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