Remembering Richard Pryor
 

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Around '79 or '80, a good buddy of mine bought 12 tickets in the 6th row to see Pryor live with Patti LaBelle (hot-t-t) warming up. He managed to get 10 guys together for the show and gave one ticket away to a guy at the door who couldn't believe his luck.

Oh man, my stomach was sore for days but it was worth it. Damn it was good. We had bloods and whiteys, all laughing at the same jokes.

I heard a guy on the radio today saying he was the best stand up comic of our time -- that you get one true great, one per generation. I'll have to agree. The guy was gold, kinda screwy I guess, but gold.

Anybody remember any gags of his?

He did the heart attack routine in the show I saw:

Richard: "Oh please God, I'll be good...I promise..."

Heart: "You talkin' to God?..."

Richard: "No, no, honest I wasn't..."

Heart: "You a LYYYYin' M***********R Jack! (twists his heart up hard) :D

I loved the SNL skit he did with Akyroid. It was a word association....
something like....
Honky...Whitey
N'gr....Dead Whitey....

Yeah, I remember it but can't remember any of the lines.

At our show, he walked out on stage while people were still making their way back in after intermission -- no introduction -- he just walked out. He stood on the edge of the stage, with his hand over his eyes to block out the spotlight, I mean not covering his eyes -- he peers around and says:

"WHITE PEOPLE!" Then went into a bit about how it used to be bloods only but now the white folks were coming out. He said some of these white cats weren't quite up on the culture.

"White dudes come back after intermission and find out n****** done took their seats!"

(Mimics a timid white guy with girlfriend) "I think we were sitting over here, do you think we were sitting here, Mildred?"

(Changes personna) "Ya ain't sittin' here NOW, m***********r."

"But some white dudes don't go for that $h!t... 'HEY!...ya wanna f***in' A get it on? Huh? Do ya? Ya peckerhead? Huh? Do Ya?'" then mimics a hillbilly fighting.

Oh man, I don't know if I'd ever laughed so hard.

I wish I would of seen him live before he passed away, man was he one funny SOB!!! I have a few of his stand up albums, the guy was a comic genius. He will be missed.........

I am a huge Pryor fan, one of my favorite routines was when his character was narrating his early days in Tupelo and how they started working at the foundry liftin' motors.

Anyway, some chick puts a mojo(spell) on his ass and he has to go see this voodoo priestess to cure it.

After she put him thru some sort of incantation to remedy the infection he had, he had little baby feets.

Man that routine must have lasted about 20 minutes and I still lose it everytime I hear it.

He was a genius, way ahead of his time.

I thought Eddie Murphy had that type of talent, but after he made it big, he lost his appetite for standup I guess, but he was hilarious when he was starting out.

.02

It was a miracle I saw him at all myself. If my friend hadn't had the idea to put his money out front and buy those 12 tickets, I doubt I would have gone to see him.

I sold the dude my taxi in '78, owning one can be a real pain, you have to baby sit the thing and it's schedule, find drivers who aren't flakes, and drive more than I wanted to. He got me started in the cab biz, so it was fitting that I got him started in the ownership end. It was mostly cabbies that he got together for the show. I drove 3 days a week for him on the cab I'd sold him! Guy had an intestinal problem, was 6'5" and 130-140 lbs, really likeable and funny as hell. Died in '85. Here's to ya, Ricky John Forrest.

I saw an old TV bit of his, when he was almost unknown. He was on the Ed Sullivan show, doing a routine about a green army recruit and a drill sergeant barking orders, nearly incomprehensibly.

I like Eddie Murphy also, he can shine, but Pryor was the master. No dummy that dude. He spoke once of his experience in jail in Arizona, I think it was, for coke posession. He said one thing you learn in prison is "Thank God for prisons." He did a recollection: "So I met this one dude, I asked what you in for. He says, 'killin' a whole fambly in they house...' I asked why he did it, and he says, 'they was home, man..." :eek:

His movies were hilarious, Silver Streak is still one of my favorite but his others like Bustin Loose were still funny because he was in them. He could take a lame story line and make it funny.

No one can say "m*&#erfu#@er" better than he did... a true comic.

It was Chevy Chase, actually...

The man was a comedic trailblazer who has left a legacy of dozens if not hundreds of wannabes in his wake. He will be missed, no doubt.

There is Before Pryor and After Pryor. Someone said if you are doing stand up and you aren't doing some Richard Pryor then you are doing it wrong. Nuff said.

The joke in the 79 concert that had me rolling was when he talked about the canine police releasing the dogs on this brother. He said the guy went into after burners turned his hat around and took off. If that wasn't funny enough Richard does the voice of the dogs going "Hell I ain't going after him". I almost died laughing through the whole thing:D:D Would have loved to have seen him live.

I agree...he was the funniest comedian of my lifetime.....he will be missed.

I remember seeing some theatre show of him on TV for the first time, must be 15-20 years ago: I almost had a fit from laughing, never ever laughed as much since. Great comedian, terrific performer. His movies were not his best.

The acclaim is not unanimous:

obituary

"Of course, Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam is the ultimate coon show update of human cesspools..."