Richard Pryor, 65, one of the most brilliant comedians ever, died on Saturday after long battle with multiple schlerosis. Pryor wrote comedy so cutting edge it was incendiary. With albums like "That Nigger's Crazy" and "Bicentennial Nigger," he helped force society deal some racist issues in a way that only a master jester could.

He has a career of making hilarious movies but one that may or may no be mentioned is "Blazing Saddles." I know I know, he wasn't in the movie, but look at the credits. He, along with the brilliant Mel Brooks managed to put together a cutting edge movie on racism that still makes me laugh out loud.

The movie is funny and Pryor was brilliant in that he could make people laugh at issues that, in many ways, weren't funny. He helped breakdown barriers and got people to have a good time together.

Some will downplay the brilliance of his comedy as foul-mouthed, etc and it was. There's no question part Pryor's irreverence came from his choice to use profanity on a wide scale. It caused controversy and attracted attention. But it brought people to the table and forced them to deal with him. Digby over at Hullabaloo had a great write up on him.

posted by Stithmeister @ 9:59 AM
 
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