If you want to get a head start on your holiday shopping for the Richard Pryor fans on your gift list, this 13-disc DVD collection should certainly bring plenty of pleasure.
Yes, most of the material has been available before, including all four of Pryor’s concert films plus his forays into television and his feature “Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling.”
However, there is some interesting new material, most notably an interview with Penelope Spheeris on the making of the now-lost 1968 “Uncle Tom’s Fairy Tales” plus never-before-seen outtakes and alternate takes from that bizarre production. The comic’s widow Jennifer Lee Pryor also gives an original interview on her tumultuous relationship with the iconic performer and shares rare footage of his final comedy performance while he was battling a valiant fight against multiple sclerosis. There are are also two different documentaries on Pryor’s groundbreaking career.
“I believe the ability to think is blessed,” Pryor once observed. “If you can think about a situation, you can deal with it. The big struggle is to keep your head clear enough to think.”