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Richard Pryor Dies at 65



I'm upset. Use this topic to reminisce about who comedy central called the #1 comedian of all time.

I feel a sadness I think I'm only gonna feel again when Carlin eats it

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

Yeah, first Hedberg and now Pryor. This year's hasn't been very nice to comedians. I think Pryor's definitely the best comic of all time. Now I'm gonna be bummed out all day long.

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It's gonna be a glorious day
I feel my luck can change

Give the nod to one of the greatest (and vulgarest ) comedians of our time.

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I fear my heart and fear my soul
Life goes on, it surely will,
Without me and I wonder:
Will I ever see light again?

Life goes on...

Poor Pryor. Man, what a shame to lose someone so ridiculously funny, I can't remember all the times I've bust my gut dying over some routine or another. Like Shotgunnnova said, this is a tragic year for comedians, but hopefully, Carlin will use whatever's left of his crazy Mr. Conductor powers and outlive us all; I don't think I could bare to use another one, where would I get all my funny on?

There's such a lack of innovative entertainers these days, every joke is the same and the subjects are all old and tired, but Pryor and an elite few managed to bust out the good stuff time after time, from start to finish.

I bet he's making everyone in the afterlife piss themselves right this moment.

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Okay, but there was a goat!

First of all, Mitch Hedberg's death earlier this year wasn't significant in my eye. Sure, he has some original material the first ten times you hear his jokes, but he is not the comedic demigod that his cult following makes him out to be. Overrated.

Richard Pryor's death, however, is a real tragedy in comedy (no pun intended). He was one of the most talented, most brash, and most hilarious comedians ever. He probably wasn't the first true practitioner of his style, but trust me, without Pryor there is no Eddie Murphy, no Chris Rock, and no Martin Lawrence (I personally wouldn't mind not having the latter of those three, but that's just me). RIP, RP.

And lastly, why the hell do we have death threads on Richard Pryor, Mitch Hedberg, and Eddie Guererro and no thread on Rosa Parks? We're just bad people, I guess.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

Well to be fair, Rosa Parks did one thing. The other people mentioned spent their lives entertaining us.

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If you've been mod-o-fied,
It's an illusion, and you're in-between.
Don't you be tarot-fied,
It's just alot of nothing, so what can it mean?
~Frank Zappa

Sins exist only for people who are on the Way or approaching the Way

because entertainment, of course, is that much more important than standing up for civil rights.

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The first duty in life is to assume a pose,
and the second duty is...well, no one's found out yet.

Since this is a thread about Richard Pryor, I won't make a list of the non-bus related accomplishments of Rosa Parks' life, but I do want to recognize one of the best comics ever, and an underrated actor. Harlem Nights doesn't get enough respect for being a good movie.

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Hip-Hop QOTW:

"Yeah, where I'ma start it at, look I'ma part of that
Downtown Philly where it's realer than a heart attack
It wasn't really that ill until the start of crack
Now it's a body caught every night on the Almanac"

"Game Theory"
The Roots

Quote (Jenny @ 12th December 2005 01:46)

because entertainment, of course, is that much more important than standing up for civil rights.

Obviously. She should've gotten into a different form of "stand-up" if she wanted us to appreciate her death.

I'm kidding of course, I guess we're just more media inclined. Such is the way of most of our generation, at any rate, this is supposed to be a thread for Pryor, I don't think anyone would object to one for Rosa, but come on, don't take away from poor ol' Richard. He may not have been a civil rights activist, but what he did with his comedy is equally important, I think. He opened the door to a lot of new talent, and pushed the envelope in terms of material. The sort of jokes and comments this man made were not only racey and explicit, they were totally out of the ball-park in terms of controversial. It's personalness to his own life opened our eyes and made us see a lot more to him and his background than what we thought, and in turn? Made us aware that there are plenty in the same place. I might be giving him a little too much credit, but the man did a lot for us all with his comedy. Even if you look at it soley from a "he made us laugh" standpoint, sometimes, laughter is the greatest gift. Even if it is at other people's expense or totally off the wall.



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Okay, but there was a goat!

I can't believe I got to this so late.

Richard Pryor was the greatest, even greater the Rodney Dangerfield and Mitch Hedburg. When will God stop taking all the funny people for himself? ::Shakes fist angrily at the sky for some stupid reason:: (Joke, people relax.)

To me this guy is the greatest because he lit himself on fire, tragiclly might I add, and he starts telling jokes about it. He's on fire and this bum asks for a light from him. To be able to laugh and tell jokes about something so insanely painful takes a hell of a man.

I would like to second the truth that he was a good actor too.

This post has been edited by Kylerocks on 12th December 2005 09:32

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Really Random Quote of the Day: "Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war." - Richard M. Nixon

So if you're done reading this, you know I have nothing to say and you've wasted your time. Thank you come again.

Good call on Harlem Nights, Gears. Definitely one of the funniest movies I can remember.

Another one of his that got panned by critics was Brewsters Millions. God, I loved that movie.

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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978