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 years ago) link
― robin (robin), Saturday, 19 April 2003 03:39 (twenty years ago) link
― H (Heruy), Saturday, 19 April 2003 03:43 (twenty years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Saturday, 19 April 2003 03:44 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 19 April 2003 04:18 (twenty years ago) link
― Andrew (enneff), Saturday, 19 April 2003 11:51 (twenty years ago) link
― Skottie, Sunday, 20 April 2003 07:24 (twenty 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 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 (ten 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
http://www.amazon.ca/No-Pryor-Restraint-Life-Concert/dp/B00C6P7I8Y/ref=pd_rhf_pe_p_t_1_FDFC
Amazon.ca has the No Pryor Restraint set selling for $14.99 today. Why? Because who knows. Buy it before they figure out what happened.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 17:23 (ten years ago) link
Oh, it's gone up to $19.98 now.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 21:08 (ten years ago) link
From a new book, the job interview behins the SNL "Job Interview" sketch with Chevy Chase.
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/03/saturday_night_live_and_richard_pryor_the_untold_story_behind_snls_edgiest_sketch_ever/
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Monday, 4 November 2013 16:18 (ten years ago) link
Lee Daniels to do biopic. Not sure i've seen this Epps guy in anything.
http://flavorwire.com/newswire/lee-daniels-casts-mike-epps-in-richard-pryor-biopic
― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 27 August 2014 20:23 (nine years ago) link
Another biography (586 pages), here reviewed by Janet Maslin.
It’s surprising that his early role models were so mainstream: Red Skelton, Sid Caesar, Jerry Lewis. He aspired to such a clean, white-guy style that his early image was that of an also-ran Bill Cosby — at a time when there was room for only one Bill Cosby in show business. (At that stage in his career, Pryor actually thought he was clean enough to emulate what Mr. Cosby called his “Joe Q. Public” persona.)....Mr. Saul has also found a lot of people who had violent conflicts with the famously mercurial Pryor but did get to see him at very close range.
Especially women. Their stories about him are anything but funny, and not even knowledge of what Pryor must have learned during his boyhood can erase the horror that he inflicted as an adult. The stories of beatings are just business as usual; the woman beaten about the head with two brandy bottles, one in each fist, takes it up a notch. Those who chose to stay with him had to get used to coming home and finding him in bed with somebody else (usually female, but not always; he acknowledged his bisexuality). Sometimes, they were ordered to participate, willingly or not. One escaped for a while but was eventually wooed back with gifts including a chinchilla coat. She came home a while later to the ghastly smell of chinchilla on fire.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/books/becoming-richard-pryor-scott-sauls-biography.html
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Friday, 5 December 2014 20:59 (nine years ago) link
pryor has a routine where he talks about shooting the tires of his car in order to prevent his wife from leaving the house. he recounts it as an amusing anecdote, but only a total moron could look past the horror of what that scene must have looked like. this recognition, really, is what he is going for. the emotional experience he was trying to impart to his audience was way more complicated than just laughter, as has been said a million times, i know, but it's true and what makes him different from other comedians. he wasn't always trying to endear himself to the audience either. he confronted them with himself.
since pryor's life was so difficult -- so much more difficult than mine -- i would feel weird calling him a monster or something but then again, if i heard of someone today bashing their wife over the head with a glass bottle i wouldn't hesitate to condemn them. so, i don't know. my view is that it's useful to know about what kind of person an artist was insofar as it sheds light on the meaning of their work, but if they were a "good or bad" person is irrelevant to the strength of the work, which is determined by other, intangible qualities. pryor's storytelling transcended comedy. he's as indispensable to american culture as miles davis, another abuser. it would have been better if he was punished for this bottle incident, at least, but he is dead and that's not where we are.
nobody's arguing about not listening to pryor's albums, i know. i am just writing about this because it's been a rough year in terms of being forced to face horrible things about artists i've admired.
― Treeship, Friday, 5 December 2014 22:01 (nine years ago) link
"I am no day at the beach"
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Friday, 5 December 2014 22:26 (nine years ago) link
never seen this before:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLgzuFvT2v8
― Οὖτις, Friday, 5 December 2014 22:32 (nine years ago) link
From the book... Rich is hired to play a "glossy," discreet gay-rights fundraiser in '77, and...
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/11/richard-pryor-great-meltdown-racist-hollywood-bowl
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 02:59 (nine years ago) link
Wow. I'd heard his dick sucking bit from other performances, bur had never heard of this incident.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 03:38 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, I remember something similar from ...Is It Something I Said?
I'd heard about the Hollywood Bowl thing before, but the account I'd read portrayed Pryor as nothing more than a vicious homophobe (which obviously didn't jibe with what I'd heard on his records, so I wasn't sure if I was getting the whole story).
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 03:44 (nine years ago) link
Reminds me that earlier today a coworker asked if I'd ever seen The Toy. Nnnnnope. "You haven't?! Oh, it's a classic! Don't you like Richard Pryor?"
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 03:58 (nine years ago) link
I can't even imagine other bad Richard Pryor films being as bad as The Toy.
― MaudAddam (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 03:59 (nine years ago) link
There's stuff about the Hollywood Bowl show in If I Stop I'll Die from a couple of decades ago, but in nowhere near so much depth. Really want to read this new book.
― #Research (stevie), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 09:56 (nine years ago) link
Live and Smokin is fucking amazing if anyone in this thread hasn't seen it yet
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 10:35 (nine years ago) link
I've got a torrent of "Some Call it Loving", bit of a cult thingy starring Zalman King (who went on to be an erotica auteur supremo). Haven't seen it yet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Some_Call_It_Loving
Pryor's filmography is total shit for th most part so hoping this does the trick
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 10:44 (nine years ago) link
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, January 14, 2015 5:35 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I only saw it once, maybe 25 years ago, and I remember it being really sad. He's obviously not all there, and it feels like he's stuck in the junkie character, only it's not a character.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 14:41 (nine years ago) link
It's sad and fuckin amazing and you should see it again
― da croupier, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 14:51 (nine years ago) link
I was unaware of that filmed set, and as it was at the NYC Improv, I'd be very interested as I usta perform there.
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 15:05 (nine years ago) link
xxpost You might be surprised watching it again - he's razor sharp. It is incredibly sad because of some of the places he goes to, the characters he's inhabiting, but I don't know if I've ever seen him quite as on top of his game as that, as far as truly expressing the full range of what he's capable of
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 15:06 (nine years ago) link
well he was not yet HUGE in 1971, possibly not doing as many drugs.
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 15:09 (nine years ago) link
The two lines I remember from that set are among my favorites ("Kiss my ass!...truck!" "There is nothing like the claaap!"), so yeah, I suppose I should see it again.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 15:09 (nine years ago) link
The live one where he's in the red suit and talking about shooting his car (Richard Pryor In Concert?) was the first I saw, and is still my favourite.
― #Research (stevie), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 15:12 (nine years ago) link
OK, watched a couple of clips of Live & Smokin', and I have no idea how I so colossally misremembered this. I recognize some of this material from Craps and his 1974 record, and yeah, Pryor's totally on.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 15:22 (nine years ago) link
Live and smokin is revelatory
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 16:57 (nine years ago) link
this sentence has got to be one of the understatements of the year:
Peoria, Illinois, in the 1950s, at a time when there was little in the way of a gay community there
that was a fascinating article, btw. thank you for sharing it.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 17:13 (nine years ago) link
also, re the anecdote RP tells in the set -- in 1952, he was twelve.
Obviously there is an audio recording, at least, somewhere.
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 17:19 (nine years ago) link
pryor spoke frequenly about losing his virginity at a young age -- he was raised partly in a whorehouse, no?
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 18:12 (nine years ago) link
yes, his grandma's
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 18:13 (nine years ago) link
indeed, i recall that he said he was sexually abused as a small child, although i'm not sure he used the word "abused."
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 18:13 (nine years ago) link
he should have been a film critic:
According to a 1999 profile about Pryor in The New Yorker, Pryor was incarcerated for an incident that occurred while stationed in Germany. Angered that a white soldier was overly amused at the racially charged sections of Douglas Sirk's movie Imitation of Life, Pryor and some other black soldiers beat and stabbed him, though not fatally.[29]
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 18:14 (nine years ago) link
they could wipe out half the screenings these days
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 18:16 (nine years ago) link
i need to get this:
http://www.amazon.com/No-Pryor-Restraint-Life-Concert/dp/B00C6P7I8Y/
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 18:38 (nine years ago) link
hilton als discusses the hollywood bowl incident a bit in the pryor chapter of 'white girls' - also goes into a little more depth re: his friendship with lily tomlin
― donna rouge, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 18:41 (nine years ago) link
where does pryor talk about losing his virginity?
― NI, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 20:16 (nine years ago) link
i love richard pryor, but thinking of him makes me so terribly sad
― contenderizer, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 20:42 (nine years ago) link
[/emo] amazing excerpt, morbs - thanks for posting it
― contenderizer, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 20:43 (nine years ago) link
came to me via ex-ilxor Casuistry btw
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 20:49 (nine years ago) link
where does pryor talk about losing his virginity?― NI, Wednesday, January 14, 2015 2:16 PM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― NI, Wednesday, January 14, 2015 2:16 PM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
feel like he has versions of that story in a few routines, but i can't point to one album or video specifically right now.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 21:11 (nine years ago) link
/lazy
i know he talks about childhood sexual abuse in his memoir, can't recall a specific anecdote re: virginity but it likely comes up in there as well
― da croupier, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 21:19 (nine years ago) link
have begun the Saul book. He idolized Jerry Lewis and Sid Caesar, as a kid growing up in the '50s reasonably would. (And he became a great physical comedian, doing standup.)
― the increasing costive borborygmi (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 3 June 2015 18:45 (eight years ago) link
(that physicality is what made the concert films a more complete experience, in some ways, than the LPs.)
― the increasing costive borborygmi (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 3 June 2015 18:46 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, as brilliant as the records are, there's always moments of "[silence] [explosive laughter]" where presumably he did some hilarious physical comedy.
One of my favorite moments in Richard Pryor Live In Concert doesn't come across on record too well:
"...snake..."
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 3 June 2015 19:14 (eight years ago) link
The opening 30 pages or so about his family background and Peoria in the first half of the 20th century is just so bleak and heartbreaking. The roots of everything that inspired and traumatized him are completely laid bare.
― the increasing costive borborygmi (Dr Morbius), Friday, 5 June 2015 19:29 (eight years ago) link
i should read this.
― he quipped with heat (amateurist), Friday, 5 June 2015 19:57 (eight years ago) link
a key sketch from a 1973 CBS Lily Tomlin special (Alan Alda pops in too). It's totally character-driven, and per the Saul book, Lily had to fight to get it on over the course of a year; the network said it "wasn't funny." Pryor connected with Tomlin, loved her work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKi7myNZb4o
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Monday, 17 August 2015 02:37 (eight years ago) link
I'd never heard of this before a few months ago and thankfully found it on youtube. I watched it several times over the course of the day. It's unlike anything I've ever seen on television, and though she had to fight with the network to get it on in 1973, it would never get out of a pitch meeting in 2015. It's astonishing.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 17 August 2015 02:41 (eight years ago) link
Pryor's mockery of the social-work types is deft and not at all heavyhanded. He won an Emmy for co-writing one of these Tomlin specials, not sure which.
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Monday, 17 August 2015 02:45 (eight years ago) link
is the saul book god, morbs?
― Credit: howtokeepapositiveattitudedotcom (stevie), Monday, 17 August 2015 08:21 (eight years ago) link
bought a VHS of this entire special off ebay years ago, but i think i've since lost it
― Credit: howtokeepapositiveattitudedotcom (stevie), Monday, 17 August 2015 08:22 (eight years ago) link
it's probably the definitive book, for now, on Pryor in the '70s and his early life.
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Monday, 17 August 2015 11:29 (eight years ago) link
It makes clear RP was ambivalent at best about his crossover vehicles, eg Silver Streak, his breakthrough hit film, which he nearly quit the day before the "Gene Wilder blacks up with shoe polish" scene. Fortunately Wilder and Arthur Hiller let Pryor essentially rewrite and take over the scene.
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Monday, 17 August 2015 18:31 (eight years ago) link
i'll definitely check it out, thanks for the tip-off
― Credit: howtokeepapositiveattitudedotcom (stevie), Monday, 17 August 2015 21:57 (eight years ago) link
Thanks for posting that clip, Morbs; just got to that point in the book yesterday and was about to seek it out.
And Morbs otm re: the new bio. Absolutely definitive, and Saul's take on "That N-----'s Crazy" is spot-on where he talks about the multiple layers revealed with each listen. I've practically got that record memorized and I still hear something new every time.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 17 August 2015 23:46 (eight years ago) link
should i read the saul book first, or his autobiography?
― NI, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 02:00 (eight years ago) link
I actually found his autobio a little thin, but the excerpts in Saul's book make me want to revisit it. That said, I'd still read Saul first.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 15:33 (eight years ago) link
ok thanks, i'll do that
― NI, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 17:39 (eight years ago) link
that bit was great but network dudes otm about it not being funny
xp
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 18:23 (eight 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 (four years ago) link
And Superman 3.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:29 (four years ago) link
Wattstax
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:30 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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 (four 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