He was one of the first comedians to openly lampoon whites in a mixed setting, now common in black comedy. Most importantly, Pryor exorcised his demons on stage. He turned his personal screw-ups abusing drugs, setting himself on fire, suffering a heart attack and shooting his car into memorable routines. Joking about his misfortunes showed blacks that it was OK to laugh at ourselves. Today, many rising comedians force audiences to laugh at each other instead of together.
Male comics dog the sisters, and women dog the brothers.
Young talents emulate Pryor's profanity, misogyny and belligerence, but lack his wit, storytelling and commentary. They rely on toilet humor, sex and fan humiliation. Chris Rock, D.L. Hughley, Bernie Mac and Cedric the Entertainer are bright spots. We need more. As a comic, Pryor had flaws.