Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic Page #8

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The audience didn't think it was.

Let me say this to you, this is

honest, this sh*t didn't work.

For me, I mean...

I know y'all laugh

at something... I feel...

I wanted it to be something else

that it's not, it's just not there.

It's just there right at this

moment in time and space, for me.

And I hope that nobody feels

cheated or nothing, cos at least

you're getting to see

a motherf***er crucify himself.

He was supposed to do 90 minutes,

he did about an hour.

And walked out.

AUDIENCE MURMURS

SCATTERED APPLAUSE

I thought there was going

to be a riot.

AUDIENCE MURMURS

He disappeared.

Of course I was concerned,

but I also know Richard.

And I knew how resilient he was.

And I knew that he'd come back.

The next day, same show, place.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

He was so upset and he

told all the people that,

"I'm going to

do it all over for you again,

"cos I messed the first one up."

He was going back on stage again.

He would be accepted or rejected.

Embraced or pushed aside.

There was something within him

that said, "Go forward."

The show was flawless.

All my friends know this to be true,

cos everybody knows me,

I usually, before I go to bed,

I have milk and cookies.

And one night, I had

some low-fat milk...

and some pasteurised,

and I mixed them together...

and I dipped my cookie,

and the sh*t blew up.

The audience went nuts.

I mean, I think the laughter

was at least 15 minutes.

I'll tell you one thing,

when that fire hits your ass...

that will sober your ass up quick.

I mean, I was standing there

on fire, and someone said,

"Why that's a pretty blue.

"You know what?

"That looks like... FIRE!"

And you know something I found out?

When you're on fire and running

down the street,

people will get out of your way.

Except for one old drunk

who's going,

"Hey, buddy, can I get a light?"

His latest performance,

Live On The Sunset Strip,

made his runaway

with the top box office spot.

Made 8 million in three days.

Would you welcome Richard Pryor?

APPLAUSE:

Pryor's firm, headed by long-time

friend Jim Brown,

entered into a 40 million,

five-year deal

with Columbia Pictures.

Richard wanted very badly to elevate

the status of African-Americans.

Indigo was going to be the first

time that a black person

had a 40 million deal

with a major studio.

And so we were going to do films,

we were going to do this,

do that, we were going

to change the industry.

This was going to be it.

The phone rang, and he said, "It's

Richard. What are you doing?"

I said, "I'm about

to go to the bathroom."

He said, "After you take a sh*t,

come over to Columbia."

Richard Pryor is getting ready

to prepare for his role

in Jo Jo Dancer. It's a movie

written by himself,

based loosely on incidents

from his own life.

He was an actor and

a producer and a director,

so Richard became a role model.

He hired Jim Brown to run

the company for him.

I think he made a decision

to have somebody tough,

but not somebody who really knew

the film business side of it.

I brought him the

Prince movie, Purple Rain.

And he said, "Great." And then Jim

Brown didn't want to do the movie,

because there wasn't

an all-black crew.

They kind of let a lot

of mistakes happen.

Think that was part of the

reason why that company

didn't take off.

It was a huge disappointment

for black filmmakers.

He really wanted to be who he was.

He wanted to be an artist.

And it was too much pressure.

Richard began this tragic role

where whites came in

and just gave him white scripts.

And that's what did him in.

I think he appeared in a movie

where he was this kid's toy.

His career, as far as we were

concerned, went downhill.

I'm doing a film called

Moving for Warner Brothers.

What's it about?

About two hours too long.

Eddie wrote, produced,

was directing Harlem Nights.

But Richard thought he should have

first credit, not Eddie,

and Eddie was a much bigger

star at that time than Richard.

It was finished then.

The whole thing had been untethered

so long and it never got back.

Went to The Comedy Store.

Richard wasn't there.

So I looked at everybody and said,

"Where's Richard?"

I ran upstairs.

And this comedian...

..had Richard against a wall

with the cocaine...

spoon,

holding it to Richard's nose.

I went f***ing berserk.

And I put him up against the wall,

and his feet were off the floor.

And I'm choking him

and yelling at Richard,

"Da f*** is wrong with you?!"

I went to see him,

and he was back on drugs.

And I could see he was high.

And I said, "Richard...

"this doesn't work for me.

"I'm not going to stand by like

everybody did with John Belushi,

"let you do drugs."

So I said, "You and I are done

unless you go into rehab."

And then he sent me a letter firing

me and accusing me of this and this

and saying I hadn't done this

and I hadn't done that,

all which was a bunch of nonsense.

And he was going back...

to a dark place where he couldn't...

I didn't think would come back from.

He kind of tried drying out

for a while and he said,

he said he was too afraid to go

on stage, he was too vulnerable.

He was really raw.

It looked like... unlike the fire,

this time he gave up.

You just watched him begin

to deteriorate in front of you.

I felt really bad...

that, uh...

..that he was going down

to where I basically tried to help

take him out of. I mean...

I wanted him to have a good life.

I felt... I felt bad for him.

Not for me.

I think it was very self-destructive

on Richard's part.

I think that was a real

meaningful relationship.

A relationship of substance,

I should say.

That had real connection

and real affection.

And somebody really was

watching out for him.

There weren't a lot of those people.

And sometimes...

your best isn't good enough.

And you can't...

save them from themselves.

I remember I hadn't seen him

for a while.

And I went to some

premiere of something.

And he walked up on me

and he had lost so much weight

that I really didn't recognise him.

And then it hit me. I said,

"My God, that's Richard."

I lost 20 pounds to do a film

and I kept losing,

I couldn't get it back, you know?

I got real scared, Johnny, you know

cos I was losing weight,

and my pants were falling down,

and I said, "Something's wrong."

I said, "All these diseases

around, Richard,

"finally it's caught up with you.

"And you have one of them.

"And you're going to die."

So I was very calm about it,

you know, but I'm going to die.

A few months ago,

I was on The Tonight Show

and I was talking to Johnny Carson.

And then the next day, this

lady from the newspaper called

one of my ex-wives and said, "What

do you think's wrong with Richard?"

She said, "I think he has AIDS."

Guaranteeing that I would not get

no p*ssy until the year 2025.

One day, he called.

I said, "What's the matter?"

He said, "I got something wrong

with my eyes, I can't see straight."

I said, "OK, come over

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