I’d never seen Richard Pryor before, so considering his status as a comic legend, I thought I’d give him a try. Space Bunny and I sat there through the first 15 minutes of his show in New Orleans and barely cracked a smile once before turning it off. The uproarious reaction of the crowd to every mumbled “mufugha” and clipped “shit” reminded me of elementary school children hearing their first fart jokes.
I realize that post-Pryor comedians such as Murphy, Rock and Williams consider him to be a major influence on them, but as a comparison of George MacDonald with CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein easily demonstrates, being the first is not the same as being the best.