RICHARD PRYOR: LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP PART 1 OF 4
Most notable for the wild-eyed comedian's account of his near-death experience by freebasing, this live show, recorded at the Hollywood Palladium, is as frank about his prolific drug habit as it is about everything else. At the height of his comic powers, he manages to combine a scorching wit with a formidable physical prowess and the gags just keep coming. Much as with his previous outing - Richard Pryor Live in Concert - he milks his superb gift for mimicry for all it's worth. For a moment there, he's a cheetah, a gazelle ... whatever Pryor chooses to imitate, he is. Pryor's savage, iconoclastic humour spares no one, least of all himself and, 20 years on now, still blasts most stand-ups on the circuit out of the water.
