# Richard Pryor: Live in Concert
**Richard Pryor: Live in Concert** is a 1979 American concert film recording comedian [Richard Pryor](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-pryor)'s stand-up performance at the Terrace Theater in [Long Beach, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-beach-california), on 29 December 1978, directed by Jeff Margolis and released on 2 February 1979. Running 78 minutes, it is considered the first full-length film release that contains only stand-up comedy, and many critics regard it as Pryor's best work.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) • [2](https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?app=Library&id=TC-OGU-9248&is_thesis=1&oclc_number=1032958513&op=pdf) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-11-me-pryor11-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 2 February 1979, Los Angeles; New York opening the week of 16 February 1979[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) |
| Recording | 29 December 1978, Terrace Theater, Long Beach, California[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) |
| Runtime | 78 minutes, in color, United States[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) |
| Key credits | Director Jeff Margolis; producers Del Jack and J. Mark Travis; writer Richard Pryor; distributed by Special Event Entertainment[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) |
| Box office | Over $5 million after four weeks; over $30 million in total[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) |
| Second version | *Richard Pryor is Back Live In Concert*, released 24 September 1979, from the 28 December 1978 performance[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) |
| Registry | Inducted into the National Film Registry in December 2021[4](https://www.richardpryor.com/live-in-concert-national-film-registry/) |
## Spoilers
### Content
Following a performance by singer [Patti LaBelle](https://www.edgepedia.org/patti-labelle), Pryor walks on stage and opens the show by comparing the public behavior of white people and African-Americans, imagining a white man in the audience behaving politely when he finds an African-American has stolen his seat. He also remarks on his recent trouble with law enforcement, which involved shooting at a car while intoxicated.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) The AFI catalog's subject headings list race relations, drug addiction, police, heart disease, [Muhammad Ali](https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ali), and fathers and sons among the film's topics.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT)
The Guardian's 2012 review describes Pryor impersonating attack dogs, beaten children, and even the voice of his own first heart attack, and notes that his central obsession was race, with himself usually lampooning the "timid and neurotic" white audience that made up most of the room.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/apr/04/richard-pryor-live-concert-dvd) The Library of Congress essay on the 1978 album *Wanted: Live in Concert* records the same period of Pryor's material, including the police-encounter routine built on "All I did was kill a car," the heart-attack bit in which his heart chides him for "eating all that pork," and his use of movement and voice impressions to personify animals, women, and children.[8](https://lcweb2.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/WantedLiveInConcert.pdf)
Because the film contained only his own stage performance, any censorship in it was self-imposed; Pryor worked without external censors or legal review, engaging with taboo subject matter and obscene language in a way that live television of the era did not permit.[2](https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?app=Library&id=TC-OGU-9248&is_thesis=1&oclc_number=1032958513&op=pdf)
## Production and recording
The film was a See Theatre Network production in association with Compact Video Systems, Inc., presented by Bill Sargent as a Hillard Elkins–Steve Blauner production, with Tom Schamp as director of photography and [Steve Livingston](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-livingston) as film editor.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) Pryor performed at the Terrace Theater during his 1978 tour, delivering what the Film Society of Lincoln Center describes as a biting tour-de-force of stream-of-consciousness observations on racial behavior and Black life, marked by timing, rhythm, mimicry and outrage.[5](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/richard-pryor-live-in-concert/1000/)
The film opens with the onscreen statement, "This concert was recorded live at the Terrace Theatre [sic] in Long Beach, California." During the opening credits, a card reads: "Patti LaBelle was an important part of the following program. Time does not permit us to include her in this recording but we gratefully acknowledge her performance."[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) Rotten Tomatoes' synopsis nonetheless notes that the documentary includes music by Patti LaBelle.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/richard_pryor_live_in_concert)
## The two 1979 versions
Two versions of the film were released in 1979, both containing almost identical material of Pryor at the Terrace Theater. The original February release came from the 29 December 1978 concert, while the later 24 September 1979 release, titled *Richard Pryor is Back Live In Concert*, was filmed the previous night, on 28 December 1978. Distributor Bill Sargent, owner of Special Event Entertainment, placed a notice on the second release's posters reading, "Most of the material in this film was in the first concert. This concert was filmed on a different date."[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT) Pryor's attorney at the time, David Franklin, put the difference between the two concerts at "a ten to fifteen percent difference" and said the 29 December show was chosen for initial release because Pryor preferred it. Sargent noted that additional cameras operated during the 28 December show, and the second version ran five to six minutes longer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT)
The filmmakers originally planned to combine the best material from both concerts, but Pryor varied the sequence and rhythm of his stories each night, making that an editing challenge, so the shows were presented uncut. A production spokesman told *The New York Times* in August 1979 that the two performances could be distinguished because Pryor wears a wristwatch in the later release.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT)
## Reception and legacy
According to a 21 March 1979 *[Variety](https://www.edgepedia.org/variety-magazine)* article, the original release earned over $5 million after four weeks in theaters; a 1998 *Los Angeles Daily News* item reported that the film had become "one of the highest-grossing concert films in history," taking in over $30 million.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT)
Film critic [Pauline Kael](https://www.edgepedia.org/pauline-kael) praised it as "probably the greatest of all recorded-performance films," and she described Pryor as "a master of lyrical obscenity... who brought the language and grievances of the black underclass onto the stage."[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-richard-pryor-comic-genius-legacy-20130612-story.html) • [5](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/richard-pryor-live-in-concert/1000/) The *Los Angeles Times* obituary of Pryor noted that many critics considered his concert films, particularly *Live in Concert*, his best work.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-11-me-pryor11-story.html) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds 92% on the Tomatometer from 13 reviews and 93% on the audience Popcornmeter from more than 5,000 ratings.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/richard_pryor_live_in_concert)
Its standing among comedians has lasted. A 2013 Los Angeles Review of Books essay states that [Eddie Murphy](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddie-murphy), Chris Rock, and almost every other noted stand-up of its author's generation were inconceivable without Pryor, with *Live in Concert* as the point of recognition.[10](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/richard-pryors-comedy-fear) In December 2021 the Library of Congress selected the film for the [National Film Registry](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-film-registry) for its cultural, historic, or aesthetic importance, announcing that Pryor's "riotous 1979 performance... was shocking, thought-provoking and proudly un-PC" and that it "cemented his status as one of the most vital voices in the history of American humor."[4](https://www.richardpryor.com/live-in-concert-national-film-registry/)
## References
1. [Richard Pryor Live in Concert (1979), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56975-RICHARD-PRYORLIVEINCONCERT)
2. [The Evolution of Mediatized Stand-Up Comedy, Library and Archives Canada thesis](https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?app=Library&id=TC-OGU-9248&is_thesis=1&oclc_number=1032958513&op=pdf)
3. [Richard Pryor: a Groundbreaking, Anguished Comedian, Los Angeles Times (2005)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-dec-11-me-pryor11-story.html)
4. ["Richard Pryor: Live in Concert" Has Been Added to the National Film Registry, Official Estate of Richard Pryor (2021)](https://www.richardpryor.com/live-in-concert-national-film-registry/)
5. [Richard Pryor: Live in Concert, Film Society of Lincoln Center](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/richard-pryor-live-in-concert/1000/)
6. [Richard Pryor: Live in Concert, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/richard_pryor_live_in_concert)
7. [Comedy gold: Richard Pryor Live in Concert, The Guardian (2012)](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/apr/04/richard-pryor-live-concert-dvd)
8. ["Wanted: Live in Concert" – Richard Pryor (1978), Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board](https://lcweb2.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/WantedLiveInConcert.pdf)
9. [Cinematheque's Aero celebrates the comedy genius of Richard Pryor, Los Angeles Times (2013)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-richard-pryor-comic-genius-legacy-20130612-story.html)
10. [Richard Pryor's Comedy of Fear, Los Angeles Review of Books](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/richard-pryors-comedy-fear)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Musical and music films (individual works) › Musical films of the 1970s and 1980s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license