Satire is tragedy plus time. You give it enough time, the public, the reviewers will allow you to satirize it. Which is rather ridiculous, when you think about it.

Increasing drug use also affected his health. At the time of his death his girlfriend was comedienne Lotus Weinstock. At forty.

He was renowned for his open free-style and critical form of comedy which integrated politics religion and sex. He paved the way for future outspoken comedians and his trial for obscenity in which – after being forced into bankruptcy – he was eventually found not guilty is seen as a landmark trial for freedom of speech in the US. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon the first in New York state history.