Richard Pryor finally just says "Fuck it."
Before anyone judges me for announcing his death in such a way, I will declare that Rich would know what I am saying, and approve; afterall that is a line from one of his routines (the one where he shot the car with a .357, specifically.)
A lot has been said about his legacy, far and wide. I will try to avoid repeating what others have said already, although I have to admit that after reading what others have said, some of that is likely to dribble out. Apologies in advance, for that.
Let me start with the part of his legacy related to my tribute to him, in the title, here. Unfortunately, he will likely be remembered too much for the cuss'n. Yes, he bravely went where no comic had gone before (although, following the trail left by Lenny Bruce.) But in his case, it was more (to my mind) a matter of his choice, if not natural inclination, to speak in the honsest, if vulgar, vernacular of his own context. And even if I did not grow up in anything resembling a black working-class neighborhood, it was a working-class neighborhood. That is not to say I grew up around rude people. I grew up around people who were perfectly comfortable using rude language. So again, I can relate. Some folk resort to cuss'n only when emotionally-upset. Some use that language because the words honestly reflect the thoughts and ideas they are thinking about.
Speaking about honesty, Richard Pryor's version of comedy was so brutally honest that there is one adjective that best describes it; NAKED. Again, another sad (maybe) irony is that people are likely to remember more about the uproar over the gag on his short lived TV show when he wanted to appear naked, than the naked quality of his act. Suffice to say, one does not need to study literature and dramatic analysis at the college level to understand the essence of metaphor. Rich did, no doubt. In my mind, the true meaning of the story of the naked tv bit is that Prime Time TV was not ready for that level of nakedness, emotionally or otherwise. I have never read or heard an interview with Rich where he discussed that, however I am guessing, that was the whole point. I am guessing he was too brilliant an observer of humankind to have thought that up only for its value as a sight-gag.
And that leads to my thoughts on his skills as an observer of humankind. I really can't say 'like other comics,' as he seems to have been the trailblazer in this comic-dramatic technique, but I believe that before any others, he truly understood the idea that in order for a comic to show the flawed if not tragic beauty in all of us, a comic needs to dig deep inside their own psyche, history, and heart. And you have to be willing to be totally emotionally naked before an audience to do that. And no other comic has ever come as close to plumbing the depths of humanity by searching so deep within themselves as Rich, between the routine about his heart attack, and the one about loosing his mind and shooting the car, and lastly, the routine about the freebasing incident.
There is raw and then there was Rich. And he was not only raw, he was elemental.
Much has been said about his take on race relations. I will not vamp much on that, but to say the beauty in his way of talking about "that shit" was he did not approach the matter from the point of view of making a social or political statement, but instead was talking about life, not only as perceived, but lived. Yes, he was beyond edgy at times with it; he struck a lot of nerves. The honest (emotionally) truth will do that.
They say that the best comedy always has a bit of truth to it; with Rich, that general rule was a gross understatement.
And if you want to properly remember Rich (and don't have any of his concert albums or tapes or DVDs) I suggest you go to his website and listen to a few clips of some of his classic routines.
http://www.richardpryor.com/media.cfm
A couple of final points, as there are two memories involving Richard Pryor that comes to mind. On is the day, when I and my sisters were still very young, and my parents chased us away from the living room, as they and my aunt and uncle were listening to "That Nigger's Crazy."
I never heard them laugh so hard in my life.
And the other memory is of my dad taking me to see " Richard Pryor: Live in Concert." I was only 16 at the time. I guess my dad thought I was ready for that stuff. And I never enjoyed laughing so hard with my dad before, or ever again . . . until a few years later when we went to see "Live on the Sunset Strip," together.
Bye Rich. You were not only a gifted entertainer and comic, but because of your genius and courage in showing us the darker, flawed parts of your own self, you not only made us laugh, but made it easier for all of us to accept our own dark and flawed selves, and be able to find the humor in our own shortcomings and mistakes, and our own humanity.
Goodbye, to a brilliant, flawed and beautifully human being.
A lot has been said about his legacy, far and wide. I will try to avoid repeating what others have said already, although I have to admit that after reading what others have said, some of that is likely to dribble out. Apologies in advance, for that.
Let me start with the part of his legacy related to my tribute to him, in the title, here. Unfortunately, he will likely be remembered too much for the cuss'n. Yes, he bravely went where no comic had gone before (although, following the trail left by Lenny Bruce.) But in his case, it was more (to my mind) a matter of his choice, if not natural inclination, to speak in the honsest, if vulgar, vernacular of his own context. And even if I did not grow up in anything resembling a black working-class neighborhood, it was a working-class neighborhood. That is not to say I grew up around rude people. I grew up around people who were perfectly comfortable using rude language. So again, I can relate. Some folk resort to cuss'n only when emotionally-upset. Some use that language because the words honestly reflect the thoughts and ideas they are thinking about.
Speaking about honesty, Richard Pryor's version of comedy was so brutally honest that there is one adjective that best describes it; NAKED. Again, another sad (maybe) irony is that people are likely to remember more about the uproar over the gag on his short lived TV show when he wanted to appear naked, than the naked quality of his act. Suffice to say, one does not need to study literature and dramatic analysis at the college level to understand the essence of metaphor. Rich did, no doubt. In my mind, the true meaning of the story of the naked tv bit is that Prime Time TV was not ready for that level of nakedness, emotionally or otherwise. I have never read or heard an interview with Rich where he discussed that, however I am guessing, that was the whole point. I am guessing he was too brilliant an observer of humankind to have thought that up only for its value as a sight-gag.
And that leads to my thoughts on his skills as an observer of humankind. I really can't say 'like other comics,' as he seems to have been the trailblazer in this comic-dramatic technique, but I believe that before any others, he truly understood the idea that in order for a comic to show the flawed if not tragic beauty in all of us, a comic needs to dig deep inside their own psyche, history, and heart. And you have to be willing to be totally emotionally naked before an audience to do that. And no other comic has ever come as close to plumbing the depths of humanity by searching so deep within themselves as Rich, between the routine about his heart attack, and the one about loosing his mind and shooting the car, and lastly, the routine about the freebasing incident.
There is raw and then there was Rich. And he was not only raw, he was elemental.
Much has been said about his take on race relations. I will not vamp much on that, but to say the beauty in his way of talking about "that shit" was he did not approach the matter from the point of view of making a social or political statement, but instead was talking about life, not only as perceived, but lived. Yes, he was beyond edgy at times with it; he struck a lot of nerves. The honest (emotionally) truth will do that.
They say that the best comedy always has a bit of truth to it; with Rich, that general rule was a gross understatement.
And if you want to properly remember Rich (and don't have any of his concert albums or tapes or DVDs) I suggest you go to his website and listen to a few clips of some of his classic routines.
http://www.richardpryor.com/media.cfm
A couple of final points, as there are two memories involving Richard Pryor that comes to mind. On is the day, when I and my sisters were still very young, and my parents chased us away from the living room, as they and my aunt and uncle were listening to "That Nigger's Crazy."
I never heard them laugh so hard in my life.
And the other memory is of my dad taking me to see " Richard Pryor: Live in Concert." I was only 16 at the time. I guess my dad thought I was ready for that stuff. And I never enjoyed laughing so hard with my dad before, or ever again . . . until a few years later when we went to see "Live on the Sunset Strip," together.
Bye Rich. You were not only a gifted entertainer and comic, but because of your genius and courage in showing us the darker, flawed parts of your own self, you not only made us laugh, but made it easier for all of us to accept our own dark and flawed selves, and be able to find the humor in our own shortcomings and mistakes, and our own humanity.
Goodbye, to a brilliant, flawed and beautifully human being.
posted by Abstentus at 9:38 AM
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