I was just sitting here at the crib, resting and getting my head right. I have a few shows tonight, and this is, I guess, a ritual that many comedians go through prior to going out and getting on stage. BET's 106 & Park is on and (yet another) video with 3/4 naked woman is playing from the Ying Yang twins. Then a crawl begins to roll across the bottom of my t.v. screen and I see the words "COMEDIAN RICHARD PRYOR..." As soon as I saw those words, I knew how the scroll would end and automatically I felt a sort of empty feeling inside. For most comedians Richard is the Alpha and Omega of comedy. The Trinity of Comedy is pretty much agreed to be Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Richard Pryor, but for me, Pryor is/was and will remain YODA. The one who left that indelible mark on me from a young age, that still remains with me today. Props to Carlin and Bruce, but Richard was a beacon of truth. No one put it ALL out there and could give a dam as to what we thought. Damn! He revealed everything that went on in his life- from growing up in a brothel to divorcing his wife and shooting the car. He just bared it all, and inspired countless generations of artists (not just comedians) to emoting from the heart.
I remember when I knew that he was the real deal and that there's something to this comedy thing: I was 9 or 10 years old and his first concert film, Richard Pryor: Live In Concert was playing in theaters. My older brother and I were riding to White Plains on the bus from Mt. Vernon and there were these teenage cats on the back of the bus, so that's where we wanted to sit (near the cool, older cats with the Fist Pics poking outta the top of their Blown Out Afro's - ironic that once Black people were relegated to the back of the bus, but now it became the cool place to hang out). They were playing their box and all of them were dyin' with laughter. I strained to hear, and could make out the guy talking about a monkey sticking it's monkey d!ck in his hear and screaming "nyuh nyuh nyuh nyuh nyuh nyuh nyuh nyuh...". They all were hollering, and my brother joined in. I didn't know what was really going on, but it DID sound pretty funny, so I figured to laugh now and figure it out later. Plus, I was down with the older dudes. WHAT!?! It didn't matter that I didn't hardly have a clue what was poppin' off. We all were laughing together on the back of the bus-all because of Richard. My brother later explained that those cats had gone to the movies to see Richard's concert film and (illegally) recorded the audio from the concert. T'was kinda cool though, because it was a more innocent time, so their recording was not being sold in mass quantity on 125th (at least I'd like to think it wasn't). Cable came out a little after that and I finally got to see why I was laughing on the back of that bus. Richard opened my eyes to stand up more than ever before. I had seen comedians before, but he took it to another dimension. This brother didn't just tell jokes, he embodied them. He joked about deers drinking in the woods and then transfomed into one of those frail, suspicious of predators bambi's. Since then, I've probably watched, listened to and studied what I still consider the GREATEST STAND UP CONCERT EVER, thousands of times (no exaggerattion). I think I can quote this joint verbatim...down to the pauses, snickers and all of his nuances. I heard some new jacks recently saying that Richard's mat.(erial) is dated and is not as relevant and was close to wanted to smack 'em down, but instead, in those prolific words of Oran Juice Jones, "I Chilled". I often have newer comedians and/or regular cats thinking about getting into this game, ask advice and normally I say "just get on stage and do it, and you'll know whether or not you should EVER get back on that stage". I think that I have to add to that, for them and anyone that just wants to see GREAT Comedy, A COMEDIAN'S COMEDIAN, RICHARD PRYOR'S OPUS, please check out the film that still lays me out any time I watch or listen to it, Richard Pryor: Live In Concert.
Watching "Eddie Murphy: Delirious" will always remain the reason why I became a comedian, but Richard was the initial catalyst. I feel a little better now. I felt saddened and then angry and then guilty when I got the news of his passing. Sad because another Great One is gone and we have so few, if any left. Angry because he didn't get to leave us at the top of his game and unfortunately, MS took him away from us. Then I felt guilty because I wanted to meet him, and though many of my friends in this biz did get to meet him, I was never fo honored to. I am though, like millions of others, grateful that God gave me the chance to take a glance at greatness whilst he was still here...even if it was on the back of a bus.
THANK YOU RICHARD.
LOVE AND MISS YOU MAN :-)
Your Former Padawan-
Dean Edwards