Brilliant and touching

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

One of Richard Pryor's concert movies features him talking about a trip to Africa, employment in a Mafia club, and even his freebasing incident ("The burn unit eliminates race. The only color in there is burnt-up muthaf***as!").After Pryor died, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock noted that he paved the way for all the African-American comedians who came afterwards. It's hard to deny that. His passing left some big shoes to fill, as did George Carlin's death and Robin Williams's suicide. It must've been quite an experience to get to see Pryor in concert. You're sure to love this performance.Respect indeed!

Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) *** (out of 4)Here's a good stand up performance from Richard Pryor, although this certainly isn't his best work. I believe this was his first tour since catching himself on fire and it's rather obvious that Pryor's a bit nervous on stage and doesn't have that wonderful flow that shines through most of his work. The best moments include the talk about his trip to Africa and the various animals in the jungle. The final twenty minutes have Pryor talking about his accident, which has some laughs but they're rather uncomfortable laughs, although his final "message" comes across very nicely and touching.

Whoa! After seeing Richard Pryor Live some years ago, I was eagerly looking forward to this when it appeared on satellite TV a while back. Boy was I disappointed. As soon as I saw that the whole thing had been filmed in soft-focus, and that it had quite obviously been edited with canned laughter like an episode of Happy Days, my shoulders slumped. I barely managed a smile during the whole sad affair, and thought to myself, 'What happened to the genius that I enjoyed in the other concert?'. I can also honestly say that I cannot remember any of the tedious observations that Mr Pryor offered up. This was probably made during his substance abusing days.Live?...It looked dead to me!

In my opinion, Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip, is the funniest and best example of the genius at work. It is doubly interesting when you consider that it was made not long after Pryor's "Burn Up" accident, to use his way of speaking. Despite this, Pryor hasn't at this point lost any of the inventiveness and imagination wich made him one of the most original, freshest and warm comedians, and perhaps, when in top gear, the best comedian in the world. The audience really responds to him here, hanging on his every word and wanting him to do well. They are with him all the way, as you will be too when you watch it. Pryor opens up the monologues and hysterical stories at machine gun pace, and belly laughs are gauranted. Pryor doesn't dodge anything, retelling side acing tales of his run ins with the mafia, the making of Stir Crazy, his discovery of Masturbation, and most interestingly and humorous his exploding incident : "Of all the brothers who have free based how many do you know who have blew up? Why Me? I started to burn up and i was so high, i didn't even know what was happening. I looked at my hand on fire and thought, hey thats a pretty blue. I was all bandaged up in Hospital and came on the news, Richard Pryor died five minutes ago, i shouted noooooooooooo! wait on a minute jack"It is equally interesting to take note of how many other comedians have "Borrowed" drom Pryor over the years. For instance, Billy Connoly has quite often used the self mocking humour that Pryor uses to full swing here, and Eddie Murphy is on a much stronger level prone to using the black angst in his performance. Richard Pryor does it better than both here, and Live at the Sunset Strip is an absolute Stand Up Cinema Comedy classic.