The greatest stand-up comedian of all time, according to Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx is a jack of all trades. The actor, now approaching 60, has starred in high-energy action films like Django Unchained and Miami Vice, comedies like Day Shift and Booty Call and gripping dramas like They Cloned Tyrone.
Having taken some time out of the spotlight in recent years, Foxx’s latest film is a continuation of the action comedy genre he’s become best known for. Back in Action, released by Netflix in January this year, sees Jamie Foxx joined by Cameron Diaz as two CIA operatives who are pulled back into espionage after 15 years living incognito with their two children when their secret identities are exposed.
While on the promotional tour for the film, the pair sat down with Complex for their “GOAT” web series where they named the greatest of all time across different categories. Asked about comedians, Foxx named the American stand-up comedian and actor Richard Pryor, simply calling him “the GOAT standup comedian”.
Born in 1940 in Illinois, Richard Pryor went on to become one of the defining comedians of the 20th century, with his raw, confronting, deeply personal and often controversial stand-up routines known to tackle anything from race relations to prostitution to drug addiction with brutal honesty.
Originally known for his concert performances inspired by the likes of Bill Crosby, Pryor became more controversial the more successful he became, performing stand-up littered with profanity, audacious characters and radical insights on America.
Jamie Foxx isn’t alone in his love for Pryor. The comedian won five Grammy Awards, received the first Kennedy Centre Mark Twain Prize for American Humour, was listed at number one on Comedy Central’s list of all-time greatest stand-up comedians, and was ranked first on Rolling Stone’s 2017 list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time. Comedian Dave Chappelle said of Pryor, “You know those, like, evolution charts of man? He was the dude walking upright.”
Known for films like Stir Crazy (1980) – his breakout role and The Wiz (1978), Pryor also hosted his own show – The Richard Pryor Show on NBC in 1977 alongside regular appearances on Saturday Night Live.
Despite his later success and fame, Richard Pryor wasn’t always so confident. When he first moved to New York City, he began performing in clubs alongside musicians. On one occasion, he opened for Nina Simone at Village Gate, and experienced a bout of performance anxiety.
Recalling the incident, Simone said, “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.
It’s a far cry from the Richard Pryor who had his own show and in 1980 became the first black actor to earn a million dollars for a single film when he was hired to star in Stir Crazy.
Jamie Foxx also dropped in Eddie Murphy, with Diaz agreeing that Murphy took Richard Pryor’s act and perfected what he did on stage, which was personal and was able to parlay it into personal stories on film”. The two appeared in Harlem Nights, a comedy-drama crime film starring three generations of black comedians, along with Redd Foxx.
