Classic Movie Review: Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)

Richard Pryor: Live in Concert

Directed by: Jeff Margolis 

Written by: Richard Pryor 

Starring: Richard Pryor.

 

Richard Pryor: Live in Concert both invented – and perfected – the stand-up comedian concert film. The film was shot, produced and distributed independently – hitting theaters in early 1979, after being film in December 1978 – and was the first film to be an entire stand-up comedian’s act – which is amazing when you think of it –why did it take so long? In an age when Netflix seemingly drops a few stand-up specials evert week, something like Richard Pryor: Live in Concert can probably be viewed as one of the most influential films of its era – and that would be true even if the film was so hilarious – which it is.

 

The film is only 78 minutes long, and is just Pryor stalking the stage in Long Beach, California – to a largely white audience – who eat up every moment of Pryor’s routine. A comedy album of Pryor would undoubtedly be funny – but it is his physical presence, the way he twists and turns his body that makes much of what he’s doing out and out hilarious. Whether he’s showing the difference between how white and black walk through the forest, the various reactions of a deer, recreating his amateur boxing career, impersonating his grandmother as she beats him with a switch, or curls up on the stage as he recreates his heart attack, Pryor shows just what a brilliant physical comedian he was. This is not a lazy man’s comedy performance – ones where the comedian stand on stage in one spot (or get a stool) and tell jokes from 90 minutes – this really is a whole body performance. And it’s brilliant.

 

It’s also honest – as Pryor, as always, isn’t afraid to air his demons on stage. True, his recounting of the incident where he shot his car to stop his wife from leaving him is short – but it’s there, and he doesn’t make excuses for it. There is material about his drug use, his family life – and even a joke about police killing black people. Pryor doesn’t hold back – even though, at his heart, he really is a stand-up comedian like everyone else. He’s just better at it.

 

In 1979, Pryor needed a movie like this to accurately capture who and what he was onstage. Today, he could do any number of TV specials, where he is able to say or do whatever he wanted – but in 1979, that would have been impossible. I didn’t count the number of times Pryor says “nigger” in 78 minutes, but I’d be shocked if he didn’t average at least one per minute. It was smart of Pryor – and his people – to do a movie like this, and to keep it relatively simple. The director, Jeff Margolis – has basically spent his career doing concert specials and films, and knows what’s doing – point the camera at Pryor, and let him go.

 

There isn’t much to say about the film unless I would start recounting jokes – which I won’t do. It is a great film, and one of the most influential of its time – both in terms of format, and content for modern comedians. It is a showcase for Pryor’s particular brand of genius – and it’s brilliant.