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A King of Time and Motion: Richard Pryor and the Evolution of Modern Stand-Up Comedy

Healy, Cori
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1550661597534988

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, American Culture Studies.
Richard Pryor (1940 – 2005) is widely regarded as one of the greatest stand-up comedians of the 20th century. He was the first recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He won Grammy awards, an Emmy, and starred in some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. He had a long standing on-screen partnership with Gene Wilder, with whom he made several financially successful films. Furthermore, an entire generation of stand-up comedians, both black and white, male and female, cite Pryor as a primary inspiration. For these reasons, Pryor is the subject of many books and academic articles. These works cover Pryor’s life story and his unique ability to use comedy as a way to convey the African American experience to mainstream audiences. However, since his life story and cultural contributions are so compelling, Pryor’s aesthetic contributions are sometimes overlooked and thus need further investigation. Specifically, Pryor’s comedic timing was impeccable. In stand-up comedy, the difference between a successful joke and an unsuccessful joke can be a fraction of a second and Pryor negotiated time with ease and intense strategy. Likewise, Pryor used his voice masterfully to portray various characters of different genders and ethnicities. Similarly, his unique stage movements allowed him to perform routines with multiple characters, each with their own personality and physical attributes. Using illustrations from three of Pryor’s stand-up comedy films, this dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of Pryor’s use of timing, voice, and motion. The study shows that Pryor used these performance elements to invent a distinct aesthetic matrix that has since become the standard in modern stand-up comedy performance.
Cynthia Baron, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Karen Guzzo, Ph.D. (Other)
Jonathan Chambers , Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Jolie Sheffer, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
211 p.
American Studies; Performing Arts
Richard Pryor; Comedy Studies; Performance Analysis; Funny; Funny Dissertations

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Healy, C. (2019). A King of Time and Motion: Richard Pryor and the Evolution of Modern Stand-Up Comedy [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1550661597534988

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Healy, Cori. A King of Time and Motion: Richard Pryor and the Evolution of Modern Stand-Up Comedy. 2019. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1550661597534988.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Healy, Cori. "A King of Time and Motion: Richard Pryor and the Evolution of Modern Stand-Up Comedy." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1550661597534988

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.