1971-04-29
N/A
48 min
Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin' is the first stand-up act of Richard Pryor to be filmed out of the four that were released in total. This film was filmed in 1971 but not released until 1985, on VHS. This was the first stand-up act that Pryor did before he hit the mainstream audience. With only 48 minutes of footage, it is the shortest of Pryor's stand-up routines.
I'm a fan of Pryor's live work. However after seeing this I'm not so sure it should have ever been released. I suppose it shows that comedians can have an 'off' night and that was certainly the case. Maybe it was the camera's, maybe a small crowd to feed off. From what I guessed, I'm sure the crowd didn't know what was going on. Not really funny and it seems like a berate the audience show (probably like the national gay association gig). Personally it wouldn't have bothered me to skip it.
