The jokes are great but what really matters for a comedian is his performance, his whole attitude, and the laughs that he gets between the jokes rather than on top of the jokes.
So I got home, and the phone was ringing. I picked it up, and said 'Who's speaking please?' And a voice said 'You are.'
There's an unseen force which lets birds know when you've just washed your car.
I make napkins talk in restaurants, socks talk on car journeys. There is an awful lot of puppetry going on in the house.
As Richard Pryor was to Eddie Murphy, that's what Kurt Vonnegut was to me.
I like Louis C.K., Chris Rock. Old schools like Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy.
I wish I was this dark genius artist - like Richard Pryor or something.
Everyone carries around his own monsters.---Richard Pryor
There can be a science to joke writing, there are certainly rules and patterns that can be followed, but I think most of the best comedy goes beyond the rules.
I've no idea what they make of me. People usually don't recognise themselves in an impression.
There's a charm, there's a rhythm, there's a soul to Jewish humor. When I first saw Richard Pryor perform, I told him, 'You're doing a Jewish act.'
I think if there is a God, it's very important that he has a sense of humour - otherwise, you are in for a very miserable afterlife.
I'm just part of a tradition of people who aren't pleased. I would never think anyone else who has the same attitude was getting it from me. I'd just think they're... sensible.
My father was funnier than me. My father was Richard Pryor-funny. I'm just a better businessman.
The thing that interests me most about family history is the gap between the things we think we know about our families and the realities.
On the comedy side of what I love as a filmmaker are Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, and Eddie Murphy; those are my favorites.
George Carlin was great right up to the end of his life. But Richard Pryor was probably the best, most gifted stand-up comedian who will ever live.
I had seen movies before that that had made me laugh, but I had never seen anything even remotely close to as funny as Richard Pryor was, just standing there talking.
'The Simpsons' is like Charlie Parker or Marlon Brando or Richard Pryor: Comedy couldn't go back to the way it was after 'The Simpsons' came out.
There were a few teachers who just did not like me because of my face. Once, I was told to stand in the corner until I cheered up. The attitude was, 'Oh, for God's sake, what's the matter with him?' But it's just a natural expression.
I am more relaxed at home in Scotland, and my children are of an age where I want us, as a family, to spend more time up here.
