Richard Pryor was a dangerous comic — the best kind.
You never knew what he would come up with. At his heyday in the 1970s, he broke all kinds of barriers in his landmark stand-up routines about what it was appropriate to say about race, sex, drugs and other topics. He flaunted the “n” word, then famously pledged not to use it because of its demeaning legacy. His humor had a revelatory, personal edge. He used some of his darkest moments as stand-up material (including his near-fatal 1980 free-basing accident).
He might have been the first black comic to poke fun at white people and get away with it.
Pryor influenced a generation of foul-mouthed comics, from Eddie Murphy to Chris Rock, but his brand of shock talk worked so well because it was a form of truth-telling.
Sometimes we laughed so hard that it hurt.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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14 Comments
The word genius usually assumes a highly educated academic. But Richard was a genius in that he found a new way to make people both laugh and think about what they were laughing at. It is a rare gift.
“Pryor influenced a whole generation of foul-mouth comics”.Wow, what a great contibution to society! I won’t miss him.
I miss him. His comedy may have been raw to the extreme, but he told it like it was!
I loved his movie comedy, but his stand up made me cringe. Right or wrong he knew people and what would make them laugh. It’s more of a sad testimony to his audience, who, after all, responded to the foul-mouth comedy.
I’m so tired of hearing the “F” word constantly in every movie, stand up routine, even in today’s music. It’s people like him that made profanity so common place. It truly illustrates a lack of imagination.I agree with you, Sam. The fact that people found him so funny is a sad statement on our culture. I wonder if they would think he was that funny if they listened to his routine minus the profanity. Probably not.
Da,Yeah, but in the real world, sometimes anything less than the “F word” just doesn’t say it! Sorry, but it isn’t all cotton candy and teddy bears for large segments of our population, so either get busy fixing it, or get used to hearing the cuss words.
Hey Jed, you know I try fixing the world all the time on this blog, but I just get shot down.I make a good effort to fix it in the real world, too. “You can’t do great things, just small things with great love”.I must admit, though, I am guilty of using the “F” word when I’m in traffic, but at least my windows are rolled up and no one can hear me. You’re right, sometimes it’s the only word that will do!!
What if we just decided that the F bomb and other words aren’t offensive?
Where and when did these words come from and why are they so bad?
Comedians who use the words in their routines are taking the easy road to make people laugh. It’s much more of a challenge to come up with an act that does not use the F-bomb, etc.
I always wondered who was in charge of the “These words are offensive” list.
ksam, I think George Karlin keeps the official list, but that’s like letting the mice guard the cheese.
LOL.. I think you are right!
NoJo,You are probably right, in that a lot of young comedians are riding on the coattails of people like Pryor, Bruce and Carlin; but for them, it was anything but easy!Sam,Words are just words; what’s offensive are the ideas being expressed by some of the people that use them, and you don’t need cuss words to express some pretty gruesome ideas. Some of the worst, most hurtful and harmful ideas have been couched in the gentlest language. Conversely, some things that have really needed to be said have used the “F word” and others that the genteel find offensive.You don’t need a list of offensive words, you need to look and what ideas are being expressed, and decide in your heart what’s offensive and what isn’t.
Jed, I agree regarding Pryor, Bruce & Carlin. They are all gifted and they challenged society through their humor.
I’m mostly refering to newer commedians who just cuss because it gets the easy laugh. Jerry Seinfeld is known for creative comedy minus the explectives. I don’t know if that still holds true or not.
NoJo,Fuuny- I never thought Seinfeld was all that much, and it wasn’t the missing expletives as much as the missing talent!