He influenced and inspired loads of people on the folk scene -probably more people on the English folk club scene than in America.

By the 1970's the folkmusic of England had been become hopelessly dissociated from the sensibility of most English people. Folk musicians wanted to play jigs and reeels, which nobody danced. Singer/songwriters were writing endlessly about the first world war, which hardly anybody remembered. Writers like MacColl were left wing idealists in an age when the Trade Unions didn't seem to have much idealism about them.

Social comment came from Mike Eliot, Jasper, Connolly, Harding, Brimstone - the folk comedians. The folk clubs gave them the listening socially aware audiences that the traditional comedians' venues like working mens clubs did not. Eventually the folk comedians went on to influence mainstream modern comedians like Alan Davies , Jack Dee, Ben Elton, and the late Bill Hicks.

Lenny Bruce was culturally grandaddy of all that. 'The Godfather of Schtick'. Bob Dylan wrote a song about him on his Shot of Love Album.

Lenny was a comedian's comedian.