This and his protege Eddie Murphy doing the Italian dude/Rocky bit are the two best black dudes doing Italians in history. As a Sicilian, I love these.
It’s a possibility that the story was only partially true. Yes, Satin Doll is a real person but I don’t see Richard Pryor busting in with a gun out of the blue and also on mafia guys which I’m sure he knew they were the mafia. And if he didn’t, I’m sure he knew up front that these people were not people to be messed with.
This was my dad’s favorite standup. This part in particular. I stop and watch this every now and then and remember his laugh and imitation. Miss you, Dad❤️
"When you are running down the street on fire, people get out of your way" - On June 9, 1980, Richard Pryor set himself on fire after freebasing cocaine while drinking 151-proof rum.
Pryor was untouchable back then. Years ahead of his time. One of the first black comedians to crossover into the mainstream (films). That's fairly common now. Robin Williams was incredible live as well.
iggypopisgod9 no offense but Robin Williams was not in the same universe as Richard Pryor as a standup. Pryors concert films played in theaters, he was in a different league than everyone before and after.
This is my most favorite comedy bit because something similar happed to me in Buffalo, NY. I was waiting tables and I had two “large” Italian men and their girlfriends. By the way, I’m Greek with a thick accent. It was a supper club and the desserts were on a cart. So, I served the first three and the fourth customer asked for strawberry shortcake. I said to him “don’t worry. I make it nice”. We’ll, he went crazy. He stood up and wrapped his arm around my neck and he started doing something similar to Prior’s bit. From then on every time he came to the restaurant he would look for me to talk to me. He would walk around the tables talking to people that he knew and he would find me and ask me for a drink. When I would bring him the drink he would shove a fifty in my shirt pocket.
The weird thing is if mafia guys weren’t so fucked up and criminal they’d probably be okay guys, like they treat people well when they treat them well, some of the old-school have a moral code as well. Not like today.
I always loved this set, but it took me years to realize that the same guy that was laughing and being buddy buddy with him was also also letting him off with a pretty scary warning. “That shit was funny and you are a good kid, but if you ever do this again I’m gonna make holes in your head with an ice pick”
+Alessandro Baldi "Stronzo" (I think) means 'turd' in Italian. But Richard says "struzzi"... which I'm almost certain he meant that the big guido wiseguys used as a figure of speech for cheese or other food topping.
Genius. Rewind and watch how he sets up the story, the cast, the scene, one at a time and then he stitches them all together. Man, he was a hypnotizer!
When I was a kid, Richard Pryor was the first comedian to make me cry from laughing. So, my standards are very high. There are only a handful of comedians who have been able to do that.
I remember when Mike Epps did the James Brown joke saying he looked like a Thunder Cat. First time in my life that I laughed so hard I passed out in the floor.
As an Italian, I'll fix you with some limoncello or mirto for your service in verifying the accuracy of this portrayal. Hey Gianni, get this motherfucker some salame al cioccolato with panna montata on top will you?
The mafia back then were in with a lot of celebrities. They hanged with and booked people people like Don Rickles and Frank Sinatra. So it wouldn't shock me if Richard Pryor hung with them occasionally.
This never gets old. This guy still is the best of all time. Most of his jokes are based on true stories. I can imagine this stuff happening to him. Brilliant
Serious question.. what was the funny joke in this video? Me and my pop pop got in a debate because I legit don’t find Pryor funny at all. I didn’t laugh one time watching this.
@@boxingguru4221 There is no actual joke, it's the ridiculousness of the entire story. He held up a bunch of made men with a cap gun and they laughed in his face. But they gained a bit of respect for him. The only joke is the end, after the murder story of driving a dune to a motel. They asked him if he wanted a ride.
@@boxingguru4221 With what I’ve seen of Richard Pryor I’d say it usually isn’t one big joke that he leads up to or anything like that. He’s just tells stories and talks about things and says funny stuff and does great impressions as he goes along. I really like his comedy myself but I guess it isn’t for everybody.
@@thomasnc I really do want to get it because I LOVE comedy and love to laugh. It makes me forget about the bs in my life and in the world. But to call Richard Pryor the greatest I do not understand. I feel like there’s something I’m missing.
This is my favorite Richard Pryor story. Man, this dude had me believing I was actually watching this scene go down! There is no way to describe his talents. Miss Ya Rich!
I circel back to this every so often to be reminded of how great well crafted comedy can be. Still makes me crack up as if I heard it for the first time.
The thing that impresses me is how accurate this is to the modern stereotypes we see in movies considering how long ago it was! This was years before Goodfellas. Legend!
Jose Davila Yeah but this would be modelled after Goodfellas more than Godfather, the setup and movies are completely different, this sounds like it would be something out of Godfellas or the sopranos but definitely not Godfather.
I’ve watched old comics and sometimes their humor just doesn’t carry on. The jokes may have been funny in their time and that’s it. Pryor though....timeless.
Well its the artistry of beautiful acting Richard and Eddie could could go into a character or characters with voice gestures without practicing rehearsal something most comics can't do to day Kevin hart is not funny too me he act silly but he's not unique
His genius is that he didn't make up "jokes". He just told about what happened in his life, even the tragedy, and made it funny. You can tell that this encounter with the Italian guys really happened.
Man can you imagine the look on Richards face while the dude was telling him that ?? I bet Richard was feeling SICK as hell and SCARED to say ANYTHING LOL,
Michael C I was replying to a previous commentor who was acting like the story was fake because "real Italians" don't act like that. These are mob guys, not like whatever Italians he's thinking about.
I was in my first year of college so many years ago, feeling very lonely and pressure-cooked. So much so that I went to a campus movie of one of his standup movies, not knowing at all who he was. I remember being quickly worried that I would pass out because I couldn't breathe from laughing so hard. I had to see the show twice because my and the audience's laughter would drown out the movie and so I would miss half of the bits. Lifted my spirits a great deal.
Richard Pryor was the pinnacle of comedy. He didn't tell jokes. He told funny stories about his life. He took personal tragedies and made the best humor out of it. Blessings to you, Richard. You still make us laugh.
Yes, that's why I admire Pryor so much. He didn't do jokes or "punch lines." It was all character-driven humor, and much of the time he was making fun of himself.
Precisely!! That's exactly why Pryor was and still is the most brilliant stand up comic of all time. His best routine is when he would make fun of himself for setting himself on fire when he free based cocaine.
Growing up in a sicilian family (fatherside) myself I'am really fascinated how precisely Prior nailed some typical sicilian behaviors. The face-grabbing they do with small children, my cheeks were always hurting during visiting our relatives in Sicily...😄. Also the typical vocal range and speaking melody they do was really spot on by Prior. Great work.
@@rgarcia2418 - yes , he did. Some of my relatives and their friends could be a bit scary at times. But Heaven help anyone who messed with us. Or, when WE messed up - as kids 😸 Got the WAP! right to the head.
Amazing talent. Richard Prior inspired Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Chris Tucker and a whole lot of amazing comedians. Richard was the first and best even to this day. I remember him from superman but now I'm 43 I realise how far he was ahead of his time.
I laughed more during this 4 minute routine, than I do watching entire stand up specials these days. Pryor is a legend and was definitely ahead of his time.
ABSOLUTELY!!! OMG!!! HE FUQQIN NAILED IT! LOLOL... This shyt had my eyes watering!! LOLOL DAMNnnn... I didn't like his later material - it felt FORCED... BUT THIS... THIS is CLASSIC Richard Pryor!! His telling stories from his life with DEAD ON voice & method acting.. DAMN!! LOVE IT!! LOLOL.!!! You can't watch his later material and see why he was famous. But you can watch THIS... and all of a sudden - his fame becomes self explanatory! :) Was this "Live on Sunset Strip"? It's the only one I haven't seen... it's gotta be from that. Yes? No?
@Eros Delorenzi it's an act dumb fuck and yes we get it your Italian you yourself know it's a good act or else you wouldn't be watching you just want ppl to know your Sicilian lol fuckin hump
Richard Pryor is Supreme Legendary Comedian. Not just Comedy but Story Telling, he could have directed a Mafia Movie from this comedy show. Rest In Peace Rich, and Paul Mooney. The 2 Legendary Godfathers of Comedy.
LMAO!!!! This brings me to tears, in more ways than one. Love Richard Pryor(And all of his movies). As a Sicilian, I Grew up watching him, in the 70s and 80s... Those were the days..
“You want us to give you a ride?” Richard Pryor was the greatest. Could be wrong here, but as the ‘story’ progressed, the crowd became a little quiet and uneasy because they recognized that Rich wasn’t just telling a funny story about his early days in Ohio. It really happened.
Yes just a little,But I STRONGLY believe it was because he not only made it very funny he almost turned it into a short and visual one man movie which was ingenious in itself so much so that it captivated the audience in their behavior reflected it.!!👂👁️👁️👂
@@bigejenkins9803 Exactly. The storyline went pretty dark but I think it was more because we were all just engulved in the story. He took us into another world. Crazy skill (this is the first thing I saw of Richard Pryor, I decided to google him since all the comedians I love talk about him)
Tell you what , Look at His Bio movie, Jo Jo Dancer and tell ME it didn't happen. Damn RIGHT it happened. Makes me wonder if HE wasn't a little nervous telling that story HIMSELF LOL. Some of those guys might still have been around at that time.
The first time I saw stir crazy when I was 7 years old Richard Pryor became a massive part of my childhood wish he was still here can u imagine what he would say on stage this day and age
This guy is SO on target with his mafia impression. I remember watching him in the 80s with my dad. A true legend and has inspired just about every stand up comic.
I saw old-school Mafia in Vegas back in the early 1990s, they were the scariest dudes I ever saw in my life. They never had to threaten nobody, the threat was already implied. They had a look that is hard to describe. Made you want to pee in your pants.
Amazingly, the burlesque dancer Toni Elling (born Rosita Sims) and best known as "Satin Doll," referred to in Richard's comedy routine, is 93 years old. Many of the great stars of the day knew her, including Duke Ellington, of course, who wrote the great song "Satin Doll" in her honor, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis, Jr., and many more.
Like all great comics, Pryor tooka step or two to the left or right, I'm not sure which, from the point which most of us viewed a story and told that story from his point of view. His timing, his actions, his delivery were brilliant. RIP, Rich. You will live on as long as there are those among us that speak your name.
A true legend of comedy I saw this at a theater I laughed so hard & cried, the entire theater laughter was so loud, I miss a true honest comedian RIP Richard Pryor
That entire standup was great. Saw it in the movie theater and laughed my ass off. That particular story is one of my favs of Pryor's, and he delivers it so perfectly.
Youngstown, Ohio, is Still not a nice place. Was in the top ten in the nation for crime just a few years ago. Used to be known as "Little Chicago," because it was about halfway between Chicago and my.
this guy is kosher funny and was a hit on the Vegas strip. We loved him. When you ask the old timers what Vegas did you love, the old Vegas Stip or the new Disney theme clubs they’ll tell you it was the mafia clubs. They said, “they treated you like royalty if you spent, and lost your money or not, with free rooms, drinks and food” that kept the old timers coming back and they came back to see great acts like Mr Pryor’s or Lady Gaga of today.
Absolutely brilliant. It's art. His cadence, use of props, timing, vocal manipulation all works together in this performance. This clip should be required viewing at performing arts and acting schools
Yeah, that's the best mock language of any kind that I've ever heard. Charlie chaplin did a great German in The Great Dictator but he had time to perfect it. Brilliant.
It's extraordinary how much his act changed from the early days in the 60s through the 80s. He was funny, but kind of a goofball in the 60s. By the time of this concert, he was arguably the greatest stand-up of all time.
It's not an argument though, Carlin, Williams, Moonie, they would have agreed that rich was the GOAT. white, black, brown, if you are American. It's a hard argument that Rich is not the funniest. Dave Chappelle, Katt Williams, Bill Burr, Louis C.K., Patrice O'Neal RIP. ehhh maybe Chris rock, Kevin Hart seems like a good guy, Sebastian? (The Italian guy), he's hilarious..
Oh man, just brilliant. That laugh he does, as the mobster. I watched this twice in a row and laughed even hard the second time. Even though I knew it was coming. Just ... wow.
Oh we could,but some woke snowflake would start crying and show would be canceled.....Mob knew how to handle people like that yrs ago......umm,just saying😂
@M B general stereotype of Italian americans is we are mobsters , criminals, wife beaters , morons , idiots etc . The stereotypes overlap with one another.
Pryor was funny to the extreme. I loved his albums as a kid. He used to make me literally cry from laughing so hard. Sometimes it hurt from laughing so hard. He was a Hall of Fame Comedian.
He got better as he got older, he started to really become comfortable with telling some of the more explicit parts of his life and turning it into an actual stand up routine. He held back a lot in the early years because the world wasn't ready for him.
It's been said that unless you've experienced a certain measure of horror, sadness, and conflict in your life, you'll never make it in comedy. Happy people aren't funny. Mr. Pryor was an enormously capable talent, better than maybe 99% of anyone in the business, and had a childhood that would have killed the same percentage of other people. A deeply troubled and sad person in a great many significant ways, and yet one of the best comedic geniuses of any generation. He should have been happier. God knows he earned the right to be happier. But his experiences led him down a road that gave the rest of us so much joy. I've often thought he kinda "took a bullet" for those of us who enjoy his work. God bless him.
One of the most profound and likely accurate things this guy has ever read. Let's remember to not forget our other friend...Mr. George Carlin. Richard Pryor. Both One-of-a-kind.
Happy people are funny. They are not attention seeking. They are not the kind of performers that NEED it. At the crux of any art is the wholeness of human experience. We reject the negative in our facade, just to get through the day, but we rely on Richard Pryor and Robin Williams to get through the day....
I remember watching this in 1982 ( “ Richard Pryor live on the Sunset Strip “ ) in Oceanside CA. The rubes in the audience could not relate to Pryor’s dead on imitation of the mafia guys and were not laughing. Meanwhile, I’m rolling on the floor in hysterics. Being from New York, I can tell you it was a dead on imitation of mafia guys. Pure genius. Rest In Peace, Richard.
