizes Lenny’s comedic approach: irreverent, unapologetic, funny, and deeply connected to his audiences. He loved performing for young people and was known for his honesty and intellect.

Legal Persecution and Cultural Context (19:52–32:26)

• Explains the repeated arrests for “obscenity,” starting after a notorious dinner party where Lenny urinated on the carpet rather than perform on demand.

  • Quote: "He was arrested for obscenity... And the start of the arrests came in Philadelphia. He was in a very prominent—I think it was a mayor’s house, I’m not sure... And the host said, 'Come on Lenny, say something funny.' ...And he peed on their carpet." — Kitty Bruce (19:52)

• Discusses how Lenny’s boundaries were continuously pushed by authorities, especially the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and his routines often challenged taboos on politics, religion, and societal hypocrisy.

  • Quote: "The judge promised him that if he continued to speak in this fashion, that he was going to do four years hard labor in jail. This is just for talking." — Kitty Bruce (26:47)
  • Quote: "Without Lenny Bruce, there would be absolutely no George Carlin." — Irene Bremis (30:09)

• Shares the pride of Lenny receiving the first posthumous pardon in U.S. history, thanks to sustained efforts by academics and college students.

Modern Reflections on Free Speech (28:14–32:26)

• Kitty reflects on the evolution of social sensitivity and censorship, including being forced to censor her own father’s old routines.
  • Quote: "I’m censoring my own father, saying, 'You can’t do this bit on stage.' It was absurd, but it was true." — Kitty Bruce (31:19)

6. Manifesting "Lenny’s House" & The Lenny Bruce Foundation (34:44–47:32)

Kitty’s Spiritual Journey and Manifestation (34:44–43:07)

• Describes a spiritual retreat at age 51 that prompted her to ask for guidance about her life’s direction. Through months of prayer and visioning, the idea for the Lenny Bruce Memorial Foundation and "Lenny's House" came to her in a vivid vision.

  • Quote: "All of this done. The Lenny Bruce Memorial Foundation. It was that bad, that clear and just jammed right into my head." — Kitty Bruce (36:11)

• "Lenny’s House" provided a sanctuary for women in recovery—offering support, life skills, and a sense of dignity that mirrored the loving environment her grandmother created for her as a child.

Creating a Home and Changing Lives (43:07–47:32)

• Stories of the house’s details: rooms decorated as her grandmother had done for her, big stones outside matching her vision, and a mission to provide both practical skills (like financial literacy, shopping, and transportation) and joy (trips, activities).

• She reflects on the impact: some former residents return as thriving professionals or grateful mothers.

  • Quote: "These women came in, some were in shackles... some finishing off prison time. I had a young lady with AIDS—at a time when everyone thought it was contagious, I had to teach them not to be afraid." — Kitty Bruce (46:07)

Ongoing Work and The Foundation Today (47:47–50:34)

• Kitty remains involved in sobriety support through the still-active foundation, helping those without resources get addiction treatment. She’s gearing up for future fundraising and support.

7. Woo Woo Finale: The Pendulum Reading (51:03–51:45)

• Rachel and Irene lead Kitty in a classic "woo woo" pendulum reading. Both hosts get a “Yes” answer to Kitty’s (secret until revealed) question: whether she’ll be going to Europe soon.

  • Quote: "Did you get a yes? ...Yes. What was your question?" "Will I be going to Europe soon?" — (Rachel, Irene, Kitty; 51:17–51:33)

• They invite her back to the show to report if/when the trip happens.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rachel Dratch on synchronicity: "That was so woo woo. That was so woo woo." (03:57)
• Kitty Bruce on her father: "He was a very gentle soul, very kind, and treated me like I was 20 when I was six." (11:11)
• Kitty Bruce on manifesting the foundation: "All of this done. The Lenny Bruce Memorial Foundation. It was that bad, that clear and just jammed right into my head." (36:11)
• Kitty Bruce on censorship: "I’m censoring my own father, saying you can’t do this bit on stage. It was absurd, but it was true." (31:19)
• Kitty Bruce on the legacy of Lenny's House: "There are women that come up to me and say, 'Do you remember me? ...I became a registered nurse. I have four children. I’ve been married for eight years.'" (46:07)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:31–07:29 — Woo Woo stories (Spanish Armada / cardinal)
• 09:18–14:06 — Kitty Bruce: childhood memories and home life with Lenny Bruce
• 16:28–17:53 — Kitty’s mother and parents' relationship
• 18:10–19:41 — Lenny Bruce’s comedy, impact, and audience connection
• 19:52–32:26 — His arrests, legal persecution, censorship, and cultural legacy
• 34:44–43:07 — Kitty’s spiritual journey & creating Lenny’s House
• 43:07–47:32 — The transformative outcomes for women at Lenny’s House
• 47:53–50:34 — The ongoing work of the Lenny Bruce Memorial Foundation
• 51:03–51:45 — Pendulum “woo woo” reading

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Closing

The episode offers an insightful look at the personal legacy of comedy giant Lenny Bruce as seen through the eyes of his daughter, Kitty. Her stories are equal parts funny, moving, and inspiring, especially in how she’s translated family trauma and eccentricity into hope and tangible support for others. The hosts, as always, thread humor and a little “woo woo” magic throughout, making for an engaging and uplifting listen.

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For more on Kitty’s work or to support the foundation, visit lennybruce.org.

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Follow @raedratch and @irenebremis on Instagram for Woo Woo updates and more stories.

Transcript

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[Rachel Dratch]

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Hi everyone. Welcome to Woo Woo. I'm sitting here with Irene. It's just sitting here chatting. Right, Irene?

[Irene Bremis]

That's right, sweetie.

[Rachel Dratch]

Before we kick off the show with Kitty Bruce, we just had a few little tidbits to bring up the Woo Woo occurrent that everybody's talking about. No, I had. I was on Celebrity Jeopardy. I filmed it a while ago, but it aired just this past week and there was a Woo Woo moment that happened during my celebrity Jeopardy. Game that is just all over the Internet, right? No, I'm just kidding. But it is up on my instagram because here was my Woo Woo Irene, which I know you know, but I'm telling you this as if you've never heard it. But so, but the morning of the show, this guy Eddie was doing my hair out in la, right in my hotel. This is hours away and miles away from where the Jeopardy. Taping took place. Anyway, so it's like 6aM and he's doing my hair and we're just chit chatting about Jeopardy. He's asking me if I studied. I said no. Kind of wish I had this time to be honest. But anyway, so then he's like, oh, what you just like, yeah, what would you do? Like, look up stuff like spider, Spanish Armada. And I was like, spanish Armada. Let me look that up right now. Because I was like, I don't know anything about the Spanish Armada. So I just look it up on my phone. I think that's the only thing he brought up. It was kind of a joke. Right, well, cut to actual show. I hit the daily double. And no, actually this wasn't a daily double. This was just a regular question. But anyway, it was something like world history. And then they say like in 1588, I was like, oh shit. Like I'm not going to know this. 1588. This is not my, this is not my era that I know things about. Anyway, he goes, in 1588, you know, this fleet of ships arrived on the coast of England, sent by, I don't know, I should know this by now. I should know this Spanish name, lady, Spanish name, sent by, you know, queen, blah blah, to the British coast. And then I was like, no way in my mind. And I was like, spanish Armada. So in the comments, everyone's like, that was so woo woo. That was so woo woo. And yes, it was pretty crazy. Woo woo. Irene.

[Irene Bremis]

It was insane.

[Rachel Dratch]

Woo woo.

[Irene Bremis]

Okay, I'm trying to hold back right now, but that is woo woo. Live in action.

[Rachel Dratch]

Come on now. Some people in the comments were like, oh, the hairdresser is going to get fired. Like, no, this is a airtight. You know, these game shows are under lock and key. There's no rehearsal where you're seeing the answers ahead of time. There's no, like, let's give this a dry run in front of all the staff. These, these answers are under lock and key. But just to make sure that everyone, all you cynics out there know this was truly woo woo. I'm just emphasizing that this conversation happened hours before. The hairdresser was not an employee of Jeopardy. Or the game show or anything like that. And he was a completely independent person, not connected to the show. But of course, game shows are very strictly regulated, so that's not anything anyway. That's boring. I'm just going off the woo woo of it all. But what I wish was because where I really failed in the game was later I got the daily double and I failed on the question. And this sent my whole game split, spiraling downwards because I didn't know who the F was on the two dollar bill and that killed me. So I wish that instead he had something, oh, like it was on the $2 bill. And then maybe I Would have won. Who knows how it could have gone? But not knowing who was on the two dollar bill sent me a crash and burn mare to recover. But I will always have the Spanish Armada.

[Irene Bremis]

That was beautiful. That was. Oh, shit. I have so many $2 bills.

[Rachel Dratch]

Ah. I mean. I mean, kills me.

I used to have.

[Irene Bremis]

That's what kills me.

[Rachel Dratch]

I know. And I. I had two dollar bills like lying around when I was a kid.

[Irene Bremis]

And so I don't know who's on it.

[Rachel Dratch]

Well, it's Jefferson.

[Irene Bremis]

I have no idea.

[Rachel Dratch]

It's Jefferson. For those of you who are gonna be in a game show anytime soon. Now that's the thing. I should have studied because they always have, like, who's on this bill? And I don't know any of that. I mean.

[Irene Bremis]

But you know what? Here's the thing. I love that you didn't study. I love woo woo in real time. And stop self vlogging, sweetie. No self vlogging. You did speak Spanish Armada. Come on.

[Rachel Dratch]

I mean, Spanish Armada. Okay, well, that was my woo woo

of the week, Irene.

You know, when we first started the show, we wanted to. We wanted to have chats about woo woo things that had happened to us this week. And we kind of either a forgot about that or are not having enough weekly woo woo. Right, but we should. Or.

[Irene Bremis]

Or I'll be like, oh, yeah, well, I saw a cardinal, but Spanish Armada.

[Rachel Dratch]

But we should keep. We should keep our minds open to the universe so that we can report on any weekly occurrences. Right, Ari?

[Kitty Bruce]

Absolutely.

[Irene Bremis]

Keep our minds open and in comes the universal response.

[Rachel Dratch]

And have you had any occurrences? I'm just curious.

[Irene Bremis]

I mean, I saw a cardinal.

[Kitty Bruce]

You did?

[Irene Bremis]

Am I going to top Spanish Armada? Yes, I saw a cardinal. A cardinal came to my window last week and in fact started tapping with its beak over and over again like it recognized me and it wouldn't go away for an hour.

[Rachel Dratch]

And I'm just hearing of this now?

[Irene Bremis]

Well, I mean, I don't want to have to be, you know, you can't be the feature and try to headline after our Spanish Armada. Sweetie, I'm the opening act.

[Rachel Dratch]

Spoken in true standup comic form.

[Irene Bremis]

I know.

[Rachel Dratch]

But when it happened, a cardinal was tapping at your window.

[Irene Bremis]

On my window. Started tapping on the window for like an hour. It just kept climbing, flying back, tapping, coming, flying back, tapping, coming, flying back, tapping with its beak.

[Rachel Dratch]

Now, usually, you know, I'm skeptical about birds, but even though I use the bird,

[Irene Bremis]

Well, I looked it up and it's a thing.

[Rachel Dratch]

And that was our woo of the week. And now on with the show.

Welcome to Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch, the podcast that explores the unexplained with humor and curiosity.

Hello and welcome to Woo Woo. I'm Rachel Dratch here with my pal and co host, Irene Bremis. Hi, Irene.

[Irene Bremis]

Hello, sweetie.

[Rachel Dratch]

Hello, sweetie. Happy to see you, Irene.

Even though.

Happy to see you too, sweetie. Irene, today we are joined by somebody that you know, and I believe you met her through the podcast you used to do with John Fugelsang, correct?

[Irene Bremis]

Yes, indeed.

[Rachel Dratch]

Maybe you want to do our intro today.

[Irene Bremis]

Yes, Rachel, I actually met this woman when I was co hosting John Fugelsang's show on Sirius XM called Tell Me Everything. And when I met her, I was absolutely thrilled because I am just a huge fan of her dad. This woman is also legendary and so kind hearted and the daughter of the infamous, the godfather of stand up. Dare I say modern stand up. The man that revolutionized stand up, if you will. The man that was not afraid to talk about things like politics and sex and race and call out hypocrisy at a time where everybody was playing it safe. The legendary, the one and only Mr. Lenny Bruce. This is the one and only legendary Kitty Bruce, everybody. Daughter of Lenny Bruce. Hello, Kitty.

[Kitty Bruce]

Hello there.

[Rachel Dratch]

Hi, Kitty.

[Kitty Bruce]

Very happy to be here.

[Rachel Dratch]

Thanks for joining us.

[Irene Bremis]

Thank you for joining us.

[Kitty Bruce]

You're very welcome. And I'm very excited to do this and talk.

[Irene Bremis]

You know, Kitty, when I met you, I was so thrilled to meet you because, you know, I feel like your dad really paved the road for the legendary, for legendary comics like Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Hicks. Who else? Robin Williams and so many others. And one of the things that I always found fascinating was that he was just so intrepid. And he, and he really got. He got arrested multiple times for obscenity, which I feel like if I lived at that time and I, I mean, I would be arrested for obscenities. And he really just paved the road for all comics. And I just wanted to know, like, what was it like growing up with Lenny?

[Kitty Bruce]

He was constantly typing. He was. He had an entire wall of law books and codes and penal codes and sections and judicial and just. He learned the language of the law because the law has its own language. So he had to learn the language of the law. And at that time, he was immersed with. He got arrested so many times. So many. And he used to wear a trench coat on stage, and he wore it because he knew he was going to get thrown out. So at Least he could be warm. We had a very big house and some of the most interesting people that I think I've ever met. Some stayed. Some stayed for days. Tiny Tim stayed at our house one time and he used to have his ukulele and he always carried around a brown shopping bag. Inside that shopping bag was a box of snowflakes. So he held onto that bag in that detergent like it was his life. So he'd walk in and he'd say, hello, Miss Kitty. Hello, Mr. Bruce, with that high, sweet voice. And then he just would start playing his ukulele. And I remember one time we made a Christmas card and it was Tiny Tim. And I was right under him, looking up my father's house, what it was like, what he was like. He was a very shy person. He didn't like to be in crowds. He didn't like to be put on the spot. He didn't want to be funny on demand. That wasn't his thing. He was a very gentle soul, very kind, and treated me like I was 20 when I was sick. Sir. Yeah, he didn't have time for Goo Goo Gaga. That wasn't his thing. So we got to the point and we communicated and just had a very loving, loving relationship.

[Rachel Dratch]

Where were you living as a child?

Were you.

Did you have to go like on the road and stuff with him or were you settled in one spot?

[Kitty Bruce]

We were settled at 8825 Hollywood Boulevard, which is the first chapter of the book that I'm writing. It's all addresses of where I lived. But the first chapter is 8825 Hollywood Boulevard. And that is where we live. And that after my father passed, his mother, my grandma Sally took possession or custody of me at the time that we did live together up at the hill. He'd wake me up at like 4 o' clock in the morning when there's a very special color, blue on the west coast that at a certain hour it's one of the most beautiful shades of blue. So he'd wake me up and he'd say, come on, let's. Let's go dig up the garden. And we planted carrots and vegetable garden. I said, daddy, they're not going to be grown up yet. He said, well, let's pull them out and see what they look like. And so there was so little. There were only about a half an inch. Not even. There were tiny baby skinny carrots, baby carrots, not even grown up carrots. So he'd say, come on, let's scare grandma so yeah, he'd wait for my grandmother to be coming in and he'd say okay, hi. And then we hi. And scare. It was just very silly and and fun and loving.

[Irene Bremis]

Wow.

[Rachel Dratch]

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[Irene Bremis]

So now tell us a little bit about your mom and how they met.

[Kitty Bruce]

My mom was originally Harriet Jolliffe, who became Hot Honey Harlow, who became Honey Bruce.

[Rachel Dratch]

Wait a second. Did you say she became Hot Honey Harlow?

[Kitty Bruce]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Rachel Dratch]

What does that what's that mean?

[Kitty Bruce]

Well, she used to strip and my father was a comic at the same club on the same bill.

[Rachel Dratch]

Wow.

[Kitty Bruce]

Of course there were. There was a cafeteria that was open, all comics that. Everybody went out, you know, two, three o' clock in the morning. So there was, I think a cafeteria or something. But she was coming through and he was seated and he took a look at her and she looked at him and it was. They spent four days in the hotel room and never came out. They were madly, madly in love. We were very hot for each other their entire lives. And. Yeah, so my mother had some issues with drugs and alcohol and she eventually got clean in 1971 and we had a relationship up until she died in 2005. And she gave me life and she saved my life.

[Irene Bremis]

I love that. Yes, I really do love that. And this is a perfect segue into like the work that you're doing for addiction.

[Kitty Bruce]

I wanted to tell you about that and then I can tell you how I manifested Lenny's house.

[Rachel Dratch]

Wait, what? Can I just ask. Can I just ask one thing before we move on, just for people that aren't so familiar with your dad's work? I mean, we know of him being comedians and he's like legendary as a, as a rule breaker, sort of. But if you just. For someone that doesn't know, like, how would you describe his comedy and his career? A little bit, just for the uninitiated,

[Kitty Bruce]

A lot of people don't know who my father is because he. That was like way back for me. It was way back then because this in 2026. But he was gigging and performing in the late 50s, mid-60s. He was irreverent, unapologetic, brilliantly funny, very seductive. He charmed the audiences. He became their friend. And it wasn't phony. He actually, he made a connection with everybody in the audience and they loved him. And his favorite audience was young people. He loved college people he used to call digging people. Like, he would sit and watch my Grandma Sally, who is also a comedian. They sit together and watch people and then they do bits like, okay, that woman. And they're looking at the woman. Yeah, well, I don't know. She should have. I don't know, maybe she shouldn't have taken that brain acid after all. Or they would, they would do back and forth with people.

[Rachel Dratch]

Well, what about, what about like his, their court case or he was brought up on charges or, you know, what about that aspect that people might not know?

[Kitty Bruce]

Yes, he was arrested for obscenity or for purian or bringing up prurient interest. And a basic saying was, or the meaning of that was getting up as a sexual interest. Something perverted, something nasty, something just so wrong. And so they kept, kept getting arrested. And the start of the arrests came in Philadelphia. He was in a very prominent, I think it was a mayor's house, I'm not sure. But it was something in the government. And as I said, my father was very shy. So he's at this dinner party and the host said, come on Lenny, say something funny, say something funny. And he peed on their carpet. He was immediately thrown out. And after the peeing carpet incident is when the bus started happening.

[Rachel Dratch]

Did the busts happen like in the middle of his shows? Like his, his performance would get broken up?

[Kitty Bruce]

Yeah, that would, that would start. But the immediate insult to the government was that he was saying things that nobody talked about. He talked about religion, he talked about, talked about politics. These days it's very difficult to tell these stories because for a different generation and making references to anybody that is, has a high sensitivity, which our culture now has a very high sensitivity to race, religion, her is more everybody, you know, just, it's. We're very careful about what we say and how it's going to affect somebody. Almost to the point to where I remember Margaret Cho was on stage and do you know that people got up to start attacking her for her bit, so comments weren't safe anymore. And see there's a speech code, an actual speech code that was started. So it was what, what could be said, what not to say. And that happened on college campuses. And that was his favorite place to perform. He did one of his albums, the Berkeley Concert.

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[Irene Bremis]

it is interesting though, Kitty, that there's the opposite problem now that we there's such a high sensitivity and that people can't speak their truth. And often, and I mean like, listen, if you're going to say something, you're going to punch down, you're going to speak hate. There's no tolerance, there's zero tolerance for that. But it just, there is a definite sensitivity in terms of like cancel culture and what comics are saying and the real threat of just being deleted as a performer and if you say the wrong thing. But the thing that I, you know, I think that we can all appreciate about your dad is the fact that, you know, he was saying things that were like, needed to be called out that everybody was thinking that no one was saying on stage.

[Kitty Bruce]

He was arrested over I think 15 times. The last bus was at the for Cafe go go in 1964, which was a jazz club. And again the cops came. He would record all of his shows. And so the police would come in and they'd be lined up against the wall and there was a tape recorder going that they had. So now the cops are in the house. This is a picture desk. He's on stage. There's a line of cops against the wall. There's a tape recorder at the edge of the stage. And then the next thing you know, the cops are pulling him off the stage and dragging him off the stage by his trench coat because of the words that he was using. That was his last bust. The judge promised him that if he continued to speak in this fashion, that he was going to do four years hard labor in jail. This is just for talking.

[Rachel Dratch]

Wow.

[Kitty Bruce]

Wow. So that was his last case. It was fighting, fighting, fighting. And the most beautiful thing about it was in 2005. Oh, okay, let me backtrack there. Ron Scover and Ronald Collins were two. One was a writer and one was a college professor. And so the class assignment was Pardon Lenny Bruce. So there's these small white buttons, and in black writing, it said, Pardon Lenny Bruce. So these college kids got together and kept pushing for my father to be pardoned. Well, eventually he was, and it was the first posthumous pardon in history.

[Irene Bremis]

Wow.

[Kitty Bruce]

And it was amazing. And so he was posthumously pardoned a little bit too late, but at least he got the point across and he was clear. So it was a good thing.

[Irene Bremis]

That's amazing.

[Rachel Dratch]

Was it. Was it sort of like a witch hunt against him because he was speaking, like, truth to power, or was it just these municipalities, like little city, like Karens, coming after him? Like, what was the structure that was. Why were they chasing him down so much?

[Kitty Bruce]

Well, here was the structure that. It's not just from my point of view. This is. You can actually read about it. History books or. Before everything gets deleted and there's no talk of black people or Jewish people or the Holocaust never happened. Things are getting deleted, books are getting whitewashed, and the real information is not getting out. And so that's what's happening at our time at 20:26, it was more of a witch hunt, but it was a direct witch hunt, because the Sheriff's Department of Los Angeles made it their business to make sure that my father's life and my mother's life was a living hell. Now, it didn't help, but the both of them were drug addicts, so they were being watched and empty your pockets. And most of the time, you know, they were dirty. So the pressure was on what he was saying on stage. The witch hunt that came was because of the comedy routines that he did, focused on Christ and Moses. He'd make it. He'd say, you know, I'm up. We're up to our ass. Wheelchairs and wretches. And he would do a bit on Christ and Moses and. And this caused a big fury. He did Father Flasky's triumph. He talked about the different prisoners that were in this prison, and one of them was Father Flotsky. That was a. A father. A priest. You'd have to hear it, I guess, because it's out of. Out of Context. My father's routine. They're still funny.

[Irene Bremis]

Well, I, I will say this. Without Lenny Bruce, there would be absolutely no George Carlin. And George Carlin was able to do his material because of your dad, for sure.

[Rachel Dratch]

There's.

[Irene Bremis]

He's 100% influenced by your dad. And from everything I read, and of course we're getting it from the horse's mouth kitty that he was targeted. He was definitely targeted. And it was a witch hunt. But also he was target and singled out as well.

[Kitty Bruce]

Yes, he was. You know, my heart broke for him the older I got. First of all, when I was in school six years, the sixth grade. Oh, you can't. I'm sorry. My mom won't let me play with you because you. Your father's a bad man.

[Rachel Dratch]

Wow.

[Kitty Bruce]

And then later on in the 1970s, oh, you're Lenny Bruce's daughter. That Dustin Hoffman played the movie. And Lenny, really, all of a sudden, everybo became my best friend. So, you know, things change. But the thing that struck me so hard is when Ronnie and I were going over the routines and when I had to censor my own father. You can't say this bit. You can't say that. Oh, no, that's not. We're going to get backlash on that. And I looked at Ronnie, I said, do you see what's going on here? I'm censoring my own father and saying, you can't do this bit on stage. It was absurd, but it was true. Because we're so many years advanced now and things have changed and people have gotten more, I think, and rightfully so, so offended by what was done in racism. So offended at what they did on college campuses to do with race. Big strong hoses. You're hosing everybody down. It makes me just. Things were so unfair and so incredibly bizarre. But for that time, I guess it was all cool with everybody. It wasn't cool with my father, that's for sure.

[Rachel Dratch]

I sure am trying to set you up for good sleep on this episode, aren't I?

I mean, how else are you going

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[Kitty Bruce]

I was at a very strange place in my life. I think I was 51 years old. And I said, you know, I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. I really don't. And I was on a spiritual retreat. So a suggestion to me was why don't you go to a priest and ask now after you met, my father was Jewish. My mother was definitely not a strict Catholic by any means. So it's like both religions. One was getting rid of me because I was Catholic and then the other ones was because I was Jewish. So Jewish, half Catholic, half Jewish. So I said, go to a brief on this retreat. And I said, you know, I just, I'm 51, I don't know where I'm going in my life. And do you have any suggestions for me of how to find a path or what to do. And he took a moment and took a beat. He said, pray, play. Pray for direction and just be silent and pray for direction. So I did this for at least a couple of months. And all of this done. The Lenny Bruce Memorial Foundation. It was that bad, that clear and just jammed right into my head.

[Irene Bremis]

Amazing.

[Kitty Bruce]

It was amazing. And I said, oh, my God, well, this foundation, what's it going to do? And then I realized what it could do that was so badly needed. Women that were coming out of jail, coming out of addiction, just any sort of lifestyle that they were stifled and they were coming out of it. There was no place you couldn't afford a rehabilitation center. They didn't have insurance. So where would they go to learn the following how to go grocery shopping. I don't know about you, but the last crack addict I ever met wasn't interested in grocery shopping except for baking soda. So, life lessons, life skills, how to go grocery shopping, financial literacy, having fun, sober, self image. Had to get rid of the negative messages that they were told by their parents, by their boyfriend, sister, whoever, that what other people's ideas of theirs had nothing to do in reality. It was somebody else's talk. And somebody else's talk would affect people in such a horrible way. So we worked very hard on erasing the negative self talk. So now I'm thinking, okay, well, where is this place going to be? So I close my eyes and I just thought, if there was a place that helped with all these things, what would it look like and what would it be called? So what I started to see in my mind when I was a little kid, my grandmother would send me to summer camp. And every summer I'd come back and she had my bedroom decorated so beautifully. Red, white and blue, with all kinds, just every, like, perfect rooms. And I say to her, grandma, why do you do this all the time? And she said, because, Kitty, when you're older, you're going to be left with just memories. And I want those memories to be good ones. I choke up when I hear that because it was so true. So when I started closing my eyes. And the thing about manifestation is that in the universe, you have to have it 100%, not a little bit. You have to know what you want, how it's going to go before work. So I close my eyes and say, well, okay, I can see. I'm looking out a window and I see these sort of strange shaped rocks that are all connected. And I'm looking out this window, and what do I see? Nothing. Nothing game. Just I'M looking at a window and I see these step zones and that's all I could see. And I concentrate again and again and again. And finally I thought, you know what? Screw manifestation. I'm going to get a place. And this is what it's going to have, and this is what these women are going to learn, and this is how we're going to do it. So in Pittston, where I live, it's a very small, sweet, half Irish, half Italian place that hasn't gone into the. It. It's so backward. It stayed back someplace and the 60s or something in time. Thank you. Back in time. And there was this place that was about four miles from my house. And it was this 16 room place. And it had two sides to could sleep 14. It had a kitchen on one side, full kitchen, full bathroom, a living room, everything stocked with dishes and ironing boards and microwaves and everything else. And the other side apparently had been built by the masons and whatever that they did. It was this gigantic fireplace. And I'm talking about these huge stones put together on top of this fireplace. And it was magnificent. And Rachel, to give you an idea of the size, in the hallway of the living room going into the kitchen, it measured 7ft by 7ft. Now, that was just a doorway. That's how big it was. It was gigantic. The living rooms were big. The reading rooms were big. The kitchens you could go roller skating in, they were huge. And then you go up a flight of stairs and it was the one bathroom and the first level where two girls would stay and then go up another flight of stairs and there was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 8 beds upstairs. I got all beautiful, very comfortable twin beds. They could keep their phones. But if there was any mischief going on or I found out about anybody getting high or carrying on, they had to go. And I had counselors in there. It was everything that I wanted to make sure. Because when I got clean and sober, I remember somebody I said it to myself, you know, they should have given me a pamphlet or some kind of road guide of how do I live clean and sober in this life? And so what I did was I made sure that the things that I was never told to make sure these women were told. We went to the Rockettes and I took them to Radio City Music hall and the Swarovski Crystal Place. And they had so much fun, you know, they just really did. And we'd go roller skating together. We went ice skating together. Just fun things. Fun, really fun. And financial literacy was a big Part of it, learning how to balance books, how to take your budget, if you will. These ladies did not know how to take a bus. So I got a bus route and I said, okay, we're going to take a bus today and we're going to go to the mall. So that was fun. So we got on the bus and we went to the mall and we had a map of where we were going. So it just, it worked.

[Irene Bremis]

That's amazing.

[Rachel Dratch]

It all started from your vision. When you opened up your mind, you were sort of shown this, right? Like, in a way, then you made it all happen. Of course, with a lot of work, right?

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[Rachel Dratch]

One thing I was thinking is funny, you know, you said you had this vision of these big stones right across the way and then you were like, screw it. But then when you were describing the fireplace, you said there were huge stones. And I was like, oh, is that right? Did you actually manifest this? And you didn't really know it because you were describing. Describing that there are large stones piled up.

[Kitty Bruce]

Yes. Okay.

[Rachel Dratch]

I did.

[Kitty Bruce]

So these gigantic stones. And I did look out this imaginary window. So all that came together, but with my grandmother's decorating, each room.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yes.

[Kitty Bruce]

Had a room decorated like my bedrooms.

[Rachel Dratch]

That's so sweet. I love that you had this very fond memory of your grandmother doing this loving thing for you that you remembered so much as a child. And then you took that and you did it for others. I love that this seed was planted of how happy that made you as a kid. Yeah, that's beautiful.

[Kitty Bruce]

You know what the big thing is, though? Is that there are women that come up to me and say, do you remember me? I'm Jody. I said, hey, what are you doing? Well, I became a registered nurse. I have four children. I've been married for eight years. And you guys. The condition that these women came in, some were in shackles. Some of them were finishing off their prison time by being in Lenny's house. I had a young lady with aids, and I had to give. To show the women in the house that you couldn't get AIDS by touching people. You couldn't. Okay. This was a immune disorder that I'd have to teach them of not to be afraid of this girl in the house, Right?

[Irene Bremis]

Yep. Exactly. At a time when everybody thought that they. It was contagious. This is a big point.

[Kitty Bruce]

Yeah.

[Irene Bremis]

It's so beautiful to see that Lenny's death wasn't in vain and that you manifested. And I do believe you had this vision and brought it to fruition. Even when you were telling me the story, when we were on the phone, you mentioned that every room looked the way aesthetically, like Rachel talked about the stones. That every room had its own little setup that you envisioned it.

[Kitty Bruce]

My bedrooms from when I'd come home from camp. And so I close my eyes and I'd see what they'd look like. And then when Lenny's house was starting, I'd put those bedrooms in each of the house.

[Irene Bremis]

Yes. Very cool. Kitty, you're extraordinary. I've said it a million times. Your heart is second to none. You have such a beautiful heart, and you're such a beautiful soul. And I have no question that you made such a difference in these women's life where there wasn't life.

[Rachel Dratch]

Is the foundation ongoing or are you still involved in sobriety and all that?

[Kitty Bruce]

Very much so. It's a 501c3 non for profit. In 2008 is when I applied for the, for the license. I had gone to Belize, France. And it was a weird way how I got to these places because I've been mean to go. I had this wonderful writer, had a wedding and he was in France where he said, I'll fly you in and you can come to this wedding. Well, I had to go to my AA meeting there. So they were in French. And so then after that there was a lady. Her name's Darla and she's very out there. She's so out there, she's in there. I choose to read ASCAIC records, but Darla said, why don't you come to Belize? I said, okay. So I went to Belize and there was a treatment center there. And I started to learn about what other treatment centers look like and what they provided and how the people were treated. And so from I started scouting around for places before I opened Lenny's house, I would go on these vacations that I didn't have to pay for.

[Rachel Dratch]

Nice.

[Kitty Bruce]

It was amazing. But everything eventually fell into place. The Lenny Bruce Memorial foundation is still alive and well and we provide care for those who are in need of drug and alcohol addiction but do not have the finances or insurance to do so. And so we'll contact us and we'll make sure that they get into rehab, make sure that they're covered and get the help that they need. So now that I'm getting strong again, I'm going to go out and do some fundraising so that we can keep our mission continually to go. And you can always go on lennyboost.org and you can find out what's going on there. And there's donations, I think through PayPal and they are a tax deduction so you don't have to worry about that. Cause it's a 501C3. If you donate, you don't have to pay taxes.

[Rachel Dratch]

All right, good. Well, we've spread the word here. Lennybruce.org right?

[Kitty Bruce]

Yep.

[Rachel Dratch]

Well, I love that story. How you took your own experience, firsthand experience, then have the vision and then you made it all happen with love and personal, you know, personal care towards these women. It's a great story.

[Irene Bremis]

Yeah, very great story. Thank you for sharing that.

[Kitty Bruce]

Kitty, it's been a pleasure.

[Irene Bremis]

Love you, sister.

[Kitty Bruce]

I love you too. Love you, Rachel.

[Rachel Dratch]

And now I love you too. Wait, so Irene, did you tell Kitty about our pendulum reading she knows about it on her own. Yeah. All right. So, Kitty, did you. Do you have a yes or no question? You can ask, but you keep it to yourself first while Irene does the pendulum.

[Kitty Bruce]

Okay, I've got it.

[Rachel Dratch]

Okay. Here goes Irene with working her magic. I guess I could do mine with my little necklace.

[Kitty Bruce]

Yeah.

[Irene Bremis]

All right, I got my answer.

[Rachel Dratch]

You have your answer. Okay, wait.

Let me see what I get.

Yeah, I hope I match yours, though, Irene. Hold on. Let me see.

[Irene Bremis]

Tell the truth here.

[Rachel Dratch]

All right, I got a yes. Did you get a yes?

[Irene Bremis]

I got a yes.

[Rachel Dratch]

Yes.

What was your question? What was your question?

[Kitty Bruce]

Will I be going to Europe soon?

[Rachel Dratch]

Ooh.

Well, you are.

[Irene Bremis]

Pack your bag.

[Kitty Bruce]

So then if it comes true, I could come back on your show and tell you where I'm going?

[Rachel Dratch]

Yes, for sure.

[Irene Bremis]

We would love nothing more. Kitty.

[Rachel Dratch]

Kitty, thank you so much for joining us and taking the time. I know we were talking about doing this for a while. I'm glad we finally made it happen. So thank you so much.

[Irene Bremis]

Me, too.

[Kitty Bruce]

It's been such a pleasure to see you both and thank you.

[Rachel Dratch]

And you can find me on Instagram at Ray Drach, that's R A E Dratch. And you can find Irene at IreneBremis. That's B R E M I S Bremis.

And thanks for listening.

Thanks for joining me on this journey into the world of Woo Woo. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Woo Woo with Rachel Dratch is a Q Code production executive produced by David Henning and Steve Wilson. Produced by Alexa Gabriel Ramirez Edited by Will Tendee.

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[Kitty Bruce]

How quick?

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