Vice’s ‘Black Comedy in America’ Looks at Richard Pryor — Including the Time He Set Himself on Fire
The Nov. 19, 2024, episode of Vice’s Black Comedy in America — a 10-part docuseries that examines the history of Black comedians in film, TV and stand-up — will examine the complex highs and lows of comedy legend Richard Pryor‘s career and life, including the horrifying 1980 incident when Pryor set himself on fire.
Marlon Wayans, George Lopez and others, including c0host Tiffany Haddish, tell the story of Pryor’s life — from his profoundly traumatic childhood, early years on the Vegas comedy circuit and infamous incident walking offstage in 1967, to his creative rebirth in countercultural Berkeley during the ’70s and mainstream success in the ’80s with hit films like The Wiz and Brewster’s Millions. Pryor died in 2005 from a heart attack, after a prolonged battle with multiple sclerosis.
Pryor’s frank, personal comedy was profane and vulnerable at the same time, and encouraged an entire generation of rising comics — especially Black comics — to speak their minds and incorporate their own complex lives into their material.
Columbia Pictures / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Despite his many massive professional breakthroughs, Pryor also suffered through many personal struggles — starting with an unstable childhood growing up in a brothel operated by his grandmother. Later in life, Pryor developed a crippling drug problem that culminated in 1980 with his setting himself on fire while freebasing cocaine and running down the street while still aflame. He ended up with burns covering over half of his body. Though the odds of his surviving were pegged at around 50%, Pryor not only survived, he also ended up incorporating the story into his act, and achieved some of his greatest successes afterward.
In this exclusive clip, George Lopez — who considered Pryor an idol and a mentor — recalls driving the route that Pryor ran down while on fire, and discovering, to his horror, that Pryor ran for 1.7 miles during the incident before he allowed paramedics to put the fire out.
This episode of Black Comedy in America will air on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 10pm ET/PT on Vice TV.
1974 (50 Years Ago)
January 2024
In this time capsule issue of ReMIND Magazine we look back 50 years ago to 1974!
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