Richard Pryor #2%!- /& #2/0 30)2)45!,
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)#/.: )#/.: ICONZ#2%!-//0 :: Richard30)2)45!, Pryor ICONZ :: Richard Pryor #2%!-//0 30)2)45!, ).42/ -53)# '!-% ).42/ -53)# '!-% It’s there for you to discover in his (%!,4( (%!,4( 0/,)4)#3 0/,)4)#3 02/&),% exceptional movie career, too. In films 02/&),% !--!$.%33 !--!$.%33 '%.%2!4)/.3 '%.%2!4)/.3 $6$s#$ like Lady Sings The Blues, Car Wash, $6$s#$ Silver Streak, Greased Lightning, Which 3().).'34!2 3().).'34!2 3/#)!,)34)#3 3/#)!,)34)#3 Way Is Up, Blue Collar, Stir Crazy, Some 4/0$!7' 4/0$!7' The30/243 Absolute Kind Of Hero, and Jo Jo Dancer, Your 30/243 Life Is Calling. And who could forget his Universal Truth of groundbreaking genre defining concert films like Live On The Sunset Strip and the critically acclaimed Richard Pryor Live In Concert? rIcHARD PRYOR Pryor even made his mark on the small screen when in 1977 The Richard By Mr. Kevin Miles ®2006 Pryor Show aired on NBC. And while it goes without saying he was ready e ven if you’re lucky enough American midget cannibals. the script once more, turned it on its for prime time, its censors were not, as to make your living as a wiseass, All kidding aside, there are such head and took it to a whole different evidenced by the deletion of perhaps the telling jokes and making funny--the older truths. And one such Absolute Universal plane. It was only then that he blessed it, most brilliant opening scene of a new you get, the wiser you become. And Truth is this: Richard Pryor was the most unleashed it out into the world, stepped TV show in the history of the medium: the more you begin to understand that gifted comic talent who ever walked the back and glared out at his audience with Pryor’s face appears on the screen in beyond the smoke and mirrors, the rose earth. While you marinate on that for a those marvelous, wide, loving, dark brown close-up as he reassures his millions of colored lenses and the subconscious minute, don’t think on it too hard. And doe eyes of his. Eyes that dared us all to fans that he has not sold out to the man security the sand our collective heads are don’t let the endless debate over more let go and hang on at the same time, as and that in point of fact he has “given up buried in provides us within the Matrix arguable and far less inconsequential he bared his soul and took us all along absolutely nothing” for the opportunity of our daily lives, there exists a much truths, such as who the greatest basket- with him on the ride of our lives. to have his very own show. It’s at this greater truth than the truth we all blindly ball, football, baseball player, or greatest That his impact on comedy cannot precise moment when the camera pulls accept as fact. This is truth on a higher pound for pound boxer of all time is or be overstated is perhaps the greatest back to reveal a “nude” Pryor in a body level--truth evolved. was, cloud your judgment. There are understatement of all understatements. suit with no genitals. too many variables to be considered in So much so, that Absolute Universal This is Absolute Universal Truth. such discussions to come to a definite Truth be told, any serious discussion Unlike the spoon fed truth we ingest on consensus of opinion. And really, when on comedy as an art form can only be pure faith alone, day in and out, the truth you get right down to it who cares? broken down into two eras--that which we buy into from school, church, TV, ra- This is comedy we’re talking about came before Richard Pryor and that In praIse of pryor dio, the Internet, conspiracy theories, the here. Serious business. And in the vast which came after. HIlarIous allstar “Richard Pryor is an alchemist who can turn the darkest pain into the deepest comedy. [He] barbershop and out in the street, Abso- universe that is comedy, let there be no If you’re a true student of comedy stand up kIngs of doesn’t go for the jugular — he goes straight for the aorta.” — Robin Williams lute Universal Truth cannot be disputed, doubt. Let the evidence speak for itself. you know this inherently. If you don’t debated, challenged, argued, shaded, There was but one Richard Franklin comedy lIst.... “What would life be like without Richard Pryor and Mudbone? Dull, baby, very dull. There will believe this Absolute Universal Truth, never be another Richard Pryor. He is, and always has been, the funniest man alive.” — Whoopi questioned or politically corrected. For Lennox Thomas Pryor III. And even if you are simply confused, sadly mis- Goldberg Absolute Universal Truth, simply put, is mankind somehow manages not to blow taken, misinformed, or just plain wrong RICHARD PRYOR what it is. “He’s the kind of comedian that everyone calls him by his first name — like they know him. and more likely than not, the only taste DAVID CHAPPELLE Richard!” — Dave Chappelle you have is in your mouth. So you might GEORGE CARLIN want to pull your head out of your ass “Richard Pryor is the greatest comedian of all time.” — Chris Rock There was but one Richard Franklin Lennox REDD FOXX and recognize right about now. If on the “To fully appreciate the power of Richard Pryor as a stand-up comedian, you had to follow him Thomas Pryor III. And even if mankind somehow at the Comedy Store. I did once, and I’m lucky to be alive.” — David Letterman manages not to blow himself all to hell and other hand, you’re a new jack and you BILL COSBY just don’t know your history and you’re LENNY BRUCE “I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, ‘Ain’t that exist for another billion years to come, simply unaware of who Richard Pryor the truth!’ Richard Pryor is the truth machine. He has taken black street humor to its highest PAUL MOONEY we shall never see his like again. was, and why he is so highly revered universal level.” — Quincy Jones himself all to hell and exists for another above all other comics, not just by his FRDDIE PRINZE For instance, Bruce Lee could kick your billion years to come, we shall never see “Richard Pryor is to comedy what Gretzky is to hockey, what Ali is to Boxing. He is The Beatles fans, but by his contemporaries as well, of comedy.” — Paul Rodriguez ass in his current condition, using only his his like again. DICK GREGORY fear not. Even though he is no longer shadow and two drinking straws held to- That’s the Absolute Universal Truth FLIP WILSON “[Richard is] a gifted, raging, soaring, plummeting, deeply human man with the tender boy walking among us, the Universal Abso- gether by a piece of wet spaghetti while for your ass. inside — the greatest pioneering comic artist of the last three generations.” — Lily Tomlin lute Truth of Richard Pryor is out there EDDIE MURPHY inhabiting Stephen Hawking’s body while True enough, Richard Pryor, The “Richard is the consumate comic/jazz artist, and no one will ever touch his genius.” for you to discover for yourself. CHRIS ROCK suspended upside down over Niagara Godfather of comedy neither invented — Chevy Chase You can find it in the immense body falls in a straightjacket. Forest Gump standup comedy or solo performance MARTIN LAWRENCE of work he left us in his many record- “Richard had that thing where he could make you laugh so hard and then all of a sudden he’d could beat George Bush in a debate art. He merely reinvented it. Reshaped GEORGE LOPEZ break your heart.” — Robert Townsend “Richard Pryor is truly one of the great artists of our time. ings. Richard Pryor…And It’s Deep Too!” with his tongue stuck to a flagpole in it, reworked it, reengineered it, redefined His comic genius and influence remain unparalleled.” — Eddie Murphy THE COMPLETE WARNER BROS. GEORGE WALLACE the middle of Fargo North Dakota in the it, rearranged it, re-imagined it, remade it RECORDINGS (1968-1992) is a good “His star shines fiercely in the universe of art, with a truth and intensity unlike any other.” dead of winter while being roasted over and regurgitated it. And then he flipped SINBAD — Kris Kristofferson ICONZ a spit by a tribe of bloodthirsty South place to start. ILLUSTRATIONS: JON CROSSLAND ILLUSTRATIONS: JON CROSSLAND 8 HILARIOUS MAGAZINE | SEPT 2006 WWW.HILARIOUSMAG.COM WWW.HILARIOUSMAG.COM HILARIOUS MAGAZINE | SEPT 2006 9 )#/.: )#/.: ICONZ#2%!-//0 :: Richard30)2)45!, Pryor ICONZ :: Richard Pryor #2%!-//0 30)2)45!, ).42/ -53)# '!-% ).42/ -53)# '!-% Pure comic genius. holds without actually having been invited types. And simultaneously he forced blacks (%!,4( (%!,4( 0/,)4)#3 0/,)4)#3 Speaking02/&),% of which, Richard Pryor was into our households. to take a closer look at whites, the two 02/&),% !--!$.%33 !--!$.%33 hailed as'%.%2!4)/.3 a comic genius by his peers The same can be said for the state meeting somewhere in the middle where '%.%2!4)/.3 $6$s#$ performances $6$s#$ from the get go. Way back in the day comedy is in today. Where are the Richard the universal absolute truths of our many 3().).'34!2 • Chicago Hope (1995) 3().).'34!2 3/#)!,)34)#3 • The Toy (1982) 3/#)!,)34)#3 when being recognized as such actually Pryors of our generation? For that matter, differences and commonalities symboli- Television • The 10th Annual American • On Broadway Tonight (1964) • Richard Pryor Here and Now (1983) 4/0$!7' 4/0$!7' 30/243 Comedy Awards (1995) 30/243 meant something.