why i love richard pryor
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2004 7:57 am
when I was a kid, everyone's older brother had a copy of THAT NIGGER'S CRAZY. It was forbidden to us youngsters. Too much cursing, political stuff etc. So some of us -- when all the parents were out of the house -- would sneak the record out and listen to it. It was like the first cultural thing we had that was totally our own. Richard was for us, and the thought of him drove parents crazy. He was like the comedy Sex Pistols or something.
As I got older, Richard got wiser. He went from "Have Your Ass Home By 11" (which was comedy that lived in my neighborhood) to his observances of Africa, Ali, drugs, and racial politics just as I was becoming old enough to understand that those things existed and that they had layers to them. He also knew how to deliver his view without making himself look like the wisest arbiter with all the answers. He knew he'd better win us to him before he trying to win us to his side, which was brilliant for getting his point across. He's got so much "I'm a f**k-up" happening that it's almost impossible to judge him, because he's judged himself so harshly even before you showed up. Valuable lesson in life, Rich.
BTW -- just saw the W on TV. He's got this eye twitch thing that reminds me of Herbert Lom in the old Pink Panther movies, just before Clouseau sends him ballistic...
As I got older, Richard got wiser. He went from "Have Your Ass Home By 11" (which was comedy that lived in my neighborhood) to his observances of Africa, Ali, drugs, and racial politics just as I was becoming old enough to understand that those things existed and that they had layers to them. He also knew how to deliver his view without making himself look like the wisest arbiter with all the answers. He knew he'd better win us to him before he trying to win us to his side, which was brilliant for getting his point across. He's got so much "I'm a f**k-up" happening that it's almost impossible to judge him, because he's judged himself so harshly even before you showed up. Valuable lesson in life, Rich.
BTW -- just saw the W on TV. He's got this eye twitch thing that reminds me of Herbert Lom in the old Pink Panther movies, just before Clouseau sends him ballistic...
