All true, but he was upstaged by George Carlin . . . Comparing himself with Pryor, Carlin observed, "I beat him in heart attacks, two to one. He beats me in setting himself on fire, one to nothing." Oh, wait . . . it seems Pryor just caught up.
Pryor Carlin Bruce They changed comedy forever, taking us from the setup/joke formula of the Borscht Belt to the modern, introspective, cultural spokesperson style of comedy we've enjoyed for the past 4 decades. I miss you already, Richard Oh, and Mudbone, too. (To a passing car: "Hey, slow down! This is a neighborhood; this ain't no residential district!")
Pryor will be missed... has been, for a while now, actually. Some say Pryor's jokes may have been edgy -- obscene, even -- at the time; but that, by today's standards, they were tame. I say at least some of his jokes are over-the-top even by today's standards... and I don't mean merely for their having included the use of the "F' word and other such simplicity. I'm saying that he was ahead of his time; and that some of his stuff holds-up today -- and pegs the "dirty meter" needle -- even now. As a fitting tribute to the man who changed everything (for the better, I dare say) in comedy, would anyone like to tell, here, the dirtiest, most over-the-top-even-by-today's-standards Richard Pryor joke they can recall? If crafted carefully, it can be done without being too graphic and/or without typing-out the "F" word (at least all of it), etc... and still without the joke falling apart. Anyone who tries, please figure out a way to convey the joke without going too far. It can be done. Anyone wanna' try? I can think of one right off the top of my head that I'll bet can trump pretty much anything that anyone else here can remember or is willing to post... but I wanna' see what others can remember first. Any takers? Hmm?
I get it. This shows that you are a fan. You are referring to his remarks when he woke up in the hospital seeing all white people. "Ain't this a bitch, I done died and went the wrong mother F***ing heaven." He really will be missed.
