"The Truth is Gonna Be Funny, But it's Gonna Scare Folks"
Richard Pryor, One of America's Greatest Truth Tellers, Has Passed Away
Story by Troy Curtis

I was sitting at Roosters' comedy club in Sunnyvale when I heard that Richard Pryor had died. At first I thought it was just a bad joke. Some jerk comedian up onstage with no respect for a comedy legend. But it wasn't a joke, there was no punch line. Richard Pryor died of a heart attach at 65. One of America's greatest truth tellers has passed away.

I remember watching Richard Pryor movies when I was a kid, back before political correctness was the truth. And sometimes the truth hurt, like an ass woop'n from yo'mama. But after the hurt, would come a new understanding. That is one of the most important things I learn from watching Richard Pryor.   He could make you laugh and think. He could talk about pain and use that memory to bring about new ideas.  

Richard Pryor introduced the word “nigger” to a whole new generation of white people. The word nigger stopped being a word that black folks used in private and white folks used under their breath. Because Richard Pryor brought it into public conversation a whole new generation of young white folks consider themselves niggers today.

Sometimes a mirror is hard to face, but Pryor held up a social reflection in his stand-up and his movies. One of my favorite Richard Prior movies is “The Toy.” Richard prior plays an out of work journalist who ends up getting paid to be a toy for a rich white kid. When I was younger, I loved Richard Pryor's physical comedy and his take no shit attitude. I recently watched “The Toy” again and saw how it goes beyond just being funny. The movie connects early American slavery to modern day American slavery. So much of what Mr. Pryor talked about is still so true today. Now that he's passed away it seems like all the press are praising him as the most influential “African-American” comedian in history.

But Pryor is still very present. Other comedians have taken Richard Pryor's raw delivery and made it there own (Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Dave Chapelle for example) but is there anybody out there today that is telling the funny, scary, truth?

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