anyway,i have a questionfirst of all,one of the people interviews was described as richard pryors comedy writerwhat does this mean?i mean,i'm no longer bothered by the idea of a musician not writing their own songs,but i think i might have to draw the line at a stand up comedian not writing their own material..it did seem like it was all his stuff,though,so i dunno what this guy did,any ideas?maybe he acted in a kind of editorial capacity...
― robin (robin), Saturday, 19 April 2003 03:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― robin (robin), Saturday, 19 April 2003 03:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
― H (Heruy), Saturday, 19 April 2003 03:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Saturday, 19 April 2003 03:44 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 19 April 2003 04:18 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Andrew (enneff), Saturday, 19 April 2003 11:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Skottie, Sunday, 20 April 2003 07:24 (twenty-one years ago) link
search immediately: And It's Deep Too!, Rhino's 9CD set of Pryor's Warner Bros. albums. really amazing from beginning to end, one of the great comic ouvres ever. few writers dig as deep as him, and make it seem so offhand.
― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 20 April 2003 07:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
Discuss.
― Viva La Sam (thatgirl), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 03:35 (twenty years ago) link
― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Sunday, 2 January 2005 15:59 (nineteen years ago) link
Donut Christ recently said he picked up the DVD set of The Richard Pryor Show from the mid-seventies and indicated it's as great as rumor had long had it.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 2 January 2005 16:03 (nineteen years ago) link
the best video of his stand up routine is the live and smokin one i think. there is one that was recently made that people made a big fuss over - but its one from almost a decade later, and not as good. its more crowdpleasing and less edgy.
― titchyschneider (titchyschneider), Sunday, 2 January 2005 16:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 2 January 2005 18:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― donut christ (donut), Sunday, 2 January 2005 19:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― donut christ (donut), Sunday, 2 January 2005 19:11 (nineteen years ago) link
an episode of Pryor's Place can be seen on that Sid and Marty Krofft dvd set, it's not that good.
― contribute, Sunday, 2 January 2005 19:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― stew, Sunday, 2 January 2005 19:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― papa november (papa november), Sunday, 2 January 2005 22:31 (nineteen years ago) link
― Masked Gazza, Sunday, 2 January 2005 22:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― papa november (papa november), Sunday, 2 January 2005 22:38 (nineteen years ago) link
I couldn't find a CD or digital copy of Richard Pryor's classic, That Nigger's Crazy, so I got a cassette and digitized it myself and uploaded it for listening here:
http://boomp3.com/listen/ej6ks1v/richard-pryor-that-nigger-s-crazy
I wouldn't normally share a file like this, but it appears to be otherwise (digitally) unavailable, so I hope it's ok with ILX policy to post it.
― libcrypt, Sunday, 11 May 2008 21:32 (fifteen years ago) link
That's on the box set, actually.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:aifpxql0ldde
― kenan, Sunday, 11 May 2008 22:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh, well. Go ahead and delete that post, then.
― libcrypt, Sunday, 11 May 2008 23:11 (fifteen years ago) link
I still listen to the Pryor box set regularly.
Pryor would even admit he owes a lot to Lenny Bruce, but I don't go back and re-listen to Bruce all the fucking time like I do with Pryor.
(anyways, I know there's an RIP Pryor thread, but for the record here, R.I.P. Funniest Man Ever)
― Mackro Mackro, Sunday, 11 May 2008 23:20 (fifteen years ago) link
WHAT?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/feb/27/eddie-murphy-to-play-richard-pryor
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 27 February 2009 20:47 (fifteen years ago) link
...in "Harlem Days and Nights: The Docudrama"
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 27 February 2009 20:49 (fifteen years ago) link
will suck
― Comic Book Morbius (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 February 2009 20:52 (fifteen years ago) link
Pryor couldn't even make his own biopic a good one.
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 27 February 2009 20:53 (fifteen years ago) link
I admit I am sorta lolling at the idea of Eddie Murphy refusing to do any dicksucking scenes tho
― Comic Book Morbius (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 February 2009 20:55 (fifteen years ago) link
r u referencing RP's stage confession "I tried homosexuality, and I didn't like it?"
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 27 February 2009 21:12 (fifteen years ago) link
also, Eddie is crowding 50, is he going to play Pryor from 25 on? This could be Spacey as Bobby Darin all over again...
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 27 February 2009 21:14 (fifteen years ago) link
the dicksucking when dude was a kid and unless they were going to do some ill-advised Wayan's brothers Little Man shit there I assume Eddie Murphy wouldn't be portraying the part.
― Bone Thugs-N-Harmony ft Phil Collins (jim), Friday, 27 February 2009 21:17 (fifteen years ago) link
there's a word missing there but you get the gist.
This might not be awful. Eddie Murphy can sort of act when he puts his mind to it.
hmm don't remember that one - there is an onstage moment from some mid-70s perf I have where he acknowledges having sucked dick as a lad. Dude was raised in a whorehouse, remember.
megalolz if they go the Little Man route! haha
― Comic Book Morbius (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 February 2009 21:21 (fifteen years ago) link
I've read his autobiog and it's this horrible child abuse moment when dude forces him to suck his dick. He mentions meeting the guy when he was older and the guy was totally unapologetic and just like excited to meet him like "hey, you're famous, I knew you when you were a kid!" kind of thing.
― Bone Thugs-N-Harmony ft Phil Collins (jim), Friday, 27 February 2009 21:23 (fifteen years ago) link
whoah
― Comic Book Morbius (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 February 2009 21:23 (fifteen years ago) link
dude is straight up one of the greatest performers ever but man so much pain in his life
― Comic Book Morbius (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 February 2009 21:24 (fifteen years ago) link
of this NYC film retro, the titles I am least familiar with are Some Call It Loving and Dynamite Chicken.
http://www.bam.org/film/2013/a-pryor-engagement
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Monday, 28 January 2013 20:31 (eleven years ago) link
Oh man, would love to see Live In Concert on the big screen.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Monday, 28 January 2013 21:10 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, the concert movies and Blue Collar are p much the essentials of what I've seen. (I did see him do standup -- more like dramatic monologue by that time really -- once, at Radio City Music Hall on the tour that became the Here & Now film.)
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Monday, 28 January 2013 21:19 (eleven years ago) link
he was badly served by a lot of his film material, unfortunately. agree about the concert movies + Blue Collar. the rest is pretty expendable.
― Welcome to my world of proses (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 28 January 2013 21:20 (eleven years ago) link
and his linkage bits in Wattstax.
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Monday, 28 January 2013 21:21 (eleven years ago) link
(are hilarious, i mean)
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Monday, 28 January 2013 21:22 (eleven years ago) link
oh yeah. love that whole doc
― Welcome to my world of proses (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 28 January 2013 21:29 (eleven years ago) link
is this by C0l1n B. from here?
http://brooklynrail.org/2013/02/film/the-uses-of-richard-pryor
I am curious to see Which Way Is Up?
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 7 February 2013 02:19 (eleven years ago) link
NYT piece on this retrospective was interesting. (oddest detail was the bit about the Comedy Store picket line and who did/didn't cross it - wtf)
― Welcome to my world of proses (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 7 February 2013 21:35 (eleven years ago) link
http://theseconddisc.com/2013/03/28/shout-factory-to-release-nine-disc-richard-pryor-box-set/
Following the idea of Shout! Factory’s terrific The Incredible Mel Brooks box, No Pryor Restraint will feature an exhaustive look at Pryor’s career with seven CDs and two DVDs, including two hours of previously unreleased content on top of his most classic albums. “The best material from Pryor’s classic albums for the Laff, Stax & Warner Bros. labels” will be featured, as well as compilation-only material, including tracks from:Richard Pryor (Dove/Reprise, 1968)‘Craps’ (After Hours) (Laff, 1971)That N—–’s Crazy (Partee/Stax, 1974)…Is It Something I Said? (Reprise, 1975)Bicentennial N—– (Warner Bros., 1976)Wanted: Richard Pryor Live In Concert (Warner Bros., 1978)Live on the Sunset Strip (Warner Bros., 1982)Here and Now (Warner Bros., 1983)…And It’s Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings 1968-1992 (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2000)Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years 1966-1974 (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2005)The box will also contain the concert films Richard Pryor Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) and Richard Pryor Here and Now (1983). There will also be a book inside the package, featuring “rare photos, multiple essays, exclusive celebrity tributes, a discography, a filmography, and a personal note penned by Richard’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor.”Those who pre-order from Shout! Factory directly get a tenth bonus disc – the unreleased Live At The Comedy Store, October 1973 CD – and will see it ship in mid-May, well ahead of its June 11 street date.
Richard Pryor (Dove/Reprise, 1968)‘Craps’ (After Hours) (Laff, 1971)That N—–’s Crazy (Partee/Stax, 1974)…Is It Something I Said? (Reprise, 1975)Bicentennial N—– (Warner Bros., 1976)Wanted: Richard Pryor Live In Concert (Warner Bros., 1978)Live on the Sunset Strip (Warner Bros., 1982)Here and Now (Warner Bros., 1983)…And It’s Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings 1968-1992 (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2000)Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years 1966-1974 (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2005)
The box will also contain the concert films Richard Pryor Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) and Richard Pryor Here and Now (1983). There will also be a book inside the package, featuring “rare photos, multiple essays, exclusive celebrity tributes, a discography, a filmography, and a personal note penned by Richard’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor.”
Those who pre-order from Shout! Factory directly get a tenth bonus disc – the unreleased Live At The Comedy Store, October 1973 CD – and will see it ship in mid-May, well ahead of its June 11 street date.
― ARE YOU HIRING A NANNY OR A SHAMAN (Phil D.), Thursday, 28 March 2013 19:16 (eleven years ago) link
Arrg, already have most of that (everything pre-burn), really want just the 1973 disc.
― Darth Magus (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 28 March 2013 19:44 (eleven years ago) link
possibly NSFW even tho it aired on NBC in '77
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kJkhEcQ44k
― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Monday, 1 April 2013 13:17 (eleven years ago) link
^^^^this. the And Its Deep Too box is one of my most cherished possessions. am coveting this new box, but there's no way I could justify the expenditure.
― waterprick (stevie), Sunday, 2 June 2013 12:08 (ten years ago) link
it has some rich HUMOR along with the pathos and slice-of-life, but the obv question would be is it trying to be ha-ha funny.
The book says it ran with canned laughter on the broadcast.
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 18:30 (eight years ago) link
lol idk where you would even put the "laughs" in that sketch
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 20:30 (eight years ago) link
you underestimate TV lifers
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:13 (eight years ago) link
from the NBC show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sunsLde_ZWY
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Friday, 28 August 2015 15:05 (eight years ago) link
Robin Williams as the "classy" and (I'm assuming) Nazi guns?
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Monday, 31 August 2015 13:39 (eight years ago) link
“Oprah Winfrey will play Pryor’s grandmother, who ran a brothel and raised the iconic comic there; Eddie Murphy will play Pryor’s father, Leroy ‘Buck Carter’ Pryor. Kate Hudson is set to play Pryor’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor.”
http://deadline.com/2015/08/richard-pryor-oprah-winfrey-eddie-murphy-mike-epps-kate-hudson-lee-daniels-harvey-weinstein-1201509601/
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 16:34 (eight years ago) link
blech
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 17:00 (eight years ago) link
we'll see how many beatings, by grandma and RP, make it in
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 17:23 (eight years ago) link
ditto blowjobs
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 17:33 (eight years ago) link
ditto blow
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 17:33 (eight years ago) link
it IS Lee Daniels, ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 17:41 (eight years ago) link
would have been 75 today
here's the 1966 Merv Griffin Show discussed in the Saul book (whereafter he was cornered by Groucho Marx at a party at Bobby Darin's (!) and asked, "Young man, do you want a career you’re proud of, or do you want to end up a spitwad like Jerry Lewis?").
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31pmoy
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 December 2015 12:54 (eight years ago) link
Probably being played up for the cameras, but interesting tension between Pryor and Lewis there. Fascinating footage, thanks Morbs.
― I don't have the time or energy to make a counterargument (stevie), Tuesday, 1 December 2015 22:22 (eight years ago) link
wow never seen that before
lol'd at Merv/Jerry "Am I Jewish now?" exchange
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 December 2015 22:34 (eight years ago) link
Pryor in Regular Showbiz Land is a fascinating era.
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 December 2015 22:37 (eight years ago) link
he seems understandably nervous, almost shy
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 December 2015 22:40 (eight years ago) link
well showbiz was still an essentially segregated affair, and he was meeting one of his idols
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 2 December 2015 03:28 (eight years ago) link
he bridles at some moments with lewis though. fascinating footage.
― I don't have the time or energy to make a counterargument (stevie), Wednesday, 2 December 2015 09:58 (eight years ago) link
Try if you will but you'll never be able to unpack Richard Pryor into any sort of 21st century understanding of a "problematic" artist. The pain and suffering he endured/caused can't be grasped in today's digital screen-world of virtue-signalling & Nazis. pic.twitter.com/zC1S74mHFU— K D R (@kdr_2020) February 8, 2018
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 8 February 2018 16:43 (six years ago) link
People acting surprised about the Pryor thing when dude made the most true, beautiful short film about interracial same-sex love that I've ever seen: https://t.co/lQU1oIsvIn— BANDZ STACKHAGE (@NickPinkerton) February 8, 2018
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 8 February 2018 16:45 (six years ago) link
The Scott Saul biog from a little while back - which is mostly brilliant - is explicit about Richard's sexuality being fluid.
― "Taste's very strange!" (stevie), Thursday, 8 February 2018 19:38 (six years ago) link
Luv thread revives that talk around a thing without ever making explicit mention of the thing they're talking around. Luv them.
― I'm very active in the pegasus community (Old Lunch), Thursday, 8 February 2018 19:44 (six years ago) link
I figured everyone knew! Pryor and Brando got it on, per Quincy Jones and Pryor's widow.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 8 February 2018 20:01 (six years ago) link
I'm always the last to learn about secret celebrity fucking. Sigh.
― I'm very active in the pegasus community (Old Lunch), Thursday, 8 February 2018 20:09 (six years ago) link
subscribe to my newsletter!
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 8 February 2018 20:50 (six years ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/11/richard-pryor-great-meltdown-racist-hollywood-bowl
i read this last night, seems relevant
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 8 February 2018 22:20 (six years ago) link
yep (posted it 3 years ago -- I again recommend the book)
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 8 February 2018 22:41 (six years ago) link
Best film criticism of 1959: Teenaged Richard Pryor, in the Army, stabs a fellow soldier for laughing at Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life.— BANDZ STACKHAGE (@NickPinkerton) December 18, 2012
― Simon H., Friday, 9 February 2018 00:39 (six years ago) link
Thx Quincy Jones for giving me the opportunity to share a light-hearted Marlon Brando-Richard Pryor story that suggests why they were birds of a feather @jasondashbailey pic.twitter.com/6fPH2EYsjs— ScottSaul (@scottsaul4) February 7, 2018
― omar little, Friday, 9 February 2018 00:53 (six years ago) link
more champagne!
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 February 2018 01:19 (six years ago) link
Can I just say once more what a fabulous read that Scott Saul biog is? I've read a number of Pryor-related tomes over the years, including his own memoir, and this is the best.
― "Taste's very strange!" (stevie), Friday, 9 February 2018 09:10 (six years ago) link
from the AOC thread (never mind)
Blue Collar is the only movie Pryor is in that isnt bad
Some Call It LovingUptown Saturday NightCar Wash
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:23 (five years ago) link
And Superman 3.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:29 (five years ago) link
Wattstax
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:30 (five years ago) link
i've been meaning to check out Which Way Is Up? for a couple years, since I saw The Seduction of Mimi (its origin)
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:32 (five years ago) link
as I posted in the AOC thread:
Wild In The StreetsLost Highway
also The Muppet Movie, and iirc The Mack is entirely capable at what it's aiming to do
― steven, soda jerk (sic), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:44 (five years ago) link
I should have been more specific, limited it to films he stars in.
― ( ͡☉ ͜ʖ ͡☉) (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:47 (five years ago) link
The Mack counts then, and I'm prepared to believe that Blue Collar (by Schrader) and Silver Streak (d. Arthur Hiller, w. the writer of Harold & Maude) are non-terrible
saw See No Evil, Hear No Evil when I was a kid bcz Wilder/Pryor were supposed to be good, and that was definitely fuckin awful
― steven, soda jerk (sic), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 01:58 (five years ago) link
Any way you cut it, the disparity between Pryor's talent and the quality of his films is off the charts. Hard to think of many people who were so poorly served by their choice of material.
― A man of surgery, to remove the metal pellets from my flesh (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 02:10 (five years ago) link
Blue Collar probably is his best starring role.
God only knows how many times I watched the horribly offensive The Toy as a kid.
― A man of surgery, to remove the metal pellets from my flesh (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 02:13 (five years ago) link
Blue Collar was good. Others I tried, I couldn't stay awake. I read the bio "Furious Cool" that makes it sound like a miracle he managed to make any films.
Thread reminds me to give his "semi-autobiographical" film "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling" a try. Anyone seen that?
― maffew12, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 02:33 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUIKBlT_Ef8
― A man of surgery, to remove the metal pellets from my flesh (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 02:59 (five years ago) link
Hard to think of many people who were so poorly served by their choice of material.
You can only do what you're offered! Hollywood had no idea what to do with him.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 06:09 (five years ago) link
It's a mess, but a brave and fascinating mess.
Watched Which Way Is Up? last year, following that great biog that came out the year before, and it is really hard to watch, especially as the Pryor character's romantic approach is to stalk the female lead in a really creepy way, and then she inexplicably falls in love with him. It's a bad movie.
― I am message board pro and respond when talked to (stevie), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 08:58 (five years ago) link
I recently read Jenny Lee Pryor's memoir from the 90s, which I'd owned for years but never cracked open. It's not very well written, but vivid, and it's a gruelling read, as Pryor basically abuses her terribly and she keeps leaving him but then going back to him, and then getting psychologically and physically abused by him again. He seems to have been a real horror-show to be around, a towering inferno of self-doubt, paranoia and anger, onto which he poured the gasoline of drugs. It reminded me of that thing on the internet a bunch of years ago written by a scriptwriter working on a movie with him, where he basically came into writing sessions completely out of it and raging with paranoia and violence.
― I am message board pro and respond when talked to (stevie), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 09:04 (five years ago) link
I had no idea about this material - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution/Revolution
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 15 September 2022 11:50 (one year ago) link
Was relistening to this on a long drive recently. The first disk is fascinating and well-titled, as you hear Richard morph from gifted Cosby/Allen copyist into his own sublime thing. The later stuff is great too, mostly taken from the releases Laff put out alongside the LPs Richard was doing concurrently for Warners, and very much of a piece (if not sonically as clear or clean). The comp is up for streaming IIRC, if you don't fancy tracking down a CD.
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Thursday, 15 September 2022 13:03 (one year ago) link
Soz, I meant the Laff stuff was released at the same time as the Warners records, but the material and recordings often date earlier, before he was signed to Warners iirc
― politics is about vibes and the vibes are off (stevie), Thursday, 15 September 2022 13:06 (one year ago) link
Seem to recall a (silent?) sketch where he plays a whiskey doctor. He needs to have a drink to steady his hand for what one expects is going to be dealing with a bullet wounds but instead the joke is he delivers a baby. Hard to google, wonder if I dreamt it.
― A Kestrel for a Neve (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 20 December 2022 17:12 (one year ago) link
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 20 December 2022 18:54 (one year ago) link