Richard Pryor: Live in Concert

First live stand-up concert to be released as a feature film, and taking into account Pryor's language and topics, was considered to be a real risk. According to 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".

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.

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."

Edited into Heroes of Black Comedy (2002)