Stand-up legend Richard Pryor will always be considered a 1-of-1 talent in the world of comedy. As brilliant as he was blunt, his immortal jokes live on in an archive of comedy albums throughout his career.
On Thursday, a handful of classics from the height of his fame are being repackaged by Rhino Records into a massive box set befitting one of the most influential comics to ever hold a microphone.
“I Hope I’m Funny: The Warner Albums (1974-1983),” showcases Pryor’s unparalleled genius on his classic records, including “That N—s Crazy,” “…Is It Something I Said?,” “Bicentennial N—,” “Wanted/Richard Pryor Live in Concert” (a double LP), “Live on the Sunset Strip,” and “Here and Now.”
Scott Saul, who authored the 2014 book “Becoming Richard Pryor,” wrote the liner notes of the box set.
Winning five Grammys and an Emmy during his lifetime as a comedian and actor, Pryor’s body of work was a master class of stand-up and acting that pushed the boundaries of discussion on race, class, drug addiction and sociopolitical commentary.
“What he was able to do with his body, with his mentality, was incredible,” the late comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory told The Times. He recalled getting to know Pryor in the late 1960s in New York. “He could just walk across that stage while he was getting ready to transition — the movements of his body, people would just laugh.”
Despite his stratospheric success, there was also much tragedy in Pryor’s history, including self-inflicted burns while freebasing cocaine (1980), a heart attack at age 36 and hard drug and alcohol abuse until getting sober in the ‘90s. Miraculously, he continued on with comedy even after being diagnosed in 1986 with multiple sclerosis, which resulted in a loss of his trademark physical presence on stage. In 2005, Pryor died of a heart attack at age 65.
Through this classic set of albums, the spark and soul of Pryor’s comedy continues to reign supreme.
“The Age of Pryor has never ended,” Saul writes in the liner notes of the box set. “Across the six albums collected here, Pryor blew open what a comedian could do onstage, and it’s the rare comedian who is not somehow in his debt.”