Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)

Richard Pryor's classic 1979 concert film has him discussing a wide range of topics, including race, the police and his favorite target -- himself.

Director:

Jeff Margolis

Writer:

Richard Pryor

Stars:

Richard Pryor, Patti LaBelle, Huey P. Newton

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Richard Pryor	...	Self
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patti LaBelle	...	Self (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Richard Pryor's classic 1979 concert film has him discussing a wide range of topics, including race, the police and his favorite target -- himself.

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Plot Keywords:

stand up | shock humor | anger | social satire | vulgarity | 

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Taglines:

WARNING: The Picture Contains Harsh and Very Vulgar Language and May Be Considered Shocking and Offensive. No Explicit sex or Violence is Shown.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Another Pryor

Filming Locations:

Terrace Theatre, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

SEE Theater Network, Elkins Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First, live, stand up concert to be filmed, and at the time, especially with Pryor's language and topics, was considered to be a real risk. According to website 'Wikipedia', the movie was the "first full-length, feature movie consisting of only stand-up comedy, often hailed as one of the seminal and most influential recorded stand-up performances of the modern era".

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Quotes

Richard Pryor: I like makin' love myself, and I can make love for about three minutes. I do about three minutes of serious fuckin', then I need eight hours sleep! And a bowl of Wheaties!

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Crazy Credits

Patti LaBelle was an important part of the following program. Time does not permit us to include her in this recording but we gratefully acknowledge her performance.

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Alternate Versions

Reedited and reissued in August 1979 as "Richard Pryor Is Back Live In Concert," which was sold as an entirely new film. Much of the footage was from the original version, and virtually all of the material was the same, but some of the new footage was from a different performance of the same show. Producers noted that the difference could be determined by noting that in some shots, Pryor wears a wristwatch and in other shots he doesn't, prompting New York Times critic Vincent Canby to remark "If you cannot rest until you see Mr. Pryor wear a wristwatch, don't miss this recycled work. However, it's far cheaper to stay home and remember the first movie fondly."

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Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #5.12 (2009)

User Reviews

A wonderful comic!

Richard Pryor is without a doubt one of the best stand-up performers to ever grab a mike, because he breaks the performance wall, and just has a conversation with the audience, which is rare for a comic to do. He talks to the audience, and involves them in the show, and the things he talks about on stage are not really jokes, but his retelling of certain life events that he has had, and you get the feeling that you would be hearing the same thing if you were just sitting alone with him in a room, and that is what makes his comedy so good, that conversational quality. No other comic that I can think of has done that with such a level of success that Pryor did...he was a real natural.

As far as profanity goes, Pryor doesn't use it to shock, he just talks that way naturally, and so the cursing doesn't stick out that much. Still, if you're easily offended by such language, then avoid it, but you are only robbing yourself of seeing a legend working his magic.