Good Morning POU! This week, get your laugh on. We’re taking a look at some legendary stand up routine movies from some of the funniest individuals ever. To secure a deal for an actual full feature film of a stand up routine is phenomenal, studios aren’t terribly willing to do such volatile films, but these proven artists were worth the risk. Of course, that risk bought in happy returns for the studios. Enjoy these iconic films!
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip is a 1982 American stand-up comedy film directed by Joe Layton and written by and starring Richard Pryor. The film is based on Pryor’s album of the same name. Released in 1982, the film was the most financially lucrative of the comedian’s concert films. The material includes Pryor’s frank discussion of his drug addiction and of the night that he caught on fire while freebasing cocaine in 1980. Paul Mooney is also a co-writer and the movie earned more than $36 million during it’s original run.
Shot live at the Hollywood Palladium, the film captures all the excitement, lunacy and electric force of a Pryor performance. And though he’s the only star of this hilarious show, he’s never alone on stage. With him is his amazing array of characterizations as he talks about his trip to Africa in search of his roots, his early days playing one-night gigs in Mafia-owned clubs and strip joints, and numerous other outrageous topics. Finally, he talks about Pryor on Fire – a recounting of the accident which nearly took his life -an episode he relates with wit and a touch of poignancy.