Some thoughts on RIchard Pryor

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on December 11th, 2005

An email from author/comedian Larry Getlen:

One aspect of Pryor’s influence that seems less frequently mentioned, in general, is his eventual influence on what has, over the past decade, been called “alternative” comedy. Pryor amazed for many reasons, the honesty of his portrayal of black life primary among them. But it also seems you could draw a straight line from Pryor’s story-telling to the jokeless style of many alternative comedic performers, as well as the increasingly popular trend of storytelling (including one-person shows) as an comedic event.

It’s also interesting to note the amazing similarities between the life stories of Pryor and George Carlin from about 1959-1971. Both served in the military with horrid results (Pryor stabbed a guy; Carlin was court-martialed three times). Both went to New York to try to make it in comedy, and performed in the clubs in the Village (sometimes together, improv-ing on stage) and within a few years found their way to TV via the shows of Merv Griffin, Ed Sullivan and others. Both wore suits and performed mainstream, middle-of-the-road material despite natural inclinations the other way based on their blue collar backgrounds, anti-establishment views, and sympathies with the downtrodden aspects of society. Both evolved from TV to Vegas around the same time, both did quite well there but felt out of place, and both wound up hating Vegas audiences so much that they wound up cursing them out from the stage. Both finally quit Vegas in frustration– taking incredible risks in doing so, as they were both turning their backs on the kind of success most comics would kill for– took about a year off at the end of the decade, grew their hair, ditched the suits, and returned with material that suited who they were in real life, making them the two most popular and influential comedians of the seventies. (And that’s without even going into the similarities later on with rising popularity and album successes, then drugs, career downturns and heart attacks, leading to Carlin’s classic joke– slight paraphrasing here– “Here’s the latest score in the Carlin-Pryor sweepstakes– I lead Richard in heart attacks by a score of 3-2, but he leads 1-0 in setting yourself on fire!”)

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