U.K. Comic Hosts Documentary About Richard Pryor
UK comedy site Chortle announced this past weekend that comedian Romesh Ranganathan has created a documentary about one of his biggest influences, and one of comedy’s all-time greats, Richard Pryor. The film, which will air on the UK’s Sky Arts channel later this year, follows Ranganathan as he travels to Los Angeles to speak with people who knew Pryor, either through the world of comedy or on a more personal level. The aim of the movie, called Passions: Richard Pryor, is to learn more about the man who Ranganathan calls the greatest stand-up to ever take the stage.
The title Passions is appropriate here, because Ranganathan is more then passionate about Pryor. A stand-up himself, Ranganathan counts Pryor as one of his greatest influences, even memorializing the legendary comic with a portrait tattoo on his right forearm (which he calls “the source of so much piss-taking”). Like many others, Ranganathan loves Pryor for his honesty, and his ability to take morbid life events and turn them into something light-hearted. “I like the fact that he could talk about horrible stuff and it be funny. Real stuff, vulnerable,” Ranganathan told Chortle. “He made a funny routine about setting himself on fire. You watch this guy talking about the really horrible moments in his life and he does it in such a funny way.”
Passions: Richard Pryor is just one entry in a series of films in which artists explore their creative inspirations. Previous entries have included in-depth looks at the lives and careers of figures like Noel Coward and Damien Hirst.
Keep an eye out for Passions: Richard Pryor when it hits Sky Arts later this year.
[H/T] Chortle
Bill Tressler
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