Richard Pryor: Live in Concert

The film is a record of a performance. Richard Pryor is alone on stage; no set, no guests, and no break through the show. The subjects come in turn: his childhood, his father, the people in his neighbourhood, encounters with the police, his marriage, his heart attack and animals. Most of it is about himself, and the hardest parts are where he describes himself. Jeff Margolis directs. The recording dates from 1979 and was made at a theatre in California. The method is plain: a few cameras, fixed shots and unbroken recording. The editing barely intervenes. Pryor's technique is impersonation and the body; he voices characters and acts them out on stage, so the show is as physical as it is verbal. The recording is considered a turning point in the history of stand up and most of the comedians who followed cite it. Its most cited section is where he acts out the heart attack; the comedian stages the moment he came close to his own death. What he says about race is direct and uncomfortable for the America of the time; the narrative protects no side. Its limit is form; the film is a concert and no context is given. Who it is for: anyone curious about the history of stand up and about Pryor. Who it is not for: the language is heavy throughout, some sections carry the shapes of their time, and the recording is technically old.