Lord Buckley

Who was Lord Buckley?

Lord Richard Buckley was an American comic performer, who in the 1940‘s and 50‘s created a character that was, according to the New York Times, “an unlikely persona ... part English royalty, part Dizzy Gillespie” Michael Packenham, writing in the Baltimore Sun, described him as “a magnificent stand-up comedian... Buckley's work, his very presence, projected the sense that life's most immortal truths lie in the inextricable weaving together of love and irony -- affection for all humanity married to laughter.” He was an American stage performer, recording artist, monologist, and hip poet/comic. Buckley's unique stage persona anticipated aspects of the Beat Generation sensibility, and influenced figures as various as Ken Kesey, George Harrison, Tom Waits, Dizzy Gillespie and Jimmy Buffett. Bob Dylan in his book Chronicles, said "Buckley was the hipster bebop preacher who defied all labels."