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Posted by pamsterdam on 2005-12-11 10:42:29 +0000

So sad. You've lost a birthday twin.

Posted by rladew on 2005-12-11 15:32:50 +0000

this tears me up. one of the greats. I think Quincy Jones called him the "Charlie Parker of Comedy" He will be missed... _______________________________ cruft: /kruhft/ [very common; back-formation from crufty] 1. n. An unpleasant substance. The dust that gathers under your bed is cruft; the TMRC Dictionary correctly noted that attackin

Posted by mr. mister on 2005-12-12 14:35:13 +0000

When I was a yout I was all about the Toy with Jackie Gleason. Funny stuff

Posted by bizquig3000 on 2005-12-12 15:28:33 +0000

Wait... you mean, he wasn't dead already?

Posted by rladew on 2005-12-12 15:30:37 +0000

It's funny 'cuz I was going to say the same thing: the Toy and Brewster's Millions: but when you read the obits and interviews w/ Pryor, he talks about how "edgeless" that stuff was. (I didnt care in 1985 though, I just thought they were funny.) Now looking back and seeing the racial issues in the Pryor penned screenplay of 'Blazing Saddles', some of his hotly anticipated SNL appearances of the 1970's / early '80s (some of the first to use 7 second delays b/c they had no idea what he was going to say), and his stand up albums (such as 'that Nigger's Crazy') I can see there was a lot of pain and social commentary that extended his humor way beyond slapstick humor and whopee cushion fart jokes. (Don't get me wrong - Im a big fart humor fan - Im just saying there are many other layers in Pryor's work that go unnoticed) Has anyone read the biography of his life? I read it about 5 or so years ago, and I kept thinking that it would be a phenomenal film / biopic if someone w/ a lot of talent picked up the project.. _______________________________ cruft: /kruhft/ [very common; back-formation from crufty] 1. n. An unpleasant substance. The dust that gathers under your bed is cruft; the TMRC Dictionary correctly noted that attackin

Posted by cdubrocker on 2005-12-12 15:34:29 +0000

I read it in the metro this morning, and that was my first thought. I saw him last in Wattstax. Good stuff!

Posted by tendiamonds on 2005-12-12 15:52:18 +0000

I was all about "Moving"

Posted by mr. mister on 2005-12-12 16:13:19 +0000

I guess that it's hard to see the social commentary when you don't speak jive. He actually won a social services award for his comedy. shout out - Harlem Nights.

Posted by tgl on 2005-12-12 16:46:07 +0000

I too thought he had already died, when it was mentioned on Saturday night, I was a bit surprised.

Posted by dawnbixtler on 2005-12-12 18:29:41 +0000

Pryor's self-directed biopic was called Jo-Jo Dancer and is inexplicably poor, another reason I would not put Pryor in the cannon of great comedians. I love Blazing Saddles, but he wasn't "in" it, and I found "Moving" to be his best work. Never loved the guy...

Posted by cdubrocker on 2005-12-12 18:58:25 +0000

When you say "comedians" are you referring to ones who act, or stand-up?

Posted by dawnbixtler on 2005-12-12 19:03:02 +0000

Either, I guess. Don't most start out with stand up though? Is there an exception?

Posted by cdubrocker on 2005-12-12 19:09:06 +0000

I don't know the answer to that - it's just that a stand-up comedian's work on the silver screen is not necessarily as impressive as their work live on stage, and the two things need to be judged separately. Of the little I've seen Pryor doing stand up (Wattstax) and acting (Superman III and the Toy) it seems to me like he was much more at home and more effective as a stand up comedian.

Posted by tgl on 2005-12-12 19:33:53 +0000

He's made the canon of great American humorists, as some would have it. Of course, Jonathon Winters is in, which I don't quite agree with. Nor Lorne Micheals. Truly, he's had an effect on American comedy (humor?), in an indirect manner, by providing a forum.

Posted by dawnbixtler on 2005-12-12 19:35:16 +0000

No argument here. Pryor would probably be a favorite, if I had seen him, or if I had an album of his. Never did. He was "before my time" in a way. In the 80's I was listening to "PG" comedy: Bill Cosby, Bob Newhart, Hal Holbrok as Mark Twain, etc. I was almost 16 when I heard Eddie Murphy's '83 'Delirious' for the first time. I just never heard much Pryor, mostly because of my age. Sucks.

Posted by rladew on 2005-12-12 22:17:21 +0000

That's cool. Different Strokes is all I 'spose. I was never refering to 'Jo Jo'. Haven't seen it, so I will refrain from commenting on that. Pryor's writing and jokes ARE in Blazing Saddles and was pretty much a joint project between Mel Brooks and him. He wasn't invited to star in it due to Hollywood execs' fear of Pryor lending it too much racial controversy. The book I was referring to,'Pryor Convictions' came out about ten years after 'Jo Jo', and was a really great read. I wish I remember where I saw this, but Im pretty sure its being optioned as a film. If Pryor was to be excluded from the "cannon of great comedians", it would be hard for me to believe any successful comedian in the past 30 years who might be in the running wouldn't have been greatly influnced by Pryor. Just my .02

Posted by tgl on 2005-12-12 22:31:57 +0000

Tim Allen Jeff Foxworthy Roseanne Barr Ellen Degeneres Jay Leno David Letterman ...oh, you don't mean commercially successful comedians, do you? ;)

Posted by frame609 on 2005-12-12 22:35:01 +0000

"Hey everybody, I'm Jay Leno. Remember when I used to be funny? Try some Doritos! Here, Satan, try the nacho flavor!"

Posted by frame609 on 2005-12-12 23:08:46 +0000

"That Nigga's Crazy" is pretty funny.