RichardPryor.com Forums

SweetLuchia,

yeah i've heard that too about Robin stealing stuff from LOTS of comics. i've heard stories of other comics confronting him about it. he says he has so much material collected in his head that he just blurts stuff out without thinking or remembering where it came from. supposedly he has paid other comics when they told him he used something of theirs.

I heard Paul Mooney wrote much of his work, though Pryor is still the real genius.

LennyBruce,

That's an inncorrect statement to say "Mooney wrote much of RP's work" Granted he assisted RP with the elboration of a some ideas, visions etc. but ALL of the characters Mr. Pryor performed for us on stage i.e. Mudbone, The Wino, The Junkie, The Preacher etc. etc. they all came from his childhood-long before he met Paul Mooney.

This was the foundation of his material, ALL those crazy characters he had NO choice but to grow up around. He would reach back pull them out and make them as real to us as they were to him

I'd still like to find out from a reliable source whether or not Robin Williams stole [/i]his[/i] material? If he did, he was just fucking being LAZY b/c God BLESSED him with plenty of talent

SweetLuchia,
I don't know that answer but I think the way that guy improvises could be the reason that he gets this blame.Have you ever seen him in an interview ?
Arlo Pear mentioned something to this effect earlier in this thread.This is just my opinion but I just don't want to believe that he would actually just intentionally rip somebody off.

Hell he's one of Richard Pryor's disciple!!!!

bingolong,

I've heard this about Williams too, but nothing definite. A lot of high profile comedians have been accused of joke thievery. Who really knows, right? Is there anybody who has been called out like that and their theft has been a proven fact?

bingolong,

I dunno if it's true or not that's why I was asking Jenn or RP if they knew. As a comedienne myself, I'm VERY curious as to why someone SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO talented would allow himself to be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LAZY! Sorry but comics with awesome gifts who don't use them really annoy me

As for him being one of RP's disciples, I disagree. A disciple is someone who came [/i]AFTER[/i] the fact. Robin Williams was working his way up the comic latter at the same time RP was-you know this Bingo you read RP's book!

I'd consider Chris Rock, Bill Hicks, Whoppi Goldberg and Sam Kinison ALL disciples of RP tho

SweetLuchia,
Don't get me wrong I'm just throwing my two cents in there.
I was only speculating and I probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about.I would like to only hope that Robin doesn't intentionally steal his material by pointing out his talent for improv as a possible reason for alleged stealing.

I just called Williams Richard Pryor's disciple b/c he was part of the Richard Pryor Show. I mean they weren't exactly peers,Williams at that time was still on the come up.Richard was established.He basically worked directly w/ Pryor.You know like in the "good book" all the disciples actually kicked it with Jesus?

I would call people like Rock,Goldberg,etc. missionaries spreading the gospel of Pryor to future generations.

Besides girl you know half the shit I post on this Board is half-rant/half Bullshit.......please don't mind me

bingolong,

No it's cool. Sorry if my last post came off as brash. I just don't think of WIlliams as a disciple. I mean yeah the 12 apostels hung with Jesus but they didn't start "Spreading the word" until after he split so anytime I hear disciple, apostle etc. I'm always thinking of those who came after the original.

As for Williams yes he does improv A LOT but that wouldn't excuse a comic from joke stealing-NOTHING does! It's the absolute WORST thing a comedian can do

It's like being a RAT in the Mofia! Just completely UNacceptable under ANY circumstances

SweetLuchia,
I mean when I was young I actually came up with the saying when I ate food off the ground:"God made the dirt it shall not hurt...." I mean I actually thought I invented a new saying.Now either that shit spread or somebody was thinking like me when they added the line "....put it in your mouth and let it work...".(Maybe that was a bad example)
What I'm trying to get at is when you improv like Robin Williams doesyou just go with flow and sometimes you are bound to say something that someone else has said unintentionally.I just don't want to think that he would just do that on purpose.
Now what he does with his written material is different story....
But like I said I really don't know anything about the accusations,I'm just hoping for the best......

bingolong,

Oh me too, me too! I think Robin Williams is a wonderfully talented individual

VERY unique and SPECIAL which is why, even tho I've heard several times that he did steal alot of material, I still refuse to believe it. And I won't unless Robin himself admits it and/or a comedian who's actually worked with him and who's seen him do it on more than one occasion
says..."Yes Luchia it's true."