Saturday, December 10, 2005

Richard Pryor 1940-2005

In early ’75 I was living in West Hollywood, writing spec scripts, and wondering why there were never any girls in the neighborhood. One Tuesday night I decided to wander over to the Comedy Store on Sunset. In those days you could buy a $2.00 margarita, sit at the bar, and watch a full evening of bad desperate comics. (“Just try to get a cab in LA…etc.”) On this night, at about 11:30, unannounced, Richard Pryor came in to just try out some new material. For the next 45 minutes he had me absolutely pulverized. I never laughed so hard in my life. I was actually relieved when he got off the stage because my sides were hurting so. I’m sure in the days ahead you will hear and read many eloquent tributes to Richard Pryor, who passed away today. Just know he was the funniest person I have ever or will ever meet.
at

7 comments :

  1. Anonymous12/11/2005 6:15 AM

    Loved him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12/11/2005 3:18 PM

    I guess I'm in the minority (no pun intended), but I never thought Pryor was funny. I dealt with him when he was making an awful film called CRITICAL CONDITION and found him to be as unpleasant as a human being could be. Was he funny? No. An utter piece of garbage.

    ReplyDelete
  3. By Ken Levine12/11/2005 4:36 PM

    You can say anything you want about Richard Pryor but he was funny. I'm not a huge fan of Barbra Streisand personally but she sure can sing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12/11/2005 4:45 PM

    When I saw Eugene McCarthy at the Funny Bone in St. Paul, he killed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12/12/2005 6:19 AM

    growing up he was the first in-your-face tell-it-like-it-is comedian I had seen, it was almost naughty for a kid to listen to him... which is why I did

    ReplyDelete
  6. By Ken Levine12/15/2005 12:18 AM

    Anonymous,

    It's R.I.P. Richard Pryor, not RIP Richard Pryor.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous5/04/2010 9:28 AM

    I'm not afraid to say the Emperor has no clothes, Richard Pryor was not funny. His nightclub act was a flurry of f bombs into an open mike. There's no creativity in that....as far as his observations, he was like a street wino making cracks about the ghetto in which he inhabited. He failed in every major medium...movies, television, life.....think about it, the politically correct police force you to say he's funny....he wasn't!

    ReplyDelete

NOTE: Even though leaving a comment anonymously is an option here, we really discourage that. Please use a name using the Name/URL option. Invent one if you must. Be creative. Anonymous comments are subject to deletion. Thanks.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.