Richard Pryor Dies
Richard Pryor, the groundbreaking comedian whose profanely personal insights into race relations and modern life made him one of Hollywood's biggest black stars, died of a heart attack Saturday. He was 65.
Damn. Most of his film work is dreadful. And for the last decade or so Pryor was only a shadow of his former self, but his standup work (at least up until the time he set himself on fire while freebasing) was brilliant and influenced a whole generation of comics.
I hope they re-run his standup stuff on cable now. I have a feeling it will stand up pretty well.
Update: Digby has a proper eulogy.
posted by bluememe at 12/10/2005
3 Comments:
"stand up pretty well." That's funny. You know, does his stand up stand up?
My wife and I saw some of his older stuff last month. And a lot of it does hold up. What I find interesting is how "tame" it all seems now. I remember seeing it when I was younger and being shocked by the profanity. Literally shocked - I mean I had never heard so many curse words in an hour. Now comics sear all the time.
What is it with me and curse words these days?
You're getting old.
Have you caught yourself complaining about the crap they call music, or voicing complaints that start with "these kids today..."?
Well in my day.....
I am getting old - no question about that. But I do a decent job of staying up on newer music.
What kills me is hearing bands like Crowded House and Dire Straits in the grocery store - oldies. Oh, and what they call "Classic" music on VH-1. I remember when "Classic" meant Doors and Led Zeppelin and the like.
And with my aging eyes, sometimes it's hard read the word verification.
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