Things Unique to Peoria: Richard Pryor

I wasn't sure if I was going to do another one of these posts but this one just popped into my head this morning and I feel like a dumbass for not having thought of it before. Richard Pryor is without a doubt the most famous person to come from Peoria. The City of Peoria renamed a section of Sheridan Rd. near the River West Townhouses after him.

No, its Richard Motherfuckin Lennox Pryor III. Get your shit together Peoria!

If it were up to me, Main St. would be known as Richard Franklin Lennox Motherfuckin Pryor III Avenue. Pryor is considered by many to be the most influential comic of the 20th century. Jerry Seinfeld has called him "The Picasso of our profession." He is listed as number one on Comedy Central's list of all-time greatest stand up comedians.

Richard grew up on the South Side of Peoria in his grandmother's brothel (somewhere on Washington St.)where his mother was a prostitute before she abandoned him. I would love to know what building this brothel was located in but chances are it no longer exists. He was pretty much raised by his grandmother. Pryor to moving to NYC (yah I misspelled that, get used to it, it will now be a permanent fixture here at the PBR) Richard had a short stint in the army and worked in a mafia owned night club. According to him, he was the MC and once tried to stick up the owners because they refused to pay a stripper the money they owed her. There was just one flaw in his plan, he used a cap pistol for his robbery. The owners thought it was a joke and Richard turned it into one of the greatest bits ever in his stand-up special "Live At the Sunset Strip." Seriously, click this link and go watch the clip. If you've never seen Pryor before or you've seen him a million times this bit never gets old. Rich didn't just have great jokes, he was a master story teller, impressionist, and social commentator. This bit shows off all these skills in one 8 minute segment. Pure brilliance. Ok, I've just gotten distracted watching this clip, I forgot how many great lines are in it, just give me a sec.

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Ok, I'm back. Before his mainstream success, Rich made a name for himself doing material that was nowhere near as controversial as the stuff he would eventually become famous for. It was necesary though, as it helped him overcome his extreme stage fright. Consider this quote from Nina Simone on Richard's first few perfomances
                   "He shook like he had malaria, he was so nervous. I couldn't bear to watch him shiver, so I put my arms around him there in the dark and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down. The next night was the same, and the next, and I rocked him each time."

Pretty intense stuff for a guy that ten years later would have such an incredible stage presence he invoked standing ovations at his concerts. Towards the end of the sixties Pryor had what he later called an "epiphany". He was working a show in Las Vegas and when he walked out on stage simply said "What the fuck am I doing here?" then walked off stage. This was the beginning of Rich's evolution into the brand of stand up comedy that would make him famous and inspire a generation of comics. During the seventies Rich wrote for several tv shows, released a shitload of albums and began starring in movies, many with Gene Wilder. Go to Rich's Wikipedia page and brush up, on your Pryor knowledge, I guarantee there will be things you have forgotten about.

I would be remiss if I didn't include the Freebasing Incident. Rich had such a good sense of humor about something that most people would never want to talk about. One of my favorite lines from "Live At the Sunset Strip" is when he is explaining the incident and he says; "...one thing I find out is that when you are running down the street on fire, people will get out of your way". First, you have to go here and watch this clip from the special. Secondly, since I'm lazy, I'm going to copy and paste Wikipedia's description of the event.

On June 9, 1980, during the making of the film Bustin' Loose, Pryor set himself on fire after freebasing cocaine while drinking 151-proof rum. He ran down Parthenia St. from his Northridge, California, home until subdued by police. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for burns covering more than half of his body. Pryor spent six weeks in recovery at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital. His daughter, Rain Pryor, stated that Pryor poured high-proof rum over his body and set himself on fire in a bout of drug-induced psychosis.[27]


Pryor incorporated a description of the incident into his "final" comedy show Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip in 1982. He joked that the event was caused by dunking a cookie into a glass of low-fat and pasteurized milk, causing an explosion. At the end of the bit, he poked fun at people who told jokes about it by waving a lit match and saying, "What's this? It's Richard Pryor running down the street."

I fucking love that joke. Eventually, Rich would go on to sign a contract for 40 million bucks with Columbia Pictures, and starred in Superman III. The only movie from this period that was not related to his contract with Columbia was the semi-autobiographical "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling", parts of which were filmed right here in Peoria. Rich even co-wrote "Blazing Saddles" with Mel Brooks. After suffering a heart attack in 1977, Rich was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.


In his lifetime Richard Pryor went from being a poor, abused kid from Peoria to one of the biggest movie stars of the 80's and arguably (not sure who you would pick other than Rich but you always have to say arguably) the greatest stand up comedian of all time. To me, Rich will always hold this distinction. Oh, and he starred in over 50 films, had 6 children, was married 7 times to 5 different women, made a shitload of money, donated a shitload of money to charity, influenced a generation of comics, and changed the way we deal with issues of race and social class. Not bad for a skinny, foul-mouthed, drug-addled kid from Peoria.


Richard Pryor died on December 10, 2005. In the last years of his life, Rich was humbled by the disease that had plagued him all his life, MS. I guarantee you though, that while he may have looked physically weak, his mind was as strong as ever. Unfortunately, Rich didn't get his wish when it came to the manner of his death;
"I'd like to die like my father died... My father died fucking. My father was 57 when he died. The woman was 18. My father came and went at the same time."

R.I.P. Rich

T.U.T.P Scale
Thingness - 0/10
Uniqueness - 10/10
Peorianess  - 10/10