If I Stop, I'll Die: The Comedy and Tragedy of Richard Pryor

This is a good look at Pryor's work and effect on culture that goes beyond the normal biography. A few areas where the book fails, beyond some typos, are in places where it misinterprets the comedy. For example, calling Cleavon Little's character in "Blazing Saddles" "merely a sidekick and buffoon" is the authors' take on it, which is way off the mark. Bart is extremely cool (and complemented by Wilder's character, not overshadowed by it), and the times he looks foolish is in outlandish situations, as when he takes himself hostage. Also, some lines from a Mudbone routine (not Mudbones, as he is constantly called in the book) are totally misheard. On page 103 of the 2006 paperback edition, the joke is that Mudbone is from Tupelo [where Elvis Presley was born] and, asked where that is, Mudbone replies "by One-pelo." Get it? Two, One? The authors have it as "Tougaloo" and "Woomaloo" which degrades the comedy into no joke at all, much less "There is no 'Woomaloo' but Pryor met the challenge, and the [audience's] roar is praise for his quick thinking." Also, little things like saying that the 1975 Laff "Down and Dirty" LP was "artistically disappointing" is misleading for anyone not knowing the story behind Pryor's Laff recordings. He put out "Craps (After Hours)" with Laff, and then wanted to jump ship to Partee/Stax, a bigger label (which first issued "That Nigger's Crazy", which was then reissued by Warner Bros. when Stax was going under). To get out of the Laff contract, Pryor agreed to let them issue (and reissue, as in the case of the Redd Foxx/Pryor "Down and Dirty" which had only selected "Craps" material on it) work that they had recorded or had in their possession. Pryor later got the rights back to the Laff material, some of which he put out on "Evolution/Revolution", and included "Craps" in its entirety. Basically, the authors mention the reissuing of the Laff recordings, and Pryor's attitude about it, but then make a critical comment about an LP without remembering the context. Putting "Down and Dirty" and "Was It Something I Said?" next to each other as contemporary Pryor "products" is apples and oranges. Two more big missed jokes: On the Richard Pryor TV show, the Star Wars Bar sketch includes an alien with very large nostrils. Pryor says "You look like a nigger from Detroit" -- very edgy for 70s TV -- but is relayed in the book as "neighbor from Detroit." With Pryor as President in a press conference, he is asked how long he will continue to date white woman. The book says the punch line is "As long as I can." The actual line is "As long as I can keep it up." See? These are the jokes, folks.

This is the first book I've read on Richard Pryor. I think it is a good book. It is very difficult to convey Richard Pryor's impact on the black community in the 70's and 80's. It is comparable to the impacts Muhammad Ali and James Brown had in the 60's and 70's. This book captures some if not most of the reasons for Pryor's great popularity.