Richard Pryor... Here and Now

RICHARD PRYOR : HERE AND NOW (1983) & RICHARD PRYOR: LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP (1982) – both ***1/2 Pryor, one of America's greatest stand-up comedians, expertly conveys the inner pain and personal demons of his tumultuous life with heartbreakingly funny takes on his drug abuse, sexual relationships, racism, spirituality abroad in Africa, getting drunk, recalling early gigs with Mob run clubs and the occasional improvs (his bit with a hermit crab shows just how quick on his feet his mind is) showcase the true brilliance of an original artist in his element and total at ease and command for the language of 'vulgur' humor that seamlessly blends into the vernacularity of his topics of discussion (say unlike his protégé Eddie Murphy and only recently touched upon with better results by Chris Rock). Lucky to be alive after his near-fatal freebasing burning Pryor even makes dying sound funny. A genius in every sense of the word.

"Here and now" is easily funnier than "Live on Sunset Strip", when it wants to. But also quite surreal. What makes it surreal is mainly the audience. In the middle of the show a middle-aged geezer hands Richard a crab in the water glass. Far out. Also, the heckling is quadrupled in this show. It was probably Mardi Gras time. But Man Pryor still made me choke from laughter, and the improv with the aforementioned crab was quick thinking too. Towards the end, it's Pryor's turn to crank up the surreal with his junkie-bit, which is also quite moving, if too much of a downer for a supposedly comedy show.

This show is something else.

Richard Pryor Here and Now (1983)

**** (out of 4)

In my opinion this is Pryor at his very best as he plays New Orleans to a rather tough crowd who keeps interrupting the show. This is one of the funniest films I've ever seen with only a few jokes that miss their mark. The stuff (again) dealing with Pryor in Africa is terrific as are the jokes about him getting crabs, getting married countless times and the "life as a junkie" is nice as well. When the crowd interrupts the show you'd think this would hurt things but it actually helps since Pryor is so fast on his feet that he manages to bring even more laughs to the show by making fun of them.

Richard Pryor was one of the three greatest stand-up comedians of all time (along with George Carlin and Lenny Bruce), and there are three films that collectively show why: Richard Pryor: Live in Concert, Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip, and this comedy-concert film. In Here and Now, Pryor finds one of his best audiences in New Orleans - one patron even gives him a pet crab mid-show - and stumbles upon one of his most relaxed performances sans-"king of comedy" garb. His elderly character Mudbone shows up to discuss rude children, Mexicans, and earthquakes, along with a junkie character later who speaks of jail, invincibility, and tells us, "I did it myself" before depriving us of his company. There are no scenes in a comedy concert, so my favorite bit is the gut-clenching finale about erections, vibrators, herpes, and public toilets. Pryor was a master.

Richard Pryor has met with a few pot holes in life's bumpy road.He has done countless things that he never should have,and he is the first to admit this.He uses his own unique comic style to tell us the gritty details of his life and to give us the message to not travel the road that he has traveled.You see,Richard Pryor not only wants to entertain us,he cares enough about us to tell us how stupid we would end up looking if we did the things that he has done.He is hilariously funny,and he is caring,and that makes him all right with me.I would urge all Pryor fans to have it in their collection.He was definitely at his peak here. Thumbs up.