1 00:00:06,798 --> 00:00:09,259 (typing sound) 2 00:00:10,969 --> 00:00:13,490 (crowd cheering) 3 00:00:13,514 --> 00:00:15,992 - [Dave] Richard Pryor revolutionized comedy. 4 00:00:16,016 --> 00:00:16,911 - If you don't know who Richard is, 5 00:00:16,935 --> 00:00:18,745 or even tried to look up Richard, 6 00:00:18,769 --> 00:00:21,039 then you shouldn't be doing comedy. 7 00:00:21,063 --> 00:00:22,665 - Mr. Richard Pryor. 8 00:00:22,689 --> 00:00:24,500 - Richard Pryor. 9 00:00:24,524 --> 00:00:27,212 (audience cheering and applauding) 10 00:00:27,236 --> 00:00:28,463 - He's the goat. 11 00:00:28,487 --> 00:00:31,174 It's like going to church without a Bible. (chuckles) 12 00:00:31,198 --> 00:00:34,594 - The only way to understand a white man's problems was 13 00:00:34,618 --> 00:00:36,846 actually to become a white man. 14 00:00:36,870 --> 00:00:39,390 (audience laughing) 15 00:00:39,414 --> 00:00:42,227 - [Dave] Exposing America's darkest impulses 16 00:00:42,251 --> 00:00:44,062 like no other comic before him. 17 00:00:44,086 --> 00:00:45,563 - He pushed those boundaries. 18 00:00:45,587 --> 00:00:47,440 He didn't know how much trouble he was gonna get in. 19 00:00:47,464 --> 00:00:49,901 - You ever notice how nice white people get 20 00:00:49,925 --> 00:00:51,236 when there's a bunch of niggas around? 21 00:00:51,260 --> 00:00:52,904 (audience laughs) 22 00:00:52,928 --> 00:00:53,905 - Oh my God 23 00:00:53,929 --> 00:00:57,283 How is this gonna air live on TV? 24 00:00:57,307 --> 00:00:58,284 (beep) 25 00:00:58,308 --> 00:00:59,285 - Dead hunt. 26 00:00:59,309 --> 00:01:02,121 (audience laughing) 27 00:01:02,145 --> 00:01:04,582 - [Dave] Now while he shined a light on American racism 28 00:01:04,606 --> 00:01:05,792 and hypocrisy. 29 00:01:05,816 --> 00:01:08,127 - Your humor offends white people. 30 00:01:08,151 --> 00:01:11,839 - [Dave] He battled his own demons privately and publicly. 31 00:01:11,863 --> 00:01:12,966 - Comedian Richard Pryor, 32 00:01:12,990 --> 00:01:14,676 turned himself into the police last night. 33 00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:16,678 The police were looking for him as we told you last night 34 00:01:16,702 --> 00:01:19,222 because his neighbor said he just flipped out. 35 00:01:19,246 --> 00:01:22,058 - Richard was using drugs to mask 36 00:01:22,082 --> 00:01:24,936 or self-medicate whatever pain 37 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:27,397 and whatever difficulty he was going through. 38 00:01:27,421 --> 00:01:30,191 - Small countries being supported by Richard Pryor 39 00:01:30,215 --> 00:01:32,318 because he was doing tons of drugs. 40 00:01:32,342 --> 00:01:33,153 - Every time I get in trouble, 41 00:01:33,177 --> 00:01:35,822 it's because I end up drinking too much. 42 00:01:35,846 --> 00:01:37,073 I end up snorting too much. 43 00:01:37,097 --> 00:01:39,951 I just wanna say this, like, look, I like drugs. 44 00:01:39,975 --> 00:01:41,035 I do. 45 00:01:41,059 --> 00:01:42,704 - He was just trying to survive. 46 00:01:42,728 --> 00:01:45,623 He was just trying to stay alive for a day. 47 00:01:45,647 --> 00:01:46,417 - [Kathy] He had moods. 48 00:01:46,441 --> 00:01:47,875 He had dark sides. 49 00:01:47,899 --> 00:01:50,086 Richard had a hair trigger. 50 00:01:50,110 --> 00:01:52,088 - [Dave] Richard Pryor stepped into the abyss 51 00:01:52,112 --> 00:01:56,134 of America's subconscious and changed comedy forever. 52 00:01:56,158 --> 00:01:58,136 But it almost cost him his life. 53 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,555 - I put the pipe down, it jumped back in my hand. 54 00:02:00,579 --> 00:02:02,098 If I lose track of the fact 55 00:02:02,122 --> 00:02:04,124 that I'm a drug addict 56 00:02:05,125 --> 00:02:06,644 and an alcoholic. 57 00:02:06,668 --> 00:02:09,147 If I ever think that I'm not, I'm in trouble. 58 00:02:09,171 --> 00:02:12,066 - Ladies and gentlemen, you're about to be entertained. 59 00:02:12,090 --> 00:02:14,235 - Getting the laugh is the greatest addiction. 60 00:02:14,259 --> 00:02:15,112 - They want more of it. They want more of it. 61 00:02:15,136 --> 00:02:16,404 - She was getting death threats. 62 00:02:16,428 --> 00:02:18,239 - It (beep) with your head. 63 00:02:18,263 --> 00:02:19,033 - That's what took her down. 64 00:02:19,057 --> 00:02:20,223 - This is a crazy story. 65 00:02:25,270 --> 00:02:28,124 {\an8}- [Dave] Born on December 1st, 1940, 66 00:02:28,148 --> 00:02:31,085 Richard Pryor is raised in Peoria, Illinois, 67 00:02:31,109 --> 00:02:35,238 surrounded by crime, sex and racial segregation. 68 00:02:36,281 --> 00:02:38,801 {\an8}- We knew that he was raised in a brothel. 69 00:02:38,825 --> 00:02:40,428 {\an8}Basically his mother was a whore 70 00:02:40,452 --> 00:02:42,764 {\an8}and that he saw some pretty rough things as a child, 71 00:02:42,788 --> 00:02:46,225 {\an8}with his mother having relations with men 72 00:02:46,249 --> 00:02:48,353 and his grandma took care of him 73 00:02:48,377 --> 00:02:51,689 and you know, he was really kinda left on his own. 74 00:02:51,713 --> 00:02:52,815 - Who believed in you? 75 00:02:52,839 --> 00:02:54,091 Who cared about you? 76 00:02:55,384 --> 00:02:58,279 - Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor 77 00:02:58,303 --> 00:03:00,448 - You were 15 years old? 78 00:03:00,472 --> 00:03:01,241 - 14 79 00:03:01,265 --> 00:03:02,533 - When your first child was born? 80 00:03:02,557 --> 00:03:04,869 - Yeah, that was, yeah. 81 00:03:04,893 --> 00:03:05,663 - And then after she was born. 82 00:03:05,687 --> 00:03:08,414 - I didn't know my father was making love to her too, 83 00:03:08,438 --> 00:03:09,415 but him in a room. 84 00:03:09,439 --> 00:03:12,377 {\an8}- Richard Pryor's childhood was horrific. 85 00:03:12,401 --> 00:03:15,338 {\an8}I mean, he was abused by his father. 86 00:03:15,362 --> 00:03:17,757 {\an8}His grandmother was pretty much ran brothel. 87 00:03:17,781 --> 00:03:21,302 He had uncles that were pimps, hustlers. 88 00:03:21,326 --> 00:03:22,303 They raised him. 89 00:03:22,327 --> 00:03:23,888 He didn't have a normal family. 90 00:03:23,912 --> 00:03:25,556 - When I was a kid, I got disciplined. 91 00:03:25,580 --> 00:03:28,351 You know, like most kids, you know, get spankings, you know, 92 00:03:28,375 --> 00:03:30,103 and little whippings. 93 00:03:30,127 --> 00:03:31,729 I got beatings. 94 00:03:31,753 --> 00:03:33,314 No, my old man punched me out. 95 00:03:33,338 --> 00:03:34,233 That was it you know, 96 00:03:34,257 --> 00:03:36,359 and he'd brag around the neighborhood. 97 00:03:36,383 --> 00:03:39,344 You know, "My son never cries when a whoop him. (chuckles)" 98 00:03:41,096 --> 00:03:42,865 - [Dave] Desperate for attention 99 00:03:42,889 --> 00:03:45,952 and an escape from his brutal family life. 100 00:03:45,976 --> 00:03:50,123 Young Richard finds comedy in the dark corners of Peoria. 101 00:03:50,147 --> 00:03:52,250 - He told me that he learned drama 102 00:03:52,274 --> 00:03:54,210 {\an8}from being in the streets. 103 00:03:54,234 --> 00:03:56,754 {\an8}He said, "We didn't have a drama class." 104 00:03:56,778 --> 00:04:00,341 {\an8}So you couldn't express ideas about being an actor. 105 00:04:00,365 --> 00:04:03,618 You just have to pick up what you got from the streets. 106 00:04:04,953 --> 00:04:06,597 - [Dave] But the bright lights of Hollywood 107 00:04:06,621 --> 00:04:09,809 are a world away from segregated Peoria. 108 00:04:09,833 --> 00:04:12,145 And after a brief stint in the army, 109 00:04:12,169 --> 00:04:13,896 Richard returns home 110 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:15,982 and begins performing at local venues, 111 00:04:16,006 --> 00:04:18,508 catering to African-American audiences, 112 00:04:19,593 --> 00:04:22,405 eventually graduating to the Chitlin' Circuit. 113 00:04:22,429 --> 00:04:25,700 - The Chitlin' Circuit guys, let me see, it's black. 114 00:04:25,724 --> 00:04:28,703 The Chitlin' Circuit was basically the 115 00:04:28,727 --> 00:04:30,121 You had Red Fox, 116 00:04:30,145 --> 00:04:31,289 you had Dick Gregory, 117 00:04:31,313 --> 00:04:32,832 you had Moms Maybley. 118 00:04:32,856 --> 00:04:35,251 You had all of these amazing comedians 119 00:04:35,275 --> 00:04:36,252 that was the black circuit 120 00:04:36,276 --> 00:04:40,256 because they were not allowed to perform to white audiences. 121 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:41,364 You know what I mean? 122 00:04:42,407 --> 00:04:44,552 - [Dave] But the segregated Chitlin' Circuit 123 00:04:44,576 --> 00:04:45,845 existed in the shadow 124 00:04:45,869 --> 00:04:49,265 of America's mainstream entertainment industry, 125 00:04:49,289 --> 00:04:51,559 offering little financial reward. 126 00:04:51,583 --> 00:04:55,855 - Most comedians built their reputation in those days 127 00:04:55,879 --> 00:04:57,565 by selling albums. 128 00:04:57,589 --> 00:05:00,151 That's how people got to know them or 129 00:05:00,175 --> 00:05:01,944 if you saw them on television, 130 00:05:01,968 --> 00:05:04,197 you can build an audience from that. 131 00:05:04,221 --> 00:05:07,307 And that's where the most money and fame is. 132 00:05:09,518 --> 00:05:12,330 - [Dave] Eager to cross over to a white audience. 133 00:05:12,354 --> 00:05:14,415 An ambitious Pryor, sets his sights 134 00:05:14,439 --> 00:05:17,043 on the comedy clubs of New York city, 135 00:05:17,067 --> 00:05:20,171 following in the footsteps of another black comedian. 136 00:05:20,195 --> 00:05:22,632 - As a grownup, I think that the Frankenstein 137 00:05:22,656 --> 00:05:26,010 and a mummy are about the two slowest guys in the world. 138 00:05:26,034 --> 00:05:28,221 I don't understand how they could even catch people 139 00:05:28,245 --> 00:05:30,807 (Bill talking like zombie) 140 00:05:30,831 --> 00:05:32,350 I'd have so much fun with guys like, 141 00:05:32,374 --> 00:05:34,227 "Yeah, come on, guys, guys." 142 00:05:34,251 --> 00:05:38,129 (audience laughs and applauds) 143 00:05:39,256 --> 00:05:41,108 - Bill was the most successful comedian 144 00:05:41,132 --> 00:05:42,592 {\an8}in the business at that time. 145 00:05:43,426 --> 00:05:46,447 {\an8}Huge, huge audience. 146 00:05:46,471 --> 00:05:47,698 {\an8}He was talking about things 147 00:05:47,722 --> 00:05:51,577 {\an8}that are most relatable to a white crossover audience. 148 00:05:51,601 --> 00:05:53,412 Every comic was trying for that 149 00:05:53,436 --> 00:05:55,665 because that's where the biggest audience is. 150 00:05:55,689 --> 00:05:57,500 - In order to get to the mainstream you did, 151 00:05:57,524 --> 00:05:58,460 you had to be in routine. 152 00:05:58,484 --> 00:06:00,002 You couldn't be too black. 153 00:06:00,026 --> 00:06:02,547 And if you did talk about the black experience, 154 00:06:02,571 --> 00:06:04,632 you had to make it to where it was clear. 155 00:06:04,656 --> 00:06:05,716 And they understood. 156 00:06:05,740 --> 00:06:07,301 Bill Cosby was this, 157 00:06:07,325 --> 00:06:12,348 you know, clean cut temple university educated guy, 158 00:06:12,372 --> 00:06:13,474 good looking guy, 159 00:06:13,498 --> 00:06:17,562 doing clean comedy, you know, and Richard wanted to be him. 160 00:06:17,586 --> 00:06:18,355 And Richard was like, 161 00:06:18,379 --> 00:06:19,438 "I wanna be like that, dude, man, 162 00:06:19,462 --> 00:06:21,440 "that dude is (beep) amazing." 163 00:06:21,464 --> 00:06:23,067 (crowd laughs) 164 00:06:23,091 --> 00:06:25,444 - All my people have to do to live forever 165 00:06:25,468 --> 00:06:27,113 is follow these 10 simple rules 166 00:06:27,137 --> 00:06:28,948 I have written on this plaque. 167 00:06:28,972 --> 00:06:30,533 Ah, come on, Moses, you're putting us on. 168 00:06:30,557 --> 00:06:32,785 (audience laughs) 169 00:06:32,809 --> 00:06:34,245 Mind if I read them first? 170 00:06:34,269 --> 00:06:36,539 Yeah that's (mumbles) 171 00:06:36,563 --> 00:06:37,665 That's cute (chuckles) 172 00:06:37,689 --> 00:06:39,041 (audience laugh) 173 00:06:39,065 --> 00:06:41,085 (Richard continues mumbling) 174 00:06:41,109 --> 00:06:42,461 Are you serious? 175 00:06:42,485 --> 00:06:44,422 (audience laughs) 176 00:06:44,446 --> 00:06:47,049 - [Dave] Pryor's squeaky clean act works, 177 00:06:47,073 --> 00:06:48,593 a little too well. 178 00:06:48,617 --> 00:06:51,470 - I was working for Bill Cosby 179 00:06:51,494 --> 00:06:56,475 and Bill thought that Richard was copying some of his act. 180 00:06:56,499 --> 00:06:58,102 (audience laughs) 181 00:06:58,126 --> 00:07:00,146 We had to call him into our office to tell him 182 00:07:00,170 --> 00:07:01,772 that he shouldn't do that. 183 00:07:01,796 --> 00:07:04,567 - Did you even unconsciously 184 00:07:04,591 --> 00:07:06,319 pick up from somebody's line and use it? 185 00:07:06,343 --> 00:07:07,528 - Oh, on purpose? 186 00:07:07,552 --> 00:07:09,572 - Oh, I mean, actually... (crowd laughs) 187 00:07:09,596 --> 00:07:11,073 - I made a lot of money as Bill Cosby. 188 00:07:11,097 --> 00:07:14,368 - Yeah. (crowd laughs) 189 00:07:14,392 --> 00:07:15,578 - [Dave] Undeterred, 190 00:07:15,602 --> 00:07:18,456 Pryor draws the attention of the late night shows 191 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:20,440 and soon becomes a regular. 192 00:07:21,941 --> 00:07:24,819 {\an8}- And he kept popping up with his little tiny routines 193 00:07:25,695 --> 00:07:27,506 {\an8}and then we showed up a little bit more, a little bit more. 194 00:07:27,530 --> 00:07:28,507 We had a few shows, a lot of shows 195 00:07:28,531 --> 00:07:31,427 but there weren't very many people of darker, 196 00:07:31,451 --> 00:07:34,513 darker pigmentation on the show. 197 00:07:34,537 --> 00:07:38,017 - And as one liners were great and he was a very good guest. 198 00:07:38,041 --> 00:07:40,269 He was pretty much a regular in several of those shows. 199 00:07:40,293 --> 00:07:42,855 - My mother's Puerto Rican and my father's Negro 200 00:07:42,879 --> 00:07:44,815 and we lived in a real big Jewish tenement building 201 00:07:44,839 --> 00:07:46,359 (crowd laughs) 202 00:07:46,383 --> 00:07:47,902 in an Italian neighborhood. 203 00:07:47,926 --> 00:07:49,445 (crowd laughs) 204 00:07:49,469 --> 00:07:50,905 Every time I go outside, the kids say, 205 00:07:50,929 --> 00:07:52,239 "Get him he's all of them." 206 00:07:52,263 --> 00:07:55,701 (crowd laughs and applauds) 207 00:07:55,725 --> 00:07:59,771 - Richard was on his way to building a crossover audience. 208 00:08:02,607 --> 00:08:03,959 - [Dave] New York gives Richard access 209 00:08:03,983 --> 00:08:06,379 to a huge new audience, 210 00:08:06,403 --> 00:08:09,173 but it also gives him access to a drug 211 00:08:09,197 --> 00:08:11,842 that will haunt him for the rest of his career. 212 00:08:11,866 --> 00:08:12,909 Cocaine. 213 00:08:13,827 --> 00:08:17,348 Pryor had experimented with drugs since his teens, 214 00:08:17,372 --> 00:08:18,891 but the highly addictive narcotic 215 00:08:18,915 --> 00:08:22,853 quickly becomes an obsession for the burgeoning comic. 216 00:08:22,877 --> 00:08:24,772 {\an8}- Many comics do not do drugs. 217 00:08:24,796 --> 00:08:29,068 {\an8}Me, David Brenner, Steve Landesburg, Robert Klein, 218 00:08:29,092 --> 00:08:31,487 {\an8}Bette Midler, none of us did drugs, 219 00:08:31,511 --> 00:08:33,990 {\an8}but Richard Pryor did drugs. 220 00:08:34,014 --> 00:08:35,116 - I like New York city. 221 00:08:35,140 --> 00:08:36,992 I've been working in the village in coffee houses. 222 00:08:37,016 --> 00:08:38,786 And I like it because they don't serve any booze, 223 00:08:38,810 --> 00:08:41,080 just coffee, ice cream, weird pills. 224 00:08:41,104 --> 00:08:43,666 And... (crowd laughs) 225 00:08:43,690 --> 00:08:45,918 - [Dave] Despite escalating drug use, 226 00:08:45,942 --> 00:08:48,987 Pryor makes a name for himself with white audiences. 227 00:08:50,405 --> 00:08:52,842 But that fame comes at a price, 228 00:08:52,866 --> 00:08:55,076 especially for black performers. 229 00:08:55,952 --> 00:08:59,974 {\an8}- It's exhausting performing for white people. (whimpers) 230 00:08:59,998 --> 00:09:01,975 {\an8}I can tell you for black comedians, 231 00:09:01,999 --> 00:09:03,561 {\an8}there's a lot of pressure 232 00:09:03,585 --> 00:09:06,105 because even if you're not necessarily 233 00:09:06,129 --> 00:09:09,066 the urban Chitlin' Circuit 234 00:09:09,090 --> 00:09:11,110 sort of comic, right, 235 00:09:11,134 --> 00:09:14,029 you still feel pressure to be that 236 00:09:14,053 --> 00:09:16,449 because sometimes white people don't wanna receive you 237 00:09:16,473 --> 00:09:18,159 unless you shuck in and jive in, 238 00:09:18,183 --> 00:09:19,994 you know, it's sort of like relegating 239 00:09:20,018 --> 00:09:22,163 all these black comics to one spot. 240 00:09:22,187 --> 00:09:23,914 {\an8}- He had to, at the beginning, 241 00:09:23,938 --> 00:09:28,919 {\an8}do some maneuvering to be able to get the next booking. 242 00:09:28,943 --> 00:09:31,046 So maybe he doesn't tell the joke he wants to tell 243 00:09:31,070 --> 00:09:34,008 that might even be about the white people or something 244 00:09:34,032 --> 00:09:36,010 because he might offend the manager 245 00:09:36,034 --> 00:09:37,535 who might not have him back. 246 00:09:43,082 --> 00:09:44,393 - [Dave] Securing a residency 247 00:09:44,417 --> 00:09:47,063 at the Aladdin hotel in Las Vegas, 248 00:09:47,087 --> 00:09:50,274 Pryor, now commands $3,000 a week in fees 249 00:09:50,298 --> 00:09:54,069 and the respect of Sin City's Showbiz Elite, 250 00:09:54,093 --> 00:09:56,322 but in the fall of 1967, 251 00:09:56,346 --> 00:09:59,116 Pryor reaches a breaking point. 252 00:09:59,140 --> 00:10:02,953 - I was a show girl working in shows in Las Vegas 253 00:10:02,977 --> 00:10:06,665 in the late sixties when he was there performing. 254 00:10:06,689 --> 00:10:10,377 The only people working in Vegas that were black 255 00:10:10,401 --> 00:10:12,880 were the janitors and the kitchen staff 256 00:10:12,904 --> 00:10:14,006 and people like that. 257 00:10:14,030 --> 00:10:15,883 He got up on the stage and he looked down 258 00:10:15,907 --> 00:10:17,259 and he saw these white people. 259 00:10:17,283 --> 00:10:18,427 It was all white. 260 00:10:18,451 --> 00:10:20,012 There were no black people in the show 261 00:10:20,036 --> 00:10:21,263 coming to see the shows in Vegas, 262 00:10:21,287 --> 00:10:23,140 even coming to see these black people. 263 00:10:23,164 --> 00:10:25,184 (crowd applauding) 264 00:10:25,208 --> 00:10:25,977 It hit home, I mean, it, 265 00:10:26,001 --> 00:10:28,729 you know, it messed with your head. 266 00:10:28,753 --> 00:10:30,272 - So he just said, 267 00:10:30,296 --> 00:10:33,943 "(beep) this, I can't take this shit anymore." 268 00:10:33,967 --> 00:10:36,612 Because he was just tired of not being himself. 269 00:10:36,636 --> 00:10:38,948 He was tired of not telling the truth. 270 00:10:38,972 --> 00:10:41,700 - [Dave] Then Richard does the unthinkable. 271 00:10:41,724 --> 00:10:44,161 He walks out on the packed house 272 00:10:44,185 --> 00:10:47,373 and ultimately on his lucrative residency. 273 00:10:47,397 --> 00:10:49,041 {\an8}- He basically was like, 274 00:10:49,065 --> 00:10:53,462 {\an8}"I'd rather be never do comedy again and homeless 275 00:10:53,486 --> 00:10:55,405 {\an8}"than please whitey again." 276 00:11:05,081 --> 00:11:08,644 - [Dave] In 1967, Pryor risks losing it all, 277 00:11:08,668 --> 00:11:10,896 walking away from a successful act 278 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:13,190 that catered to white audiences. 279 00:11:13,214 --> 00:11:14,733 {\an8}- If he did that today, 280 00:11:14,757 --> 00:11:16,360 {\an8}it would be an equivalent to 281 00:11:16,384 --> 00:11:18,112 {\an8}Chappelle walking away from a show. 282 00:11:18,136 --> 00:11:19,238 {\an8}It was that big. 283 00:11:19,262 --> 00:11:23,534 {\an8}- And everyone thought he was never gonna have a career. 284 00:11:23,558 --> 00:11:25,619 - As a black person to do that. 285 00:11:25,643 --> 00:11:27,580 It's like he will never work this town again. 286 00:11:27,604 --> 00:11:30,189 {\an8}That is, was, that was instant black ball. 287 00:11:31,774 --> 00:11:34,044 - [Dave] Searching for deeper truths about himself 288 00:11:34,068 --> 00:11:35,796 and America. 289 00:11:35,820 --> 00:11:38,048 Richard moves to Berkeley, California 290 00:11:38,072 --> 00:11:40,092 to learn from the counterculture movement 291 00:11:40,116 --> 00:11:41,886 and black power leaders. 292 00:11:41,910 --> 00:11:43,888 - The major enemy is the honky 293 00:11:43,912 --> 00:11:45,556 and his institutions of racism. 294 00:11:45,580 --> 00:11:46,516 (crowd applauding) 295 00:11:46,540 --> 00:11:48,017 - We feel that the problem, 296 00:11:48,041 --> 00:11:50,311 number one, of the black man in America 297 00:11:50,335 --> 00:11:53,564 is beyond America's ability to solve. 298 00:11:53,588 --> 00:11:57,735 - I will neither go to the army nor will I go to jail. 299 00:11:57,759 --> 00:11:59,278 - I think he was just trying to find himself, 300 00:11:59,302 --> 00:12:01,697 you know, growing out his Afro, 301 00:12:01,721 --> 00:12:04,283 wearing beads and dashikis and shit. 302 00:12:04,307 --> 00:12:07,077 That's the example of what trauma is. 303 00:12:07,101 --> 00:12:09,997 It's like just trying to find something, 304 00:12:10,021 --> 00:12:11,397 trying to belong somewhere. 305 00:12:15,151 --> 00:12:17,004 {\an8}- I was teaching at Berkeley. 306 00:12:17,028 --> 00:12:18,130 {\an8}I spent a lot of time 307 00:12:18,154 --> 00:12:20,466 {\an8}talking about African-American folklore 308 00:12:20,490 --> 00:12:22,134 {\an8}and I talked to Richard about it. 309 00:12:22,158 --> 00:12:24,470 And so I was to tell him 310 00:12:24,494 --> 00:12:28,057 that I thought our culture comes from our old traditions. 311 00:12:28,081 --> 00:12:30,225 And Richard reacted to that. 312 00:12:30,249 --> 00:12:31,477 - Richard was discovering his true voice 313 00:12:31,501 --> 00:12:35,105 because the events were making him discover his true voice. 314 00:12:35,129 --> 00:12:36,565 There was a lot of protests going on. 315 00:12:36,589 --> 00:12:37,900 A lot of people speaking out. 316 00:12:37,924 --> 00:12:41,719 - I always had fun being black, I guess y'all never know, 317 00:12:43,137 --> 00:12:45,241 but that's the price you pay for being white. 318 00:12:45,265 --> 00:12:48,118 - Being around Huey P.Newton 319 00:12:48,142 --> 00:12:50,287 and all these black nationalists, they 320 00:12:50,311 --> 00:12:52,206 "Nah, man, speak your truth, man." 321 00:12:52,230 --> 00:12:52,999 "(beep) that 322 00:12:53,023 --> 00:12:55,250 "and get up there and tell them what the (beep) time it is." 323 00:12:55,274 --> 00:12:58,027 And that probably pushed him like, "Hell yeah! Yeah!" 324 00:12:59,028 --> 00:13:02,657 - His album "Craps" is released in 1971. 325 00:13:03,825 --> 00:13:04,594 - [Richard] 'Cause was in my neighborhood, 326 00:13:04,618 --> 00:13:05,803 cops was dangerous. 327 00:13:05,827 --> 00:13:07,346 'Cause we had like, eye spy cops, right? 328 00:13:07,370 --> 00:13:10,307 You know, white cop and black cop worked together 329 00:13:10,331 --> 00:13:13,227 and the black cop had to do more shit to keep his job. 330 00:13:13,251 --> 00:13:15,187 (crowd laughs) 331 00:13:15,211 --> 00:13:17,314 He had to work more niggers than the white cop, you know, 332 00:13:17,338 --> 00:13:19,274 "I ain't gonna lose work. Catch her nigger." 333 00:13:19,298 --> 00:13:22,301 (audience laughing) 334 00:13:24,095 --> 00:13:28,617 {\an8}- Daya Cosby was actually gonna be very lucrative for him. 335 00:13:28,641 --> 00:13:31,453 {\an8}So for him to strike it out on his own and, 336 00:13:31,477 --> 00:13:35,541 and really delve into who he was himself, 337 00:13:35,565 --> 00:13:37,608 I think that's an incredibly brave thing. 338 00:13:38,860 --> 00:13:41,088 - [Dave] No longer catering to white America. 339 00:13:41,112 --> 00:13:44,133 Pryor draws from his own experiences as a black man 340 00:13:44,157 --> 00:13:46,802 to create a provocative new brand of humor 341 00:13:46,826 --> 00:13:48,762 intended for a black audience. 342 00:13:48,786 --> 00:13:50,264 - [Richard] You know, niggers and white people fight. 343 00:13:50,288 --> 00:13:51,515 I always be rooting for the nigger. 344 00:13:51,539 --> 00:13:53,475 Even if he bad, 345 00:13:53,499 --> 00:13:54,852 please whoop the white folks. 346 00:13:54,876 --> 00:13:56,937 I don't want white folks to win nothing. 347 00:13:56,961 --> 00:13:57,814 Even Jerry West. 348 00:13:57,838 --> 00:13:59,898 I wish that mother (beep) couldn't play basketball. 349 00:13:59,922 --> 00:14:03,193 (crowd laughing) 350 00:14:03,217 --> 00:14:06,238 - The "N" word and you know of course I used it 351 00:14:06,262 --> 00:14:11,201 but I think that was just a key to the hidden language 352 00:14:11,225 --> 00:14:12,369 that blacks have. 353 00:14:12,393 --> 00:14:14,872 You know, black language is a language. 354 00:14:14,896 --> 00:14:17,082 {\an8}- The word nigger 355 00:14:17,106 --> 00:14:20,586 {\an8}is just thrown around all the time in black communities. 356 00:14:20,610 --> 00:14:22,296 {\an8}I grew up with that word you know, 357 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,256 "Hey, nigger this, hey nigger that." 358 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:28,385 We didn't, it didn't, it wasn't a bad slang word. 359 00:14:28,409 --> 00:14:32,306 And it was such just part of the comedy Richard's comedy. 360 00:14:32,330 --> 00:14:35,184 - Police got a choke hold they use out here though man, 361 00:14:35,208 --> 00:14:37,019 they choke niggers did that. 362 00:14:37,043 --> 00:14:39,521 Yeah, two grab your legs, one grab your head, snap! 363 00:14:39,545 --> 00:14:40,647 "Oh shit he broke." 364 00:14:40,671 --> 00:14:43,233 (crowd laughing) 365 00:14:43,257 --> 00:14:44,860 "Can you break a nigger, is it okay?" 366 00:14:44,884 --> 00:14:45,652 (crowd laughs) 367 00:14:45,676 --> 00:14:46,446 "Let's check them in." 368 00:14:46,470 --> 00:14:48,405 "Oh yep, page eight, you can bring a right there, see?" 369 00:14:48,429 --> 00:14:49,199 Cut. 370 00:14:49,223 --> 00:14:51,366 - It's revolutionary because Richard resisted, 371 00:14:51,390 --> 00:14:55,728 resented and made his comedy as a weapon to fight it. 372 00:14:56,687 --> 00:14:58,248 - [Dave] But Pryor's creative breakthrough 373 00:14:58,272 --> 00:15:01,251 did nothing to curb his drug use. 374 00:15:01,275 --> 00:15:02,377 If anything, 375 00:15:02,401 --> 00:15:04,588 they provided him with new material. 376 00:15:04,612 --> 00:15:07,257 - He continued to do Coke. 377 00:15:07,281 --> 00:15:10,052 {\an8}- Small countries being supported by Richard Pryor 378 00:15:10,076 --> 00:15:12,304 {\an8}because he was doing tons of drugs. 379 00:15:12,328 --> 00:15:14,181 - Got into drugs, 380 00:15:14,205 --> 00:15:17,601 got heavy into acid and coke and just sort of disappeared. 381 00:15:17,625 --> 00:15:21,379 He melted away into that lifestyle. 382 00:15:22,421 --> 00:15:24,441 - [Dave] Despite his album "Craps", 383 00:15:24,465 --> 00:15:26,235 receiving critical acclaim, 384 00:15:26,259 --> 00:15:28,695 Richard's drug use adds to his reputation 385 00:15:28,719 --> 00:15:30,489 as an erratic artist 386 00:15:30,513 --> 00:15:33,408 and work becomes difficult to come by. 387 00:15:33,432 --> 00:15:35,935 (groovy music) 388 00:15:38,896 --> 00:15:41,458 {\an8}- He was not working in standup. 389 00:15:41,482 --> 00:15:44,545 {\an8}He had taken a job being a punch up writer 390 00:15:44,569 --> 00:15:45,879 {\an8}for "Sanford And Son". 391 00:15:45,903 --> 00:15:48,298 And that's how he was making a living, 392 00:15:48,322 --> 00:15:49,466 making very little money. 393 00:15:49,490 --> 00:15:51,677 Several managers had worked with him 394 00:15:51,701 --> 00:15:53,595 and didn't want to take him on. 395 00:15:53,619 --> 00:15:54,972 So I said I would help him. 396 00:15:54,996 --> 00:15:56,473 {\an8}(Interviewer asks question) 397 00:15:56,497 --> 00:15:58,684 - His unreliability. 398 00:15:58,708 --> 00:16:01,061 I'm talking about substance abuse, 399 00:16:01,085 --> 00:16:04,398 but he was not able to control it. 400 00:16:04,422 --> 00:16:06,316 It went off the deep end. 401 00:16:06,340 --> 00:16:08,694 There were a lot of things going on in his mind, 402 00:16:08,718 --> 00:16:10,821 a lot of conflict, 403 00:16:10,845 --> 00:16:13,782 but Richard always had an idea 404 00:16:13,806 --> 00:16:16,410 that he wanted to aim for the top. 405 00:16:16,434 --> 00:16:17,619 You know, he aimed high. 406 00:16:17,643 --> 00:16:18,954 He wanted big. 407 00:16:18,978 --> 00:16:21,564 (pensive music) 408 00:16:26,194 --> 00:16:27,194 - Good evening. 409 00:16:28,362 --> 00:16:31,407 I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. 410 00:16:32,700 --> 00:16:35,512 - Three months before President Nixon's resignation, 411 00:16:35,536 --> 00:16:38,348 after his involvement in the Watergate scandal, 412 00:16:38,372 --> 00:16:40,809 Richard Pryor releases a new album. 413 00:16:40,833 --> 00:16:43,437 - Pryor was working on himself, 414 00:16:43,461 --> 00:16:46,565 coming out of that clean image. 415 00:16:46,589 --> 00:16:48,525 And then you got "Craps" where he's like, 416 00:16:48,549 --> 00:16:50,486 "Okay, I'm gonna put this on a record." 417 00:16:50,510 --> 00:16:51,279 Boom! 418 00:16:51,303 --> 00:16:53,280 Now I'm gonna do "That Nigger's Crazy". 419 00:16:53,304 --> 00:16:54,323 I'm coming all out. 420 00:16:54,347 --> 00:16:55,116 I'm going all out. 421 00:16:55,140 --> 00:16:59,369 And that was where we saw the real Richard Pryor. 422 00:16:59,393 --> 00:17:00,913 - [Richard] White folks (beep) quiet too. 423 00:17:00,937 --> 00:17:01,748 (crowd laughs) 424 00:17:01,772 --> 00:17:03,999 Nigger like, "No I'll be, oh, you mother (beep)." 425 00:17:04,023 --> 00:17:05,542 Oh, that damn bell! 426 00:17:05,566 --> 00:17:06,543 (crowd laughs) 427 00:17:06,567 --> 00:17:10,571 (Richard speaking indistinctly) 428 00:17:10,905 --> 00:17:14,509 - [Dave] With his follow up to "Craps," Pryor doubles down, 429 00:17:14,533 --> 00:17:17,804 exploring controversial issues like police violence, 430 00:17:17,828 --> 00:17:19,139 interracial dating 431 00:17:19,163 --> 00:17:23,060 and drug addiction in the most profane language possible. 432 00:17:23,084 --> 00:17:24,020 - [Richard] When you get your shit together, 433 00:17:24,044 --> 00:17:25,145 you work all week, right? 434 00:17:25,169 --> 00:17:27,648 And you go out, get clean, be driving with his old lady, 435 00:17:27,672 --> 00:17:29,149 going out to a club and police pull over. 436 00:17:29,173 --> 00:17:30,317 "Get outta the car! There was a robbery. 437 00:17:30,341 --> 00:17:31,884 "That nigger look just like you." 438 00:17:33,135 --> 00:17:34,488 "All right, put your hands up, take your pants down. 439 00:17:34,512 --> 00:17:35,572 "Spread your cheeks." 440 00:17:35,596 --> 00:17:37,199 (audience laughs) 441 00:17:37,223 --> 00:17:39,785 Now, what nigger feels like having fun after that? 442 00:17:39,809 --> 00:17:41,036 - Yeah, I think that when it, 443 00:17:41,060 --> 00:17:45,040 when it comes to any sort of social political commentary, 444 00:17:45,064 --> 00:17:47,501 Pryor gave the... 445 00:17:47,525 --> 00:17:48,461 The go ahead and, 446 00:17:48,485 --> 00:17:52,923 and sort of unlocked the key where these floodgates opened 447 00:17:52,947 --> 00:17:56,260 in being deeply honest 448 00:17:56,284 --> 00:17:57,952 on top of being funny. 449 00:18:00,079 --> 00:18:02,558 - [Dave] That "N" words crazy is so radical 450 00:18:02,582 --> 00:18:04,685 that it transcends the racial divides 451 00:18:04,709 --> 00:18:07,104 that Pryor exposes in his comedy. 452 00:18:07,128 --> 00:18:10,315 He has crossed over to a white audience once again, 453 00:18:10,339 --> 00:18:13,068 only this time on his own terms. 454 00:18:13,092 --> 00:18:14,861 {\an8}- You know, you you'd be hard pressed 455 00:18:14,885 --> 00:18:17,030 {\an8}to see a lot of white people come out to see a black comic. 456 00:18:17,054 --> 00:18:19,974 {\an8}And he was able to do that. 457 00:18:20,766 --> 00:18:21,827 - [Dave] The album shoots straight 458 00:18:21,851 --> 00:18:23,787 to the top of the billboard music charts 459 00:18:23,811 --> 00:18:26,873 and wins a Grammy for "Best Comedy Album". 460 00:18:26,897 --> 00:18:31,253 Cementing his status as America's most fearless comic. 461 00:18:31,277 --> 00:18:33,463 In a post Vietnam, post Watergate, 462 00:18:33,487 --> 00:18:35,507 post Civil Rights America 463 00:18:35,531 --> 00:18:38,552 Pryor speaks to an entire generation 464 00:18:38,576 --> 00:18:42,889 of cynical disenfranchised Americans of all ethnicities. 465 00:18:42,913 --> 00:18:46,268 Suddenly America was ready for Richard Pryor 466 00:18:46,292 --> 00:18:48,437 leading to a string of Hollywood movies 467 00:18:48,461 --> 00:18:50,647 and sold out shows across the country. 468 00:18:50,671 --> 00:18:53,066 - Would you welcome the very inventive for Richard Pryor, 469 00:18:53,090 --> 00:18:54,318 - Mr. Richard Pryor. 470 00:18:54,342 --> 00:18:55,485 - Richard Pryor. 471 00:18:55,509 --> 00:18:58,030 - Thank you, thank you ladies and gentlemen. 472 00:18:58,054 --> 00:19:00,824 (crowd applauding) 473 00:19:00,848 --> 00:19:03,994 - Soon after that, we had a gig in Richmond, Virginia, 474 00:19:04,018 --> 00:19:07,331 the manager of the venue before the show came up to me 475 00:19:07,355 --> 00:19:11,275 and he said, "You cannot curse on our stage." 476 00:19:12,109 --> 00:19:13,670 I said, "You can't curse on the stage?" 477 00:19:13,694 --> 00:19:17,132 I said, "If you know him and you know what his act is about, 478 00:19:17,156 --> 00:19:18,884 "he does curse." 479 00:19:18,908 --> 00:19:23,496 So I said to Richard, "Richard, do what you wanna do?" 480 00:19:24,497 --> 00:19:27,434 - [Dave] Despite being the biggest comedian in the US, 481 00:19:27,458 --> 00:19:29,811 he's still a second class citizen. 482 00:19:29,835 --> 00:19:32,022 - So went up and did a great show. 483 00:19:32,046 --> 00:19:33,148 Just a terrific show. 484 00:19:33,172 --> 00:19:34,941 Went back to the hotel. 485 00:19:34,965 --> 00:19:37,611 Sure enough, forget a knock on the door. 486 00:19:37,635 --> 00:19:40,072 And guy says to me, 487 00:19:40,096 --> 00:19:42,783 "You're Richard Pryor? I wanna talk to you." 488 00:19:42,807 --> 00:19:43,807 And it was a cop. 489 00:19:54,068 --> 00:19:55,879 - [Dave] After a show in Virginia. 490 00:19:55,903 --> 00:19:59,549 Richard Pryor is arrested for uttering obscene language. 491 00:19:59,573 --> 00:20:01,635 {\an8}- So went down to the station. 492 00:20:01,659 --> 00:20:02,428 {\an8}We walked in, 493 00:20:02,452 --> 00:20:05,722 there were three or four other African-American cops there. 494 00:20:05,746 --> 00:20:10,334 I mean, you can see the sadness and sort of the disgust. 495 00:20:11,544 --> 00:20:13,605 They said to me, "Man, you know, 496 00:20:13,629 --> 00:20:16,608 "I don't wanna deal with this, but this is my job." 497 00:20:16,632 --> 00:20:20,696 They booked him on a dumb charge, indecent language, 498 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,471 which never really, 499 00:20:23,431 --> 00:20:24,616 really stuck. 500 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,952 So the whole thing was erased. 501 00:20:26,976 --> 00:20:30,163 And he said, "Listen, they didn't have enough to hold him, 502 00:20:30,187 --> 00:20:32,332 "but you know what this is about man." 503 00:20:32,356 --> 00:20:34,751 I said, "Yeah, that's pretty disgusting." 504 00:20:34,775 --> 00:20:36,545 And I said, "I'm not gonna let this go unnoticed. 505 00:20:36,569 --> 00:20:38,320 "And Richard's gonna talk about it." 506 00:20:41,031 --> 00:20:42,467 - [Dave] Ahead of Richard co-hosting 507 00:20:42,491 --> 00:20:45,429 "The Mike Douglas Show" in Philadelphia. 508 00:20:45,453 --> 00:20:47,371 He appears at the press conference. 509 00:20:48,414 --> 00:20:51,143 - And to be part of pose the question, 510 00:20:51,167 --> 00:20:53,895 and then Richard told a little bit of the story. 511 00:20:53,919 --> 00:20:58,924 It was in the evening edition of the Philadelphia choir. 512 00:20:59,175 --> 00:21:00,843 Absolutely fantastic. 513 00:21:01,719 --> 00:21:04,698 - Richard's film and television career is thriving. 514 00:21:04,722 --> 00:21:06,199 And in 1975, 515 00:21:06,223 --> 00:21:08,326 the producers of a new NBC show 516 00:21:08,350 --> 00:21:10,495 called "Saturday Night Live," 517 00:21:10,519 --> 00:21:12,414 come knocking on his door. 518 00:21:12,438 --> 00:21:14,064 - Starring Richard Pryor. 519 00:21:15,191 --> 00:21:19,880 {\an8}- Richard was that talented in that skill that his talent 520 00:21:19,904 --> 00:21:22,132 broke him through 'cause for Lauren Michael to go, 521 00:21:22,156 --> 00:21:24,217 "I gotta have this guy." 522 00:21:24,241 --> 00:21:27,220 You know, he just saw this guy's just (beep) funny. 523 00:21:27,244 --> 00:21:30,682 - Ladies and gentlemen, Richard Pryor! 524 00:21:30,706 --> 00:21:31,933 (crowd cheering) 525 00:21:31,957 --> 00:21:33,477 - Richard will only host the show 526 00:21:33,501 --> 00:21:36,897 under the condition that more black talent is hired, 527 00:21:36,921 --> 00:21:39,274 including singer Gil Scott-Heron 528 00:21:39,298 --> 00:21:42,569 his girlfriend, Kathy McKee, and his writing partner, 529 00:21:42,593 --> 00:21:44,070 Paul Mooney. 530 00:21:44,094 --> 00:21:46,072 - Mooney was a performer and a writer. 531 00:21:46,096 --> 00:21:48,116 He was more of an underground kind of guy. 532 00:21:48,140 --> 00:21:49,701 Paul Mooney was not the guy 533 00:21:49,725 --> 00:21:52,537 that was going to try to be crossover. 534 00:21:52,561 --> 00:21:54,623 Paul when he was speaking a lot of his feelings 535 00:21:54,647 --> 00:21:57,501 through Richard Pryor, 'cause Pryor could do it. 536 00:21:57,525 --> 00:21:59,127 Pryor just had the chart. 537 00:21:59,151 --> 00:22:01,004 He made it palatable for people. 538 00:22:01,028 --> 00:22:01,881 You know what I mean? 539 00:22:01,905 --> 00:22:04,090 - Can white writers write for you? 540 00:22:04,114 --> 00:22:07,010 - If they write for the human being then yes, 541 00:22:07,034 --> 00:22:07,804 if they write, 542 00:22:07,828 --> 00:22:10,847 if they try to write for some idea they have 543 00:22:10,871 --> 00:22:13,225 of what I would be as a black person, 544 00:22:13,249 --> 00:22:15,000 they usually cannot do that. 545 00:22:16,210 --> 00:22:17,771 - [Dave] While Richard's popularity 546 00:22:17,795 --> 00:22:20,524 has finally traversed racial lines, 547 00:22:20,548 --> 00:22:22,943 behind the camera, little has changed. 548 00:22:22,967 --> 00:22:25,237 - A lot of these shows were all white writers, 549 00:22:25,261 --> 00:22:26,030 you know white writers 550 00:22:26,054 --> 00:22:27,572 trying to write about the black experience. 551 00:22:27,596 --> 00:22:29,616 Like it doesn't (beep) make sense. 552 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,035 Not saying that you can't write for somebody, 553 00:22:32,059 --> 00:22:32,954 but, 554 00:22:32,978 --> 00:22:37,982 the inequality on these shows was so (beep) unbalanced 555 00:22:39,149 --> 00:22:42,128 that Rich was like, "I need some black people, man. 556 00:22:42,152 --> 00:22:42,922 "(beep) this, 557 00:22:42,946 --> 00:22:44,089 "I need some black people," 558 00:22:44,113 --> 00:22:47,259 so they can show some real authenticity to this shit. 559 00:22:47,283 --> 00:22:48,052 - Motion? 560 00:22:48,076 --> 00:22:49,219 - [Dave] By insisting on his own writer 561 00:22:49,243 --> 00:22:51,346 and having control over the content, 562 00:22:51,370 --> 00:22:53,473 Pryor is able to force conversations 563 00:22:53,497 --> 00:22:55,225 about race onto prime time. 564 00:22:55,249 --> 00:22:58,311 - The only way to understand a white man's problems 565 00:22:58,335 --> 00:23:01,064 was actually to become a white man. 566 00:23:01,088 --> 00:23:04,091 (audience laughing) 567 00:23:06,385 --> 00:23:09,030 {\an8}(Interviewer asks question) 568 00:23:09,054 --> 00:23:10,991 {\an8}- Oh God, do I ever? 569 00:23:11,015 --> 00:23:11,909 Oh my God. 570 00:23:11,933 --> 00:23:14,536 I just, I, you know, I remember when they were doing it 571 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:16,580 {\an8}and it was hysterical, 572 00:23:16,604 --> 00:23:18,164 {\an8}but everybody's wondering, 573 00:23:18,188 --> 00:23:22,294 {\an8}how is this gonna air live on TV? 574 00:23:22,318 --> 00:23:25,130 (crowd applauding) 575 00:23:25,154 --> 00:23:26,007 - All right, Mr. Wilson, 576 00:23:26,031 --> 00:23:28,133 you've done just fine on the roar shock. 577 00:23:28,157 --> 00:23:30,552 Your papers are in good order. 578 00:23:30,576 --> 00:23:35,348 The file's fine, no difficulty with your motor skills. 579 00:23:35,372 --> 00:23:37,350 And I think you're probably pretty ready for this job. 580 00:23:37,374 --> 00:23:38,374 We got one more 581 00:23:39,293 --> 00:23:41,521 kind of psychological test we always do here. 582 00:23:41,545 --> 00:23:43,023 It's just a word association. 583 00:23:43,047 --> 00:23:45,317 I'll throw you out a few words. 584 00:23:45,341 --> 00:23:46,901 Anything that comes to your mind, just throw back at me. 585 00:23:46,925 --> 00:23:48,278 Okay? Just kind of an arbitrary thing. 586 00:23:48,302 --> 00:23:50,155 Like if I said dog, you'd say... 587 00:23:50,179 --> 00:23:51,281 - Tree - Tree 588 00:23:51,305 --> 00:23:54,308 (audience laughing) 589 00:23:55,643 --> 00:23:56,578 - Dog 590 00:23:56,602 --> 00:23:57,455 - Tree 591 00:23:57,479 --> 00:23:59,205 (audience laughs) 592 00:23:59,229 --> 00:24:01,207 - Tree gotta pee on the tree. 593 00:24:01,231 --> 00:24:02,334 - Fast 594 00:24:02,358 --> 00:24:03,710 - Slow 595 00:24:03,734 --> 00:24:04,670 - Rain 596 00:24:04,694 --> 00:24:05,694 - Snow 597 00:24:06,654 --> 00:24:07,422 - White 598 00:24:07,446 --> 00:24:08,446 - Black 599 00:24:09,323 --> 00:24:10,300 - Bean 600 00:24:10,324 --> 00:24:11,260 - Pod 601 00:24:11,284 --> 00:24:12,261 (audience laughs) 602 00:24:12,285 --> 00:24:13,410 - Negro 603 00:24:14,662 --> 00:24:15,598 - Whitey 604 00:24:15,622 --> 00:24:17,641 (audience laughs) 605 00:24:17,665 --> 00:24:18,916 - Tar-baby. 606 00:24:19,792 --> 00:24:22,795 (audience laughing) 607 00:24:24,797 --> 00:24:25,797 - What'd you say? 608 00:24:27,841 --> 00:24:28,884 - Tar-baby. 609 00:24:31,053 --> 00:24:31,822 - Ofay 610 00:24:31,846 --> 00:24:33,198 (crowd laughs) 611 00:24:33,222 --> 00:24:34,950 - (laughs) That's weird funny. 612 00:24:34,974 --> 00:24:36,284 - Bird head 613 00:24:36,308 --> 00:24:37,161 - Cracker 614 00:24:37,185 --> 00:24:39,871 (audience laughs) 615 00:24:39,895 --> 00:24:41,331 - Spear chucker 616 00:24:41,355 --> 00:24:42,248 - White trash 617 00:24:42,272 --> 00:24:43,167 (audience laughs) 618 00:24:43,191 --> 00:24:44,334 - Jungle bunny 619 00:24:44,358 --> 00:24:45,127 - Hunker 620 00:24:45,151 --> 00:24:46,211 (audience laughs) 621 00:24:46,235 --> 00:24:47,462 - Spade 622 00:24:47,486 --> 00:24:48,255 - Honkey, honkey 623 00:24:48,279 --> 00:24:51,925 (audience laughs) 624 00:24:51,949 --> 00:24:54,135 - Nigger - Dad hunter. 625 00:24:54,159 --> 00:24:57,746 (crowd laughs and applauds) 626 00:25:01,417 --> 00:25:06,422 {\an8}- It was great to call attention to an issue. 627 00:25:07,006 --> 00:25:09,859 Part of the humor sometimes with black people is 628 00:25:09,883 --> 00:25:12,570 we have to show how we lose to win. 629 00:25:12,594 --> 00:25:16,348 And then some of it is also us trying to 630 00:25:17,474 --> 00:25:19,059 vindicate ourselves 631 00:25:19,393 --> 00:25:21,788 in a way that probably wouldn't happen in reality. 632 00:25:21,812 --> 00:25:25,417 {\an8}- I think that's reflective of what had already happened 633 00:25:25,441 --> 00:25:26,668 {\an8}in this country 634 00:25:26,692 --> 00:25:31,840 {\an8}to put black people in such horrible positions 635 00:25:31,864 --> 00:25:33,675 that to get a janitor's job. 636 00:25:33,699 --> 00:25:36,302 And then Richard was reacting to that. 637 00:25:36,326 --> 00:25:37,929 - How about a starting salary of $5,000? 638 00:25:37,953 --> 00:25:38,806 - Yo mama. 639 00:25:38,830 --> 00:25:41,474 (audience laughs) 640 00:25:41,498 --> 00:25:45,311 - And everyone was like, "Yo, Richard Pryor has come." 641 00:25:45,335 --> 00:25:48,857 Literally dissecting America, literally dissecting race, 642 00:25:48,881 --> 00:25:50,608 dissecting the urban life, 643 00:25:50,632 --> 00:25:53,695 which he came from and people were relating to this shit. 644 00:25:53,719 --> 00:25:56,239 So Richard was really laying it down 645 00:25:56,263 --> 00:25:59,743 and everybody was able to come to a common place going down. 646 00:25:59,767 --> 00:26:00,994 He got us. 647 00:26:01,018 --> 00:26:02,018 Shit! 648 00:26:03,479 --> 00:26:06,249 - [Dave] But behind the politics and humor, 649 00:26:06,273 --> 00:26:07,876 Richard's friends are alarmed 650 00:26:07,900 --> 00:26:10,462 at his growing dependence on cocaine. 651 00:26:10,486 --> 00:26:12,547 - When you're on stage you're like free, 652 00:26:12,571 --> 00:26:14,007 you're character or some shit. 653 00:26:14,031 --> 00:26:16,593 And then you're getting adulation for this shit. 654 00:26:16,617 --> 00:26:17,511 You know what I mean? 655 00:26:17,535 --> 00:26:19,929 When you're by yourself with your own thoughts, 656 00:26:19,953 --> 00:26:22,140 it's reality. There ain't no clapping, 657 00:26:22,164 --> 00:26:22,933 there ain't no nothing. 658 00:26:22,957 --> 00:26:24,642 You're dealing with your own thoughts. 659 00:26:24,666 --> 00:26:25,810 And the only time I'm dealing with it is 660 00:26:25,834 --> 00:26:28,545 when I'm doing cocaine or shit like that. 661 00:26:30,756 --> 00:26:33,735 - And it was covering up the pain in the suffering. 662 00:26:33,759 --> 00:26:35,403 You have to find a way out of that. 663 00:26:35,427 --> 00:26:38,055 And Richard never was able to find a way out of that. 664 00:26:39,056 --> 00:26:40,700 He was really nuts, you know, he was cuckoo. 665 00:26:40,724 --> 00:26:42,118 He was... 666 00:26:42,142 --> 00:26:42,912 He had moods. 667 00:26:42,936 --> 00:26:44,478 He had dark sides. 668 00:26:45,270 --> 00:26:48,607 Some of his women, a couple of his wives I know, 669 00:26:49,608 --> 00:26:50,960 Richard was pretty brutal with them. 670 00:26:50,984 --> 00:26:53,713 I mean, he beat a lot of women up and punched them. 671 00:26:53,737 --> 00:26:56,174 And I think Richard had a hair trigger. 672 00:26:56,198 --> 00:26:57,324 - I used to hit women. 673 00:26:58,909 --> 00:27:03,848 And I must say, I know I haven't hit anyone in four years. 674 00:27:03,872 --> 00:27:05,642 - [Interviewer] Why'd you hit women? 675 00:27:05,666 --> 00:27:06,810 - They piss me off. 676 00:27:06,834 --> 00:27:08,478 - And he did have that kind of temper 677 00:27:08,502 --> 00:27:10,355 where I guess if he got really mad, 678 00:27:10,379 --> 00:27:12,714 he'd pull that gun out and start shooting it. 679 00:27:13,507 --> 00:27:16,611 - [Dave] On new year's Eve, 1977, 680 00:27:16,635 --> 00:27:18,446 at a party, he is throwing, 681 00:27:18,470 --> 00:27:20,698 Richard in a drug-fueled state, 682 00:27:20,722 --> 00:27:22,408 starts a fight with his third wife 683 00:27:22,432 --> 00:27:24,994 and her two female friends. 684 00:27:25,018 --> 00:27:27,163 He chases the women in his car 685 00:27:27,187 --> 00:27:29,874 and shoots at them as they try to run away. 686 00:27:29,898 --> 00:27:32,734 (pensive music) 687 00:27:42,578 --> 00:27:43,638 - Comedian Richard Pryor 688 00:27:43,662 --> 00:27:45,265 turned himself into the police last night 689 00:27:45,289 --> 00:27:47,851 and then posted a $5,000 bail and was released. 690 00:27:47,875 --> 00:27:49,936 The police were looking for him as we told you last night, 691 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,689 because his neighbor said he just flipped out. 692 00:27:52,713 --> 00:27:54,482 They told the police that he fired some shots 693 00:27:54,506 --> 00:27:55,483 at some women in his yard 694 00:27:55,507 --> 00:27:56,860 after throwing them out of his house. 695 00:27:56,884 --> 00:27:59,404 And then they say he kept ramming his car into theirs. 696 00:27:59,428 --> 00:28:01,489 Pryor is scheduled for a command performance now 697 00:28:01,513 --> 00:28:04,993 on January 16th in the Los Angeles courtroom. 698 00:28:05,017 --> 00:28:07,579 - [Dave] On new year's day, 1978, 699 00:28:07,603 --> 00:28:10,874 Richard Pryor is charged with assault with a deadly weapon 700 00:28:10,898 --> 00:28:13,001 and given one year suspended sentence 701 00:28:13,025 --> 00:28:16,462 and three years of probation for the shooting at his home. 702 00:28:16,486 --> 00:28:17,256 The next year, 703 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,174 he travels to Africa in an effort to find himself. 704 00:28:20,198 --> 00:28:23,219 - I went to Zimbabwe and it's a new country, right? 705 00:28:23,243 --> 00:28:24,554 It's about three years old now. 706 00:28:24,578 --> 00:28:27,015 'Cause it used to be Rhodesia 707 00:28:27,039 --> 00:28:28,892 before they killed all them white (beep). 708 00:28:28,916 --> 00:28:30,810 (crowd laughs) 709 00:28:30,834 --> 00:28:33,021 I was over there with some American brothers man, 710 00:28:33,045 --> 00:28:33,981 I met an American brother, 711 00:28:34,005 --> 00:28:36,524 he came over there on vacation, he called home he said, 712 00:28:36,548 --> 00:28:38,109 "Bitch sell all the shit." 713 00:28:38,133 --> 00:28:39,152 (crowd laughs) 714 00:28:39,176 --> 00:28:41,946 "I ain't never coming back to that mourning." 715 00:28:41,970 --> 00:28:43,823 {\an8}- When Richard went to Africa 716 00:28:43,847 --> 00:28:44,847 {\an8}and 717 00:28:45,432 --> 00:28:50,437 {\an8}got a deep sense of the idea of being black 718 00:28:52,064 --> 00:28:54,500 and his idea of blackness shifting, 719 00:28:54,524 --> 00:28:56,961 I understand where he was coming from 720 00:28:56,985 --> 00:28:58,838 with not wanting to use the "N" word anymore. 721 00:28:58,862 --> 00:29:00,048 - A voice said to me, he said, 722 00:29:00,072 --> 00:29:02,282 "Look around, what do you see?" 723 00:29:03,408 --> 00:29:07,430 And I said, "I see all colors of people doing everything." 724 00:29:07,454 --> 00:29:11,124 You know, and the voice said, "Do you see any niggers?" 725 00:29:12,793 --> 00:29:14,270 And I said, "No." 726 00:29:14,294 --> 00:29:15,855 I said, "You know why?" 727 00:29:15,879 --> 00:29:20,884 'Cause there aren't any, and it hit me like a shot, man. 728 00:29:21,176 --> 00:29:23,696 I started crying the shit, I was sitting I said, 729 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,598 "Yeah, I've been here three weeks, I haven't even said it. 730 00:29:27,474 --> 00:29:29,911 "I haven't even thought it." 731 00:29:29,935 --> 00:29:33,456 And it made me say, "Oh my God, I've been wrong. 732 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:35,833 "I've been wrong. I got to regroup my shit." 733 00:29:35,857 --> 00:29:36,752 I mean, I said, 734 00:29:36,776 --> 00:29:40,171 "I ain't gonna never call another black man a nigger." 735 00:29:40,195 --> 00:29:42,215 (crowd applauds) 736 00:29:42,239 --> 00:29:44,676 - So he just sort of had this like third transformation 737 00:29:44,700 --> 00:29:47,220 that was the first one was in front of 738 00:29:47,244 --> 00:29:49,138 and maybe even two white people of, 739 00:29:49,162 --> 00:29:50,974 "Guys, I can't do this anymore. 740 00:29:50,998 --> 00:29:52,141 "This is crazy." 741 00:29:52,165 --> 00:29:54,185 "No, I don't even live like this." 742 00:29:54,209 --> 00:29:57,563 Like, "I have an interesting life that's wild. 743 00:29:57,587 --> 00:29:58,982 "And I'm holding all of it back 744 00:29:59,006 --> 00:30:02,902 "to tell you cookie cutter jokes about cookies." 745 00:30:02,926 --> 00:30:05,905 I think he added again where he got his success 746 00:30:05,929 --> 00:30:09,117 and he was having an understanding of 747 00:30:09,141 --> 00:30:10,410 being a successful black man, 748 00:30:10,434 --> 00:30:13,496 which is still like another shift in his life. 749 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:15,665 And then he went to Africa and when he came back, 750 00:30:15,689 --> 00:30:16,625 there was just this, 751 00:30:16,649 --> 00:30:18,584 this thing that had changed where he was like, 752 00:30:18,608 --> 00:30:22,922 "My small part is gonna be to not use 753 00:30:22,946 --> 00:30:25,258 "something that can be taken and shifted, 754 00:30:25,282 --> 00:30:28,511 "twisted to be derogatory towards us anymore." 755 00:30:28,535 --> 00:30:32,390 - Just the word doesn't mean anything. 756 00:30:32,414 --> 00:30:34,975 Certainly shouldn't be used for people. 757 00:30:34,999 --> 00:30:35,936 - You used to use the word. 758 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:37,961 - Oh yeah. I didn't know any better. 759 00:30:39,629 --> 00:30:40,629 And... 760 00:30:42,632 --> 00:30:45,611 I wouldn't call another black man that ever. 761 00:30:45,635 --> 00:30:49,431 - For him, that was exactly the right decision. 762 00:30:53,351 --> 00:30:56,080 - [Dave] He returns to the states with a new awareness, 763 00:30:56,104 --> 00:30:58,624 but his old habits die hard. 764 00:30:58,648 --> 00:31:01,085 Richard's cocaine use and explosive behavior 765 00:31:01,109 --> 00:31:02,795 are more frequent than ever. 766 00:31:02,819 --> 00:31:04,464 {\an8}- Like on a, a movie set, 767 00:31:04,488 --> 00:31:06,549 {\an8}a white guys was eating watermelon 768 00:31:06,573 --> 00:31:09,969 and he blew a seed 769 00:31:09,993 --> 00:31:11,036 that hit Richard. 770 00:31:12,079 --> 00:31:13,222 Richard went to his trailer. 771 00:31:13,246 --> 00:31:15,141 He came back, not with one gun 772 00:31:15,165 --> 00:31:16,309 with two. 773 00:31:16,333 --> 00:31:18,227 (dramatic music) 774 00:31:18,251 --> 00:31:21,522 They had to close the set down, okay. 775 00:31:21,546 --> 00:31:23,840 And he had a lot of problems because of that. 776 00:31:24,966 --> 00:31:28,112 He would see a slight, a racial slight 777 00:31:28,136 --> 00:31:29,906 and he would freeze up. 778 00:31:29,930 --> 00:31:32,742 Well, Richard was very sensitive about that. 779 00:31:32,766 --> 00:31:35,745 {\an8}- Richard was using drugs to 780 00:31:35,769 --> 00:31:37,020 {\an8}mask or 781 00:31:38,021 --> 00:31:39,957 {\an8}self-medicate whatever pain 782 00:31:39,981 --> 00:31:42,275 {\an8}and whatever difficulty he was going through. 783 00:31:44,069 --> 00:31:46,839 - And I grew up in 784 00:31:46,863 --> 00:31:51,868 seeing my mother go in the room with me 785 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:54,037 and my aunties go in the room with me. 786 00:31:55,122 --> 00:31:58,893 Now I used to peek two keyholes to watch people make love, 787 00:31:58,917 --> 00:32:00,228 messed me up sexually. 788 00:32:00,252 --> 00:32:01,521 {\an8}- When you watch how he grew up. 789 00:32:01,545 --> 00:32:04,190 {\an8}If I grew up in a brothel and (mumbles) 790 00:32:04,214 --> 00:32:05,733 {\an8}I'd be (beep) dead too. 791 00:32:05,757 --> 00:32:09,112 - I never felt connected to anything or anybody. 792 00:32:09,136 --> 00:32:12,698 And I never knew how to love, especially myself. 793 00:32:12,722 --> 00:32:14,659 I didn't know about that. 794 00:32:14,683 --> 00:32:16,994 You know, I'm a romantic person. 795 00:32:17,018 --> 00:32:18,204 I like to be romantic, 796 00:32:18,228 --> 00:32:20,039 but I don't necessarily like being in love 797 00:32:20,063 --> 00:32:22,125 'cause I really don't understand that. 798 00:32:22,149 --> 00:32:23,543 - We have such privilege, you know, 799 00:32:23,567 --> 00:32:27,255 as people who grew up middle class or white 800 00:32:27,279 --> 00:32:31,092 or not in poverty, it's like you don't (beep) know. 801 00:32:31,116 --> 00:32:33,928 So it's just like, yeah, no, it wasn't as easy as, 802 00:32:33,952 --> 00:32:37,122 "Oh, just stop doing drugs, Richard." 803 00:32:39,332 --> 00:32:43,229 - Richard's life is a very dark thing. 804 00:32:43,253 --> 00:32:46,023 And then you compile on the drug use. 805 00:32:46,047 --> 00:32:49,068 Those are the things that shape how a person sees things. 806 00:32:49,092 --> 00:32:52,155 {\an8}- You know, we all deal with trauma differently. 807 00:32:52,179 --> 00:32:53,656 {\an8}Right? 808 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,808 {\an8}In this case it created a comedic genius, right. 809 00:32:57,601 --> 00:33:00,830 And it also created a tremendous amount of pain, right. 810 00:33:00,854 --> 00:33:03,166 That's true in so many artists. 811 00:33:03,190 --> 00:33:05,376 - And drugs for me was a panacea, 812 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:07,527 you know, it removed all the pain, 813 00:33:08,653 --> 00:33:10,756 all the questions, all the doubt. 814 00:33:10,780 --> 00:33:13,092 It made me feel sure of myself. 815 00:33:13,116 --> 00:33:14,218 Even when I wasn't, 816 00:33:14,242 --> 00:33:18,764 I felt like I knew I could go on forever. 817 00:33:18,788 --> 00:33:21,249 And then at a point, the drugs didn't work anymore. 818 00:33:23,585 --> 00:33:24,353 - [Kathy] So he was miserable. 819 00:33:24,377 --> 00:33:25,377 He was suffering. 820 00:33:27,214 --> 00:33:28,774 He wanted to die. 821 00:33:28,798 --> 00:33:29,925 He really did. 822 00:33:31,176 --> 00:33:34,780 He may say he didn't, but you, if he didn't understand, 823 00:33:34,804 --> 00:33:38,117 maybe he didn't even realize in his own mind 824 00:33:38,141 --> 00:33:40,244 that that's what he was aiming for, was death. 825 00:33:40,268 --> 00:33:42,520 He just didn't wanna be around here anymore. 826 00:33:53,990 --> 00:33:55,343 - [Dave] By the early eighties, 827 00:33:55,367 --> 00:33:58,387 America's in the early stages of the crack epidemic. 828 00:33:58,411 --> 00:34:01,474 And Richard has graduated from snorting cocaine 829 00:34:01,498 --> 00:34:02,808 to smoking it. 830 00:34:02,832 --> 00:34:06,187 A far more dangerous and addictive way of consuming it. 831 00:34:06,211 --> 00:34:09,172 {\an8}- Rashaan called me from Richard's house and said, 832 00:34:10,006 --> 00:34:13,778 {\an8}"We are all trying to get Richard to put this pipe down." 833 00:34:13,802 --> 00:34:18,366 This was like a four or five day base, basing nonstop, 834 00:34:18,390 --> 00:34:21,077 no bathing, no eating, no nothing. 835 00:34:21,101 --> 00:34:23,454 Just sitting there doing this. 836 00:34:23,478 --> 00:34:24,248 And we can't. 837 00:34:24,272 --> 00:34:26,207 Maybe if you come by, if you come out, 838 00:34:26,231 --> 00:34:28,042 I hadn't seen him in about two or three years. 839 00:34:28,066 --> 00:34:29,335 So I get there, 840 00:34:29,359 --> 00:34:30,336 I go back in the bedroom 841 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,171 where Richard's at sitting there on the bed, 842 00:34:32,195 --> 00:34:33,405 smoking this 843 00:34:34,197 --> 00:34:35,925 base pipe 844 00:34:35,949 --> 00:34:38,177 with mound of cocaine on the bed. 845 00:34:38,201 --> 00:34:39,971 And he's dipping this, 846 00:34:39,995 --> 00:34:44,225 this self torch into this bottle of rum, 847 00:34:44,249 --> 00:34:47,395 lighting it to light this pipe he's smoking. 848 00:34:47,419 --> 00:34:49,272 Don't stick the thing in the bottle. 849 00:34:49,296 --> 00:34:52,108 It's a Molotov cocktail you know what I mean? 850 00:34:52,132 --> 00:34:54,777 So, of course Richard said to me, 851 00:34:54,801 --> 00:34:57,530 in his loving kind wonderful way, 852 00:34:57,554 --> 00:34:59,156 "Bitch, get the (beep) out my house 853 00:34:59,180 --> 00:35:00,199 "and leave me (beep) alone. 854 00:35:00,223 --> 00:35:02,243 "I'll do what I wanna do." 855 00:35:02,267 --> 00:35:03,577 So I left. 856 00:35:03,601 --> 00:35:07,123 {\an8}- If you do enough coke and you gotta blow torch, 857 00:35:07,147 --> 00:35:08,315 something's gonna happen. 858 00:35:09,983 --> 00:35:11,419 - [Dave] High on cocaine, 859 00:35:11,443 --> 00:35:15,673 Richard pours rum onto his shirt and sets himself a blaze. 860 00:35:15,697 --> 00:35:17,425 - Two cops drove up beside him and said, 861 00:35:17,449 --> 00:35:19,302 "Hey Richard, what's going on?" 862 00:35:19,326 --> 00:35:20,511 He said, "What's going on, man? 863 00:35:20,535 --> 00:35:21,721 "I'm running. 864 00:35:21,745 --> 00:35:23,639 "I'm on fire." 865 00:35:23,663 --> 00:35:27,101 (dramatic music) 866 00:35:27,125 --> 00:35:29,478 - [Kathy] Four or five hours after 867 00:35:29,502 --> 00:35:31,856 emergency broadcast on the news. 868 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,650 "Richard Pryor is in the burn center 869 00:35:34,674 --> 00:35:36,110 "at the Sherman Oaks Hospital." 870 00:35:36,134 --> 00:35:37,987 - He's in a hospital fighting for his life, 871 00:35:38,011 --> 00:35:40,489 badly burned over half his body. 872 00:35:40,513 --> 00:35:42,742 Police in LA told me that Pryor told his doctor 873 00:35:42,766 --> 00:35:45,494 that he was trying to make what is called free base, 874 00:35:45,518 --> 00:35:47,705 a mixture of cocaine and ether 875 00:35:47,729 --> 00:35:49,999 and a fire melted his shirt right on his back. 876 00:35:50,023 --> 00:35:52,752 Pryor was so delirious that he ran for more than a mile 877 00:35:52,776 --> 00:35:54,962 from his house before police could catch up with him 878 00:35:54,986 --> 00:35:56,464 and take him to a hospital. 879 00:35:56,488 --> 00:35:59,300 Only one out of three people in the shape he is in 880 00:35:59,324 --> 00:36:00,324 pulls through. 881 00:36:01,868 --> 00:36:06,223 - [Kathy] For sure that was the call, that was the goodbye, 882 00:36:06,247 --> 00:36:07,642 you know, Richard's dead, you know, that was, 883 00:36:07,666 --> 00:36:09,000 that had to be it. 884 00:36:10,043 --> 00:36:13,272 - With burns, covering over 50% of his body. 885 00:36:13,296 --> 00:36:16,150 Richard miraculously survives. 886 00:36:16,174 --> 00:36:18,444 - When you try to kill yourself and it doesn't work, 887 00:36:18,468 --> 00:36:21,781 {\an8}it's like you missed and yeah, he (beep) himself up. 888 00:36:21,805 --> 00:36:23,824 - Why did you wanna kill yourself? 889 00:36:23,848 --> 00:36:25,785 - I was ashamed. 890 00:36:25,809 --> 00:36:27,161 - Of what? - Myself 891 00:36:27,185 --> 00:36:28,162 - Of the drugs and the other... 892 00:36:28,186 --> 00:36:31,207 - I had come to this guy had given me all this, you know, 893 00:36:31,231 --> 00:36:32,249 and what I'd do with it. 894 00:36:32,273 --> 00:36:35,044 I could only end up in a room alone, 895 00:36:35,068 --> 00:36:37,963 smoking a base pipe all day long. 896 00:36:37,987 --> 00:36:39,256 I couldn't stop. 897 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,759 I put the pipe down, it jumped back in my hand. 898 00:36:41,783 --> 00:36:43,719 I couldn't stop five minutes. 899 00:36:43,743 --> 00:36:44,804 Didn't stand that five minutes. 900 00:36:44,828 --> 00:36:46,847 I said to myself, "All right, five minutes 901 00:36:46,871 --> 00:36:48,891 "I won't smoke no more." 902 00:36:48,915 --> 00:36:50,059 It wasn't a minute it would go by. 903 00:36:50,083 --> 00:36:51,894 I had to pick that pipe back up. 904 00:36:51,918 --> 00:36:55,064 {\an8}- All these things Richard actually did 905 00:36:55,088 --> 00:36:58,150 {\an8}out of a very dark space 906 00:36:58,174 --> 00:36:59,693 and they can't get it together 907 00:36:59,717 --> 00:37:02,905 because they still trapped in that prison. 908 00:37:02,929 --> 00:37:05,700 - I've been given to do so much and whatever I end up doing, 909 00:37:05,724 --> 00:37:07,392 I got a base pipe in my hand 910 00:37:08,393 --> 00:37:10,395 and sip of kavasa in the other 911 00:37:11,396 --> 00:37:13,273 in a room all alone by myself, 912 00:37:14,232 --> 00:37:17,735 loving no one and doubting if anyone loved me. 913 00:37:19,612 --> 00:37:21,298 - More because they didn't give you relief? 914 00:37:21,322 --> 00:37:22,883 - No, they didn't. 915 00:37:22,907 --> 00:37:25,886 Just got to a point where it just was misery, 916 00:37:25,910 --> 00:37:27,388 depression, 917 00:37:27,412 --> 00:37:28,913 down, down, down, 918 00:37:29,998 --> 00:37:34,002 but a day at a time today I'm sober and drug free. 919 00:37:46,222 --> 00:37:47,783 - [Dave] In 1982, 920 00:37:47,807 --> 00:37:50,995 2 years after recovering from his self-inflicted burns, 921 00:37:51,019 --> 00:37:53,956 Richard Pryor records his most audacious 922 00:37:53,980 --> 00:37:57,835 and personal standup to date Live on the Sunset Strip. 923 00:37:57,859 --> 00:38:01,297 - [Host] Ladies and gentlemen Live on the Sunset Strip, 924 00:38:01,321 --> 00:38:02,673 Richard Pryor. 925 00:38:02,697 --> 00:38:04,550 (crowd cheering) 926 00:38:04,574 --> 00:38:05,510 - [Dave] His first performance, 927 00:38:05,534 --> 00:38:08,244 since he set himself on fire two years earlier. 928 00:38:10,205 --> 00:38:11,474 - He was really nervous. 929 00:38:11,498 --> 00:38:14,101 And I think it's cause he'd been out so long. 930 00:38:14,125 --> 00:38:16,836 (somber music) 931 00:38:17,921 --> 00:38:18,921 - He stops. 932 00:38:20,006 --> 00:38:21,984 I ain't feeling it. 933 00:38:22,008 --> 00:38:25,428 I ain't giving it to him like I want to. 934 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,202 - He was like doing the set backwards. 935 00:38:31,226 --> 00:38:34,705 He got all confused and he was just off his game, 936 00:38:34,729 --> 00:38:36,248 like so horribly. 937 00:38:36,272 --> 00:38:37,833 And at one point you see a writer. 938 00:38:37,857 --> 00:38:41,170 I think it's Mooney runs on stage, whisper something to him, 939 00:38:41,194 --> 00:38:44,006 like to tell him what bit to do next. 940 00:38:44,030 --> 00:38:46,324 So it's really sad and he couldn't get it done. 941 00:38:49,077 --> 00:38:51,805 (groovy music) 942 00:38:51,829 --> 00:38:52,914 - Next day. 943 00:38:54,082 --> 00:38:55,351 Same suit, same everything. 944 00:38:55,375 --> 00:38:56,709 Come back next day. 945 00:38:58,419 --> 00:38:59,563 And he founds it. 946 00:38:59,587 --> 00:39:03,651 - This pipe used to tell me when to go to bed. 947 00:39:03,675 --> 00:39:05,903 Pipe would say, "Time to get up. 948 00:39:05,927 --> 00:39:08,489 "Time for some smoke, Rich. 949 00:39:08,513 --> 00:39:10,866 "Come on now, we're not gonna do anything today. 950 00:39:10,890 --> 00:39:11,909 "(beep) all your appointments. 951 00:39:11,933 --> 00:39:14,036 "Me and you just gonna hang out in this room together." 952 00:39:14,060 --> 00:39:16,372 (audience laughs) 953 00:39:16,396 --> 00:39:18,624 - This is the resilience. 954 00:39:18,648 --> 00:39:21,961 He's opened himself up each and every album, 955 00:39:21,985 --> 00:39:25,047 but live Sunset Strip was just special. 956 00:39:25,071 --> 00:39:25,840 - Now, now listen to me, 957 00:39:25,864 --> 00:39:27,925 all the people you ever heard of free basin, 958 00:39:27,949 --> 00:39:30,344 have you ever heard of anybody blowing up? 959 00:39:30,368 --> 00:39:32,096 (audience laughs) 960 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:33,222 Why me? 961 00:39:33,246 --> 00:39:35,224 (audience laughs) 962 00:39:35,248 --> 00:39:36,892 10 million my (beep) free base. 963 00:39:36,916 --> 00:39:38,143 I gotta blow up. 964 00:39:38,167 --> 00:39:41,605 (audience laughs) 965 00:39:41,629 --> 00:39:44,066 - Those jokes about him burning himself. 966 00:39:44,090 --> 00:39:48,112 I mean talk about turning tragedy into comedy 967 00:39:48,136 --> 00:39:51,949 and also vulnerability and weakness as humor. 968 00:39:51,973 --> 00:39:55,202 I mean it's big, that's groundbreaking stuff. 969 00:39:55,226 --> 00:39:58,122 {\an8}- Defense mechanisms are things we employ 970 00:39:58,146 --> 00:39:59,915 {\an8}when we are traumatized 971 00:39:59,939 --> 00:40:02,167 {\an8}or when things are difficult in our life. 972 00:40:02,191 --> 00:40:07,196 Most people will avoid or deny, suppress or repress. 973 00:40:07,864 --> 00:40:12,052 But the standup comedian says, "I need to understand this. 974 00:40:12,076 --> 00:40:14,638 "I need to work through it." 975 00:40:14,662 --> 00:40:17,600 So humor becomes the vehicle 976 00:40:17,624 --> 00:40:20,728 to offset adversity 977 00:40:20,752 --> 00:40:22,229 or difficulty. 978 00:40:22,253 --> 00:40:24,898 - But I thank God every day, Jack. 979 00:40:24,922 --> 00:40:25,941 I do. 980 00:40:25,965 --> 00:40:29,111 I say God, thank you for not burning my dick. 981 00:40:29,135 --> 00:40:31,780 (audience laughs) 982 00:40:31,804 --> 00:40:34,950 'Cause when that fire getting my ass, my dick went to work. 983 00:40:34,974 --> 00:40:36,893 He said, "Emergency!" 984 00:40:37,769 --> 00:40:40,039 "Please come do something!" 985 00:40:40,063 --> 00:40:42,565 "Keep the fire off the ball." 986 00:40:43,441 --> 00:40:45,044 - [Dave] Live on the Sunset Strip 987 00:40:45,068 --> 00:40:48,964 becomes one of the highest grossing 988 00:40:48,988 --> 00:40:51,449 and Pryor's final comedy special. 989 00:40:52,450 --> 00:40:53,802 In 2005, 990 00:40:53,826 --> 00:40:54,763 Richard Pryor, 991 00:40:54,787 --> 00:40:57,848 already suffering from the effects of multiple sclerosis, 992 00:40:57,872 --> 00:40:59,850 dies from a heart attack. 993 00:40:59,874 --> 00:41:02,311 - The brilliant comedian Richard Pryor died on Saturday. 994 00:41:02,335 --> 00:41:05,314 He died of a heart attack after an almost 20 year battle 995 00:41:05,338 --> 00:41:06,857 with multiple sclerosis. 996 00:41:06,881 --> 00:41:08,484 Richard Pryor was one of the most influential 997 00:41:08,508 --> 00:41:09,568 comedians ever, 998 00:41:09,592 --> 00:41:12,154 a cultural giant who changed comedy. 999 00:41:12,178 --> 00:41:15,157 Many of his colleagues called him a genius. 1000 00:41:15,181 --> 00:41:17,660 He lived to become the highest paid black performer 1001 00:41:17,684 --> 00:41:18,869 of his time. 1002 00:41:18,893 --> 00:41:22,081 He spoke about race in a way that was both funny 1003 00:41:22,105 --> 00:41:23,106 and insightful. 1004 00:41:24,190 --> 00:41:25,793 - Richard overcame a lot 1005 00:41:25,817 --> 00:41:29,338 to become what we know as Richard Pryor. 1006 00:41:29,362 --> 00:41:31,882 - Real strange feeling being sober. 1007 00:41:31,906 --> 00:41:33,926 'Cause I got nothing to do tonight. 1008 00:41:33,950 --> 00:41:34,927 Like go to sleep. 1009 00:41:34,951 --> 00:41:39,932 (audience laughs, cheers and applauds) 1010 00:41:39,956 --> 00:41:42,184 - He could've easily became a pimp. 1011 00:41:42,208 --> 00:41:44,335 He could have gave up after he burned himself. 1012 00:41:46,087 --> 00:41:49,257 - Here is another one of the many talents of Richard Pryor. 1013 00:41:52,885 --> 00:41:57,890 ♪ Once I lived a life of a millionaire ♪ 1014 00:41:59,350 --> 00:42:04,123 ♪ Spending my money I didn't care ♪ 1015 00:42:04,147 --> 00:42:08,168 - Even though it was a lot of darkness, 1016 00:42:08,192 --> 00:42:10,903 it was definitely a lot of light. 1017 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:13,382 - [Dave] Richard Pryor's life 1018 00:42:13,406 --> 00:42:16,009 could easily have served as a cautionary tale 1019 00:42:16,033 --> 00:42:17,410 about the burdens of fame, 1020 00:42:19,036 --> 00:42:22,015 but his constant determination to fight through 1021 00:42:22,039 --> 00:42:24,935 eventually opened a door to his candor 1022 00:42:24,959 --> 00:42:26,687 and it never left him. 1023 00:42:26,711 --> 00:42:29,231 ♪ Didn't have a friend ♪ 1024 00:42:29,255 --> 00:42:32,109 ♪ No place to go ♪ 1025 00:42:32,133 --> 00:42:34,653 - Ironically, all these decades later, 1026 00:42:34,677 --> 00:42:37,489 we're almost still trying to get back to this level of, 1027 00:42:37,513 --> 00:42:40,534 of being genuine and being honest in performance 1028 00:42:40,558 --> 00:42:41,577 and in life. 1029 00:42:41,601 --> 00:42:44,788 There's a deep, deep yearning for someone 1030 00:42:44,812 --> 00:42:48,125 to be as incredibly honest as it takes 1031 00:42:48,149 --> 00:42:49,126 to have an experience with them. 1032 00:42:49,150 --> 00:42:53,839 ♪ Nobody wants you ♪ 1033 00:42:53,863 --> 00:42:57,634 ♪ When you're down and out ♪ 1034 00:42:57,658 --> 00:43:00,137 And so I think he had an understanding of himself 1035 00:43:00,161 --> 00:43:04,016 and an understanding of the audience 1036 00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:05,040 that 1037 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:08,228 put him ahead of his time in a way 1038 00:43:08,252 --> 00:43:10,647 that we're still kind of catching up to. 1039 00:43:10,671 --> 00:43:11,774 - Truth is truth. 1040 00:43:11,798 --> 00:43:13,317 Truth is what it is, man. 1041 00:43:13,341 --> 00:43:15,652 Truth has never been easy. 1042 00:43:15,676 --> 00:43:20,115 He just really influenced people to be honest with yourself, 1043 00:43:20,139 --> 00:43:22,701 don't let anybody tell you how you do shit. 1044 00:43:22,725 --> 00:43:25,579 He was able to create genius 1045 00:43:25,603 --> 00:43:28,373 and just to really look at ourselves 1046 00:43:28,397 --> 00:43:30,667 and always live our truth. 1047 00:43:30,691 --> 00:43:31,710 (crowd applauding) 1048 00:43:31,734 --> 00:43:33,212 (Richard making noises) 1049 00:43:33,236 --> 00:43:36,006 (Richard gags) 1050 00:43:36,030 --> 00:43:38,550 (crowd applauding) 1051 00:43:38,574 --> 00:43:41,345 - What is that? Richard Pryor running down that street. 1052 00:43:41,369 --> 00:43:43,472 (audience applauding) 1053 00:43:43,496 --> 00:43:44,705 It's not easy. 1054 00:43:46,207 --> 00:43:48,227 But who said it was gonna be. 1055 00:43:48,251 --> 00:43:51,313 ♪ Nobody wants you ♪ 1056 00:43:51,337 --> 00:43:55,341 ♪ Baby when you're down and out ♪ 1057 00:43:59,262 --> 00:44:02,265 (audience applauding)