Richard Pryor... Here and Now

Richard Pryor has met with a few pot holes in life's bumpy road.He has done countless things that he never should have,and he is the first to admit this.He uses his own unique comic style to tell us the gritty details of his life and to give us the message to not travel the road that he has traveled.You see,Richard Pryor not only wants to entertain us,he cares enough about us to tell us how stupid we would end up looking if we did the things that he has done.He is hilariously funny,and he is caring,and that makes him all right with me.I would urge all Pryor fans to have it in their collection.He was definitely at his peak here. Thumbs up.

Richard Pryor: Here and Now is a funny snippet of the late period of Pryor's active career, before MS forced his retirement. It features classic Pryor characters such as Mudbone, while also incorporating new routines such as his description of a visit to Africa.

Pryor is as hilarious and uncensored as ever, covering topics including his struggle with substance abuse. The skits range from the comical to the poignant, with one sketch about a heroin addict having a particularly sad denouement.

Some reviewers have complained about the at times disruptive audience, but Pryor's interaction with the audience gives a better sense of his talent. We see his skill at improvisation, particularly in a scene where he receives a glass of water with some surprisingly animate contents.

Richard Pryor Here and Now (1983)

**** (out of 4)

In my opinion this is Pryor at his very best as he plays New Orleans to a rather tough crowd who keeps interrupting the show. This is one of the funniest films I've ever seen with only a few jokes that miss their mark. The stuff (again) dealing with Pryor in Africa is terrific as are the jokes about him getting crabs, getting married countless times and the "life as a junkie" is nice as well. When the crowd interrupts the show you'd think this would hurt things but it actually helps since Pryor is so fast on his feet that he manages to bring even more laughs to the show by making fun of them.

"Here and now" is easily funnier than "Live on Sunset Strip", when it wants to. But also quite surreal. What makes it surreal is mainly the audience. In the middle of the show a middle-aged geezer hands Richard a crab in the water glass. Far out. Also, the heckling is quadrupled in this show. It was probably Mardi Gras time. But Man Pryor still made me choke from laughter, and the improv with the aforementioned crab was quick thinking too. Towards the end, it's Pryor's turn to crank up the surreal with his junkie-bit, which is also quite moving, if too much of a downer for a supposedly comedy show.

This show is something else.

He's 7 months sober and doing a stand-up show in New Orleans. It's the last of his concert films. He's as foul-mouthed and irreverent as ever. He's energetic. The audience is yelling back and he's having fun with them. He's quick and sharp. He tackles everything including his own personal demons. This is a clear-headed legend at work.