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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best Pryor stand-up, July 9, 2001
I wanted to enjoy this video so bad (especially since I had purchased my copy instead of renting it). So far I've seen Live on the Sunset Strip, which was probably the funniest and best, and Richard Pryor Live in Concert, which was really close.I gave this 3 stars because it had 3 good laughs, but I was hoping there would be more. It's only about 45 minutes long, which I was kind of disapointed about at first, then about half an hour in, I caught myself thinking, "oh good, past the halfway mark." With his other performances, I wanted them to go on and on and was sad they were over. This is fairly early standup from 1971. It appears to have been filmed at a supper club, not that the audience is shown at all, but because I could hear silverware clinking against plates in the background. Some of the material goes past raunchy and into gross-out, or at least gross enough that I felt bad for the people in the club who were eating while watching. Pryor does do some funny material, especially comparing how white people do stuff (have dinner, have sex, etc)with how black people do it. I know Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy have done this topic over and over, but let's face it, Pryor did it first. Rock and Murphy both freely admit that he was their idol and the reason they wanted to do stand up, and since I've seen almost all the Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy standup there is, it's funny to see Pryor doing a routine that they both have obviously been inspired by. I am sorry to say that Pryor was seriously under the influence of coke when they filmed this; it would have just been a guess but Pryor very openly and bluntly says how much he loves cocaine, can't get enough of it, and can't stop doing it at the beginning of the video. He also seems much more wired than usual. This is fine, but it gets to the point of affecting his performance (several times he nervously adlibs asides that make no sense). One thing that was poignant that another review I read mentioned was that Pryor jokes about his hellish childhood, blurting out that his mother turned tricks while he was home. He sort of hangs his head quietly and smokes after he says it (it's even more uncomfortable because there's this kind of awkward silence in the club when he talks about it) and it's obvious he still is very sad about it. The production values aren't that great. They have to keep fading in and out, jumping ahead in the performance, probably because he went on one of his drug-induced tangents. Then it has a really abrupt ending, Pryor is doing his wino routine, which is pretty funny, and it seems like he's practically in the middle of a sentence when they freeze it and go to the credits. I could almost hear the editors saying, 'I think I'll end the movie riiight...HERE!" (end). Pryor is very talented, and I'm not saying that the video doesn't have its moments. It's just that I've seen so much better from this brilliant, hilarious guy. I would just recommend that if you haven't seen any filmed/videotaped performances, don't pick this one to start, try one of the ones I mentioned at the beginning of the review.
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DVD ~ Richard Pryor
DVD ~ Richard Pryor
DVD ~ Richard Pryor
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DVD ~ Richard Pryor
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