Richard Pryor: Live in Concert

I can't express how dazzlingly brilliant this routine is. The jokes, the faces, the mime, the banter, ad-libs - everything amazes. This is the 'Citizen Kane' of routines and many comedians since have taken inspiration from it including Eddie Murphy (esp.) Chris Rock and Eddie Izzard.

Yes it is profane, but if you are stupid enough to watch a Pryor stand- up without being prepared for extreme 'vulgarity' then frankly you deserve to be offended. The language, although extreme isn't that shocking (even the now dreaded 'N' word) because it is all part of Pryor's 'jive' and would be poorer without it.

Watch this and see a master at the top of his game.

I am 34 year old and i was 6 years old when this concert was filmed in 1979,i saw it as a little boy and countless times until this day,i am so lucky to have been born in Richards Generation to have had the opportunity to witness this man come on stage with all of his imperfections and personal problems and share it with me and the rest of the world in a way where it makes us laugh.

Thinking about the loss of Richard Pryor makes me want to cry because i feel like he was someone i knew personally,thats the effect Richard Pryor had on everyone that watched him pro-form on stage,he broke the color line,even thought he is clearly a African American man,Richard Pryor made people of other races so comfortable listening to jokes revolving around race and social status.

I know there are other comedians that are great in their own right but the truth be told,Richard Pryor is and will always be regarded as the Best comedian that ever lived and this concert is the performance that proves that very fact.

RIP Richard,thank you for the laughs and joy and now the sadness you brought us all,we will never ever forget you....

This is one of the very first taped stage comedy of Richard Pryor. Shot in Long Beach, California in 1970's, Richard Pryor's Live in Concert is one of the all time greats. Pryor's comedic style comes out like fire in this comedic stand up. From his antics about sex and nature, to his wild and crazy comments about "white people," Pryor is amazing. Entertaining and true, it is a stand up comedy for the ages.

As others have said, this is the best stand-up performance ever recorded. It sounds like an exaggeration, but it's not. Pryor is a comedic genius, and you can see his influence in every comedian since. He sets the standard. His facial expressions, acting abilities, delivery, etc., are all top-notch, and he can make even mundane topics such as walking through the woods pee-your-pants hilarious (in fact, he spends a long time talking about the woods, which is a bit puzzling, but hey, it's funny). He also covers completely unrelated topics such as dogs, drugs, family life, boxing, and sex... all the while being hysterically funny. The guy is amazing, and I recommend this to anyone who enjoys stand-up comedy.

This was the first time a stand-up comedian was filmed doing his act, and most people predicted that it would fail. Bill Sargent had the idea of filming Pryor's act, but since most of the industry thought it would flop, they had trouble getting anyone to distribute it, so a few mavericks in the industry distributed it themselves. It was cheap to make, all the profits would be gravy, and the men who made it believed that people would respond to Richard Pryor's act. Video was just coming out and would soon be a force, and Pryor was at the top of his game, and the gamble paid off. Now we take for granted watching stand-up comedy on TV and everywhere else, but at the time bringing a comedy routine to the big screen, especially one as raunchy as Pryor's, was considered a huge risk.

But Pryor is on fire in front of his audience. He's honest and raw, and doesn't pull any punches. And because of that you'll laugh so hard your gut will bust. But when you watch this film it is of interest to realize that at the time it was filmed there was no "Def Comedy Jam." There was no Bill Cosby "Himself." That all came after this. Richard Pryor and a few daring producers brought this genre to life with this one act, and had it not been so incredibly good, it might not have become the money making and entertaining part of the industry that it is today.

When you watch this you can know you're watching the first and the best.