Yes.I agree.He was infinitely more important that those kids in Africa.
I agree that Richard Pryor was one of a kind. His comedy came from his own life's pain, but he turned it into something others could laugh about. He had his own voice. No one else sounded like Pryor.
spendius, I'm cuious...why the funky attitude about our mourning Pryor's death?
dyslexia wrote:at least he wasn't lynched.
Can you please 'splain what you mean?
eoe, spendius is always funky.
snood, that's just dys' way of being wry, bro. Always look at his remarks and then think the opposite. <smile>
Letty wrote:eoe, spendius is always funky.
snood, that's just dys' way of being wry, bro. Always look at his remarks and then think the opposite. <smile>
Letty -
Why are you speaking for Spendius and Dys?
because I know their style, snood.
He was funny, and he could do that stuff forever.
I remember my dad showing me a joke when I was a kid. He lit a match, then "walked" it, and said "what's this....Richard Pryor running down the street."
I don't even really know the story about how he caught on fire.
I saw him interviewed on tv. He said he did it on purpose.
I'm not quite sure I believe that. Maybe, in that drugged impulsive way.
I think he describes it on one of his live in concert tapes. (what are they, dvds by now?)
Yes, he does describe it. I think it's in the one called "Still Smokin'". I'm not totally sure about that though. He actually does that joke that Slappy mentioned too.
I can't remember the exact details of his description, but somehow, while he was freebasing, something exploded and he caught fire.
Exactly. The story was he was free-basing and got careless with the matches. Freaks me out that he was actually younger than I am when he died.
From Wickipedia
On June 1, 1980, Pryor set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine. Pryor made this part of his heralded "final" stand up show "Richard Pryor Live On Sunset Strip" (1982). After joking that the incident was actually caused when he dunked a cookie into a glass containing two different types of milk, he gave a poignant yet both funny and serious account of his accident and recovery, then poked fun at people who told jokes about it by waving a lit match and saying "What's this? It's Richard Pryor running down the street." Interviewed in 2005, Jennifer Lee Pryor said that Richard poured high-proof rum over his body and torched himself in a drug psychosis. In a TV interview during his recovery Pryor said that he tried to commit suicide.
Ah. That's all new to me. Poor tyke. I will miss him. He has been part of our eyes.
He was an artist....a performance artist.
