Often when people look back on adolescence, they fondly remember the music that defined that time in their lives for them. I do a bit of that, but my experience was a little different. While most kids were listening to whichever musicians were all the rage at the time, I was listening to a lot of George Carlin, Cheech and Chong, Steve Martin, and Richard Pryor.
Heavy on the Richard Pryor.
I listened to my first comedy album — yes, it was an actual album — when I was around eight years old. My parents had a copy of Tour de Farce: American History and Other Unrelated Subjects by the Smothers Brothers, which I got a lot of exposure to at a young age. I'll be doing a VIP column on just that soon.
That set me on a path which would define my life. In high school, my best friend and I memorized a host of what are now classic comedy albums. George Carlin's Class Clown, National Lampoon's That's Not Funny, That's Sick, and Steve Martin's Let's Get Small were among the favorites. Dominating our listening time, though, were a trio of Richard Pryor albums, two of which have a word in the title that has long been taboo for anyone but hip-hop artists. All three won Grammys (in consecutive years) for Best Comedy Recording.
Like all arts and entertainment genres, stand-up comedy is a wholly subjective experience. I've been absolutely killing in front of an audience of 300 and there are almost always four people who have decided that I'm the least funny comedian on Earth, the popular opinion of the room notwithstanding. If there is one thing in comedy that is almost completely objective it is this: Richard Pryor is the greatest comic in the history of stand-up.
I have been asked a lot over the years who my top influences in stand-up are and I always answer, "One through four are Richard Pryor." It may seem flippant, but it's really not. In fact, Pryor may be the only comic from the era before mine who truly was an influence on me. I've always placed a premium on making people laugh at things that they don't want to laugh at. That's all Pryor. He greatly influenced me and, in turn, I idolized him. He's the only comedian I've ever been in awe of.
The first time I met Pryor was at Universal Studios Hollywood in the mid '90s. He was there to autograph his book, Pryor Convictions: and Other Life Sentences. His MS was pretty bad by then, so the autograph was a rubber stamp of his signature that his ex-wife Jennifer applied to each book. I was there with my then fiancée (and future mother of my child) and her parents. When we saw the sign announcing that Pryor would be there she said, "You're actually going to stand in line for this, aren't you?" I notoriously avoid standing in line for anything.
When I finally got to shake his hand I said, "I left college 15 years ago to do stand-up because of you." A simple sentence that took me forever to get out because I was nervous and stammering. I'm also notorious for never being nervous in social settings or stammering.
Pryor put his face in his hands and started shaking his head back-and-forth in a "NO" gesture. I had finally calmed down and said, "Don't worry, it all worked out." He folded his hands as if praying and looked up to the sky and mouthed, "Thank you." He then had a humorous interaction with my fiancée after she shook his hand rather firmly, and we moved on.
That was it, maybe 60 seconds, 90 tops. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. I got to talk to him one more time at a party at the Comedy Store about a year later. I was able to communicate in an understandable fashion then.
Twenty years ago today, on the night that Richard Pryor died, I was heading into a swanky holiday party in Calabasas (Kardashian country) with my then girlfriend when my text messages blew up with condolences. Everyone knew how devoted I was to Pryor and they knew it would hit hard. Just thinking about it now I can feel a little bit of the gut punch again.
In the 1970s and '80s, whenever a famous comic was asked who the funniest comic alive was, the answer was always a quick, "Richard Pryor." Jerry Seinfeld called him "the Picasso of our profession." He wasn't just the greatest stand-up comic to ever grab a microphone; he was also a brilliant actor, playing both dramatic and comedic roles. Along with Gene Wilder (I have a nice story about him for a later day), Pryor revived the buddy comedy movie genre.
Oh, he also co-wrote Blazing Saddles with Mel Brooks.
There are a lot of very funny younger comics working today. Undoubtedly, they would all cite a variety of influences and idols from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Those influences and idols, however, would, almost to a man and woman, cite only one comic as the best-ever.
Richard Pryor was, still is, and always will be the Greatest of All Time.
Enjoy this goofy appearance by Pryor on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Click the button below to get the Morning Briefing emailed to you every weekday. Have your coffee with me, people. It's free and it supports conservative media!
