Rev.Speats'Blog Cabin

Pryor Appreciation


Not long after I fully became of Richard Pryor (courtesy of Superman III, which most 11-year-old boys were genetically predisposed to seeing upon its release), I was busted for putting an Eddie Murphy cassette inside a floor-model Teddy Ruxpin at the local K-Mart. I had this theory that the doll’s eyes and mouth would animate regardless of whatever tape was playing inside it. I was proven right, and this fearless act of guerilla comedy was unjustly rewarded with an achingly stern lecture by the store manager and a less-than-ceremonious escort from the premises. A single act of fearlessness in the name of laughter and I was back to subverting the system from the inside.

Richard Pryor lived his entire life on the outside, completely fearless. It was about as honest a life as any public figure (let alone comedian) would ever lead. There was no separating the comic persona and the man—everything he lived he offered up for public consumption. And we ate it up as fast as he could deliver it. He was a self-effacing storyteller who laughed at himself as we laughed with him.

Our collective split sides are better for having had Richard Pryor in the world, and now he’s on to the next. They’ll never know what hit ’em. Lucky motherfuckers.

"All my little plans and schemes

Lost like some forgotten dream

Seems like all I really was doing

Was waiting for you".

-John Ono Lennon

October 9, 1940 - December 8, 1980