Puns and the Sixties

A reader writes:

That ‘give me Librium or give me meth,’ is a great line from the 60s days. (I first heard it in ’74), about the same time the schtick of, ‘My name is Timothy Leary.’ ‘MY name is Timothy Leary.’ ‘MBND hoinjlnme lsie mbmbjb.’"

Another comments:

"That ‘Give me librium’ line is older than you are. Or close. It was used in Mart Crowley’s play and film ‘The Boys in the Band,’ which played on Broadway in the sixties, and, like ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,’ was probably a Greenwich Village gag before Crowley picked it up.

Thanks for the context. It’s still a great line.