To me Richard Pryor was, quite simply, the greatest comedian that ever lived. Matter of fact, I’d be willing to double down on this bet and say that there never will be, ever, anyone who could even think of eclipsing him in terms of raw talent, innovation and timelessness. Do you know why this is? They say the hallmark of genius is when everything before you is irrelevant and all that follows bears your imprint. Thats Pryor. Did you notice the synchrospell with the name, in full effect? It appears the universe is not without a sense of irony. Or are they hints that are picked up on only by schizos and mystics when, in the end, the former is simply a malfunctioning version of the latter who drowns where the other swims. But, thats another topic. I want you to listen to this:
He speaks on the ease of buying in to anothers vision of the life you’re supposed to live and how many people, without Knowing, choose this option as its the path of least resistance. How about you, my friend, are you living your life of that of your parents as how many kids yell “When I grow up I’ll never be like them” and yet in a few decades and change they hear the exact same things coming from their lips. Why do so many not comprehend that the same mind virus that infected the last gen has now set up home in their dome as well? Where is their empathy? The sense that wishes to nurture their childs Inner Sense? Nope. Instead they bludgeon an old OS into their heads and then grin when they take steps to become as Adulterated as them. This, in a nutshell, is the mass sickness to which most are well adjusted. Not me though. Whips, chains, pain and shame couldn’t sway me from the narrow way that truth illuminates hence why I push the pen like this because its real easy to give in and become what they wished. On the flip, creating the Path by walking is akin to a living hell and this is why I’ve said only 8% of the realm can handle it.
Sadly, most of them (As Pryor attests) are knee deep in coping mechs as there is no school or institution that teaches you how to keep your inner fires lit when they are all rushing to sell you a light switch, electric bill and bulbs designed with engineered obsolesce. This is why you picked the simple option, my friend. Well, that and a devious intent at the helm that Knows fine well you step into this realm in a state of hypnosis and they exploit this, real well, by using the principles of coherence and desire for acceptance and validation. Some jits are just born difficult. Its like they remembered what they were taught to forget when the mindwipe did its thing and Know their parents, no matter their intent, are entirely ignorant of lifes deeper meaning and what is actually happening. They may start off as difficult and then keep expanding their lack of tolerance ranging from what they will and will not eat up to how they dress and whether or not they pay attention when class is in sesh.
“He has a lot of potential but is very easily distracted and constantly makes a nuisance of himself, much to the classes detriment as they all pay heed to the clown who speaks in jest” said many a report card, back when. Did you know that the Jester was kept around the King in order to do just this and deflate the fake BS by telling it how it is? This is the same role played by the comedian and the fact that Patrice didn’t hit is proof positive that the real is suppressed in times of near universal decep. What if, like Richard, you’d been surrounded by a life so intense from the moment you stepped in that you couldn’t afford fakeness? He was born not by a river, in a little tent, but a brothel instead that was ran by his grandparent. His father was a pimp and mother, a whore. When the child was abandoned he was taken in by Gran who beat the hell out of him and not long after this the sexual abuse kicked in. Horrific, isn’t it? And yet this process that I’ve termed coal to a diamond is quite common. Especially for those who will prevail as Warriors, in the end.
Pryor tried to buy in to anothers vision whilst he dreamt of success as he aimed to emulate the current trends mainstream America expects. One day he had an awakening as he stood on the stage of the Hotel Aladdin and finally got his wish:
“What the F am I doing?” he told a sold out audience as he clicked those six words actually applied to him. The trance of anothers vision was lifted from his lids. Ladies and gentlemen, a legend is born, as from that moment on the gloves were off and blood would be drawn. Comedy would never be the same again as there was the Game before him and what came next:
If you, like me, are an Eighties jit you’ll recollect that comedians pushed product on pressed vinyls, back when. Listening to these in the days of my genesis and then eventually copping the VHS impressed how much more was added in with the visuals, present, as Pryor told his jokes with his whole form. I mean, check this:
The money and awards came in as the audience voted with their attention. Here was something new, fresh and accurate that told the truth with no Fs given in a way that was unique and different. Can you imagine being an artist in the Seventies – a day when music was the best as competition was intense and there were far less distractions – and hearing a comedian went gold, again? As anyone creative can attest, the beast is a wicked thing. And yet, people line up to be chewed up and digested. Even more so since the web and its spells.
Rich pushed the pen and wrote most of Blazing Saddles as well but they say the Brothers, Warner didn’t want to foot the bill and placed someone else in his role instead. Ninety percent business, ten on the show… Once again, a common song as loads in the biz are broken in ways the glitz keeps hidden. One of the most telling things I ever saw in a glimpse behind the curtain was how badly these celebs are treated with the whole:
“I made you, you whore. Without me you’re nothing and if I click my fingers you’ll never work again so give me head when I demand it and I don’t want to hear any questions”. All of this was done with finesse and fronting to show another of their “strength” as well as issuing a tacit threat about what you’re up against. Thats before I get into the extortion, pimping and backdoor shenanigans in which folks with talent are sharked by those with big fins, deep wallets and connections. Thats the biz, my friend. It is what it is. Back to Rich:
The offers came in along with the requests for down toning but Pryor would not relent. Much like Chappelle, in that respect who walked away from millions and preferred to remain coherent. Notice how the press said he smoked crack and had flipped his lid when he went to Africa instead. A telling thing about that trip harks back to something his inspiration said:
There is an aspect of the fractal at play in all of this as that is exactly what we’re within. This is why Eddie donned the red suit as well along with his mannerisms but anyone can trace a sketch. It takes a genius to spill ink on a page that is blank to create the blueprint. This is what Pryor did. He himself would attest that the Foxx that was Redd, Godfrey Cambridge and Dick of house Greg first blew breath into him but thats the same as MJ saying without JB there would be no him, no moonwalking and no HEE HEEs as well. Everything is part of a continuum with each step building on the next and that is because the void that they sell is actually filled with Ether instead as that is what links the fractal. He who hath coherence can stand on the shoulders of giants but its the fact that a man sees further through a tear than telescopic lens which is most dramatic as its amazing that those who make us grin are often crying within:
This is such a common thread in the land of comics that its very rarely questioned and mostly accepted. If anything it hints at the duality of the web that life spins and places us in. I want you to picture it like this:
As much as they make you laugh is the exact ratio of hurt they feel within and this, suddenly, makes Rich’s life make more sense, yes? Can you see why I said there will not be another like him as one must be willing to walk those steps to see those sights. Who wants that life? Who has that strength? Plus he ain’t even started yet… From the eye of the storm he issued his reports. Burned to the quick with a crack addiction to pumping hot lead into his whip. Best believe if there were socials, then, they’d still be ringing about his antics as the lines between art and life were getting blurred, with wit. The thing is there was one thing that remained constant throughout all of this and its what drew others into his glow of illumination:
He never sugar coated, varnished or gave PR safe answers in that respect. Instead he shot from the hip and always gave those who could something about which to think after he’d slinked off the stage and was now engaged in a binge. Its like he was drowning and would surface, now and then, to share what was in the depths of being human with the rest and then sink back to the abyss. Rick James knew this place well, as Eddies brother, Charlie, doth attest.
Barbara Walters asked him “Who believed in you? Who did the caring?” and he said:
“Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor, the Third. And magic dust“. He meant it. This is something which I know, real well, because if the only place to find a helping hand is the end of your own sleeve then life very quickly reveals what it did deal and thus one must play to win which is why I wanted to take a moment to appreciate him as my intent has always been to study the greats and become greater or, as my father said shortly before he was murdered:
“Look at those like us. How they lived and died as well and the bits in the mid. There are but so many traps they can set so learn from their examples and choose better options as man is predictable but you, my son, are a genius and I expect greater things”.
As such I report from my own personal abyss with its own direct vision and sketch of not only this but higher realms because I’m certain if you asked Rich if we may be dead in a living hell he’d nod his head as he knew, fine well, the Devil that dwells within as well as the differentiation between the Prime and numinous that gave rise to his magnificence. The trick, my friend, is learning to discern hence doing the Knowledge and this is the difference between a Slave and Warrior, in the end as the former accepts the script whereas the latter rejects it and seeks to pen his inspiration which, more often than not, meet invisible resistance and, eventual, mass coherence as well because there is something about a car wreck that people makes people start craning to look in as they pass by, safe, in the distance.
From the eye of the storm Richard Pryor told it as it is and to me, coming up, his presence was a gift because, just for a moment, I could forget the tears I’d shed and laugh real hard instead. Imagine my surprise as I progressed and found the rest of what kicked and how coals that become diamonds face pressure that won’t relent and using his missteps as an example I tap danced around the mechs themselves and the cope they beget…
Here we have a man with no Pryors and none subsequent as well and thus a living legend.
Till we meet again
