A concert film of standup comedian Richard Pryor, recorded live at the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach, California.
There are some artists who are so original, fearless and groundbreaking that they inspire and influence almost every other artist in their field who comes after them. This is how I think of Richard Pryor - the comedian's comedian. This concert showcases him at the top of his game with an electrifying performance; a nonstop riff on sex, families, racism, drugs, the police, death, pets, boxing and the great outdoors. Pryor pours everything he has into it, whether it be recreating a heart attack onstage, demonstrating the correct method for falling over when knocked out, delivering the most perfectly timed gag about a hunting rifle, or an amazing moment where he becomes a child lying about a breakage which I absolutely guarantee will have tears streaming down your cheeks. As with all great comedy, the writing and artistry behind this is seamless and invisible, almost as if Pryor just strolled on and made it all up. It's impossible to see how he moves from one topic to the next or to watch him perform for even a minute without being swept up in his rap. The man was simply a genius. The film itself epitomises his daring; nobody had ever released a major theatrical feature of a standup comedy performance before and no movie studio wanted it. Instead it was released independently, was a smash hit and went on to become one of the most successful comedy videotapes of all time. Followed by two more concert films (made by Columbia) - Live On The Sunset Strip in 1982 and Here And Now in 1983. Pryor had many problems in his life, but there is no denying the natural talent with which he clawed himself up from nothing into a trailblazing comedy superstar who influenced everybody from Eddie Murphy to Eddie Izzard. Witness that talent with this fantastic time capsule of his comic brilliance.
There are some artists who are so original, fearless and groundbreaking that they inspire and influence almost every other artist in their field who comes after them. This is how I think of Richard Pryor - the comedian's comedian. This concert showcases him at the top of his game with an electrifying performance; a nonstop riff on sex, families, racism, drugs, the police, death, pets, boxing and the great outdoors. Pryor pours everything he has into it, whether it be recreating a heart attack onstage, demonstrating the correct method for falling over when knocked out, delivering the most perfectly timed gag about a hunting rifle, or an amazing moment where he becomes a child lying about a breakage which I absolutely guarantee will have tears streaming down your cheeks. As with all great comedy, the writing and artistry behind this is seamless and invisible, almost as if Pryor just strolled on and made it all up. It's impossible to see how he moves from one topic to the next or to watch him perform for even a minute without being swept up in his rap. The man was simply a genius. The film itself epitomises his daring; nobody had ever released a major theatrical feature of a standup comedy performance before and no movie studio wanted it. Instead it was released independently, was a smash hit and went on to become one of the most successful comedy videotapes of all time. Followed by two more concert films (made by Columbia) - Live On The Sunset Strip in 1982 and Here And Now in 1983. Pryor had many problems in his life, but there is no denying the natural talent with which he clawed himself up from nothing into a trailblazing comedy superstar who influenced everybody from Eddie Murphy to Eddie Izzard. Witness that talent with this fantastic time capsule of his comic brilliance.