Wanted: Another Genius Comic

There was never a mean streak in Richard Pryor's comedy. There could've been. His tough upbringing should've made him angry at everyone. But Pryor managed to stick with what he did best, command the stage where he put on his best acting performances, even though you knew that there was more to him than sex jokes. The road to being the greatest Stand Up Comedian started early. Look at him on those 1960's TV shows and you can see him wanting to shed the do-gooder shoes he had on. He would never come across as Bill Cosby. But his "Mudbone" is a better look at Old Black Men than anything the Cos came up with. He was too street, too edgy for that. His skit on his trip to Africa in the late 70's should be required hearing for today's Black youth. And his routine's about White people were the blueprint for everything that Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock later came up with.