The Last Black Unicorn

(Ann) #1
Richard:    “No,    you’re  not.”

Tiffany:    “YES,   I   AM!”

Richard:    “NO,    YOU ARE NOT!”

Me and Richard Pryor. Squabbling back and forth right
onstage.


Tiffany:    “Well,  what’chu    you think   I’m doing   up  here?”

Richard:     “You’re     getting     on  my  goddam  nerves,     that’s
what’chu doing! Look, people don’t come to comedy
shows because they want to hear about your
problems, or about politics, or what’s going on in the
world, or celebrities. ͳey don’t care. ͳey come to
comedy shows to have fun. So when you’re onstage,
you need to be having fun. If you’re having fun, they’re
having fun. If you not having fun, they looking at you
like ‘what the hell did I spend my money on?’ So you
need to have fun.”

Richard Pryor gave me that advice, at the Laugh Factory
Comedy Camp, when I was fifteen.
I’d had a pretty rough life to that point, and I’d had some
bad shit come my way, but I was pretty lucky for that
experience. I try to take that philosophy and apply it to
everything I do in life. ͳat’s why I think my life turned out
as good as it has. Because all the time, I’m just trying to

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