My Tribute To Richard...

I was very saddened to hear of Richard Pryor's death over the weekend. People like him, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, and Bill Cosby are why I value humor so much today.

Richard Pryor was like all of us. He made many mistakes in his life. He eventually hit bottom when he basically set himself on fire, and then managed to turn his life around from there. I'll miss him terribly as I'm sure many others will. There will never be another like him.

What I remember most about Richard was his no holds barred, in your face approach to his comedy. He was always funny and pretty much always in a very straight-forward manner. I probably started watching him at too young an age, because he taught me words I didn't know existed! Richard Pryor Live On The Sunset Strip is, to this day, one of my favorite comedy routines of all time. Another thing that stands out for me is how influencial he was with other comedians. Eddie Murphy doing an imitation of Richard Pryor giving him advice on how to handle Bill Cosby (who was upset about Eddie's language) was so spot on that you never had a doubt the conversation took place! If you've ever seen a movie Richard and Eddie Murphy, Gene Wilder, or Jackie Gleason did together, you have missed out. Sure, they weren't great movies...Roger Ebert wouldn't dare give them the "thumbs up", but I would still laugh just as hard to go home and watch them today as the first time I saw them. The Toy is one of my all-time favorites.

In the new age of political correctness and everyone generally trying their best to not piss anyone off, thinking of Richard Pryor takes me back to a time when you could say what you mean and mean what you say...and if you were being funny about it, there wasn't a second thought about it. I dare say you won't see comedy like that again anytime soon, if ever. So if you've never had the chance to check out any of his work and you need a laugh someday, do yourself a favor and go rent some of it, grab yourself a drink and bag of popcorn, sit back, and laugh your butt off!