All language subtitles for TheComedyStoreS01E02.en

reflective music

[Paul] I've always
liked large women.

That's my problem.
I don't like skinny women.

I got a saying,
if you're not 280,

you're not my lady, you know,
'cause I--

[laughter]

I don't like skinny women.

They're always in bad moods

'cause they can't cook
or they're hungry.

Fuck knows what's going on.

I like large women, you know?

I live in the dangerous part
of town.

I want somebody who can give me
some backup

in a barfight, you know?

[Mike]
In the late '70s and '80s,

I was blessed to be here

during The Comedy Store's
first golden age.

We shot a Comedy Store
anniversary show

directed by Marty Callner

that Richard Pryor
and Robin Williams headlined

from this very room.

Jim Carrey and I did sets
for that special

out at the Westwood
Comedy Store,

representing the new class
on the way up.

And I'd like to start off
this evening with a piece

from the new punk ballet,

Wounded Swan Lake.

[laughter]

I used to smoke marijuana
quite a bit in high school,

but I stopped
because I was afraid

I might kill
some brain cells permanently.

You ever think about that?

Seriously.

Later in life, you go to learn
about some new molecule,

and a little guy comes
running out

in the back of your brain.

"No, no, this whole wing
is closed down.

[laughter]

"Nah, you burnt through here
at a Pink Floyd concert.

Hey, you're lucky to be doing
basic math, all right?"

Being back here today,

seeing so many great comedians
and the Store going so strong,

thinking back on all
the people that were here

when I was starting out,

knowing all the ups and downs
we all went through,

it's surreal to be able
to just stand back

and enjoy it all.

In Texas, grown men wear
cowboy uniforms.

[laughter]

You hear what I just said?

Grown adult men wear
cowboy uniforms

and they're not
fucking cowboys.

They're just normal dudes
playing dress-up all day long.

These are grown men in drag

wearing another man's
work clothes.

It's me leaving my house
in a fireman's uniform like,

"I'm headed
to the comedy club."

[laughter]

[Iliza] I was standing around
my bachelorette party,

we did end up going to a bar,
and I was sitting there,

I'm 35,
and I was looking around

with all the women
I'd been drinking with

for the last decade or so,

and it was weird to me,
the idea that you have

your bachelorette party
at a bar,

'cause you are, in effect,
picking up

the ashen, lifeless body
of your singledom

and bringing it to rest
where it was born.

[laughter]

In a bar.

[Mike] The first time
I came back to the Store

after an almost 20-year break
was to see Bill Burr.

He played Kevin Costner's
law partner

in my film Black or White.

I then directed
his stand-up special

at Royal Albert Hall
in London,

Paper Tiger.

At least part of his success
is due

to his
Monday Morning Podcast.

It's insanely popular.
The fans are devout.

After knowing him for years,

I finally badgered
the poor guy

to have me on as a guest.

[Bill]
Hey, what's going on?

It's Bill Burr and it's time
for another edition

of the Monday Morning Podcast.

As you know, most times,
I do not have guests.

It's usually me just rambling,

old man
with his crazy thoughts,

but every once in a while,
somebody so special comes along

that I gotta bring 'em on.

Welcome one of the legends
of The Comedy Store,

Mike Binder, everybody.

- How you doing, Bill?
- I'm doing good.

Actually, the first time I came
to The Comedy Store

after, like, 20 years
was to see you.

You and I came--
we were doing press

for Black or White
on Sunset Boulevard at the DGA

and we came down

and you did a set
in the main room,

and we went
into The Comedy Store

and it was packed

and I couldn't believe it.

The place was on fire.

And I go,
"What's going on here tonight?"

And you went, "Nothing."

- [laughs]
- "It's like this every night."

Yeah, I kinda got used to it.

Somewhere around,
like, 2010, 2011,

it just became--
like, it's, like, a scene.

One of the things, being back
at The Comedy Store

all these years later,

it's so amazing to me

to see how much it takes
to run the place.

As a kid, I never thought
about that.

Mitzi made it seem so easy.

When I was there,
when I was, like, 19,

there was this crisis

that almost shut
the whole place down

that Mitzi had to deal with.

- The strike?
- Yeah.

When the strike came up,

for a lot of us, it was like,

well, we had no experience

and she gave us club time
when she was just starting out.

I just remember hearing
that it was really...

it was ugly.

And I gotta tell you,
when I first started

going to that club
in the late '90s,

I felt like a lot of that was
still hanging over the club.

dramatic music

[Johnny]
Young comedians out here

who work at a place
called The Comedy Store

are on strike.

- Right.
- They're striking

because they think
they should get paid.

How do you feel about that now?

Well, I think they're bananas.

- I think they're all bananas.
- Really? Why?

The way it looks to me is,

if you've got a place

where you can get up
and do your stuff,

where you can learn your craft,
especially with an audience,

'cause when you do it
in front of a mirror,

you don't get much reaction.

But if the mirror does react,

you better go
in a different business, like--

[laughter]

But I do wanna add
one other thing.

- Yeah.
- [imitates monkey]

Now, you guys learn to do that
and you can come here.

We'll be right back.

[Byron] The Comedy Store,
up until this point,

it was a family,

and then all of a sudden,
our family was shattered.

Comics saw that...

I think she was making
100,000 a week.

And then you got comics
who are not getting paid.

Now, these guys realize
they ain't getting paid,

then they come up
with the theory that...

the waitress come here,
she getting paid.

Why can't you share half
of the ticket sales with us

and you take the bar?

You make your money off
the liquor in this business.

It didn't make sense to me,

but then again,
I'm from the Soviet Union.

They weren't
paying anybody anyway,

so to me, it wasn't a big deal.

Soviet Union knows...

[laughs]

There would be--firing squad
would be right next to them.

There were people
who were just mad

because she wasn't giving them
time slots

and they wanted
to bring her down.

She told the guy
who ran Monday nights

that she was gonna put me on
in a regular spot,

so it was, like, my first spot.

The issue is,
there's X amount of time slots.

That's it.

To know you got one,

and oh, boy, you felt great.

You told your friends,
"I got a spot tomorrow!"

One time, we estimated
there were 300

young, you know,
"stand-up comics,"

people who saw themselves

and identified themselves
as stand-up comics.

There was no way
to accommodate that

on one stage.

She couldn't do it
if she wanted to.

Six o'clock in the morning,
the phone rings

and it's my older brother
in New York

telling me that my father died.

And I'm thinking, "Oh, man,
I gotta get a plane ticket

and I gotta go home,"
and then I think, "No.

I got a time spot
at The Comedy Store."

Finally, I came
to The Comedy Store

and went up to Mitzi's office
and I said,

"I just found out
that my father died

"and I think I should go home
for the funeral,

but when I get back,
will you give me a spot?"

And she was looking at me
like I was crazy.

And she said,
"Yeah, you go home,

"you go to the funeral,
you come back,

I'll give you a spot."

But it just shows

how crazy this stuff
can make you.

Especially young guys
far from home.

Here was a mom figure,
you know?

Wasn't a tough,
cigar-smoking club owner.

She was a nice lady.

[as Mitzi]
"Are you okay? Can I get you--

you want a drink?
You wanna sit down?"

You know, whatever it might be,
even a place to stay,

but for some reason,
she was just adamant

about not paying anybody.

Everybody always has
a nasty thing to say about her,

but if it was a man,
they'd be like,

"Oh, he's a great businessman,
that's why."

And Mitzi had been so good
to me.

- Mm-hmm.
- She'd been so good to me.

Me as well.

She cosigned a car for me.

She writes me checks
whenever I need money

and I'm broke.

If she believed in your ass,

you were gonna make it, boy.

She gon' push you

until you just stop yourself.

The comics that were coming
out of here

were getting
multi-million dollar deals.

The amount of exposure
that the comedians got here

was worth so much more, okay?

I mean, the strike seemed to be
for the people

who were never gonna
make it big.

This is not
what these guys are doing.

These guys are doing this
to get another gig.

They were fighting
over, you know, gas money.

25 bucks.

But essential to life.

Like, there was a moment
in my life

where that was all I had:

five nights a week,
three clubs a night,

and it's what Melissa and I
and my daughter survived on.

I don't think she did it
'cause she was greedy.

She just saw this as a college

or a place where comedians
should work out.

She felt this was a showcase

and gave people
a jump-off point

to be on whatever TV shows
they were on

or whatever movies they got.

[Mitzi]
Cannot have a union tell me

how to run The Comedy Store.

I cannot develop
young comedy talent

with a union over my head.

This is not a night club.
This is a workshop.

Yeah, that's a nice way
of getting free labor.

No, I'm not with it.

This is a bar, okay,

that has entertainment,
all right?

That's where you make
your money.

You can pay the comics.

Were they gonna chip in

and pay
for this woman's investment

if she went broke?

- No.
- We would have these meetings.

Yeah.

The objective of which was,
I'm not certain,

but Jay would be
so disruptive.

[William]
If there was a microphone

and there were people
in a room,

Jay would get up and perform,
and he couldn't stop,

so Tom was trying
to be serious.

They voted that I would be
the spokesman.

I regret that to this day.

It was just like, "Oh, please,

"can somebody call
Jay's parents

and have them come
pick him up because--"

- Totally.
- He's disrupting the meetings.

Do you remember that he went,
"I say we elect a king"?

[laughs]

"Order! Order!"

And you'd go,
"Fries and a cheeseburger."

No, I remember--I think it was,

"I think we got our own law
in this town.

Let's string 'em up right now!
Yeah, come on!"

You know, like one of those
bad western movies.

And then the first night,
you show up in a tank.

- We had a tank, yeah.
- Yeah.

[Gary] Here's Jay Leno
in a camo outfit

talking to Connie Chung.

He was the center
of the whole thing.

I mean, I remember walking
the picket line

with Dave Letterman.

Nightclub owners say, "Hey,
I'll give you the audience,

"I'll give you the atmosphere,

and you don't have to come
if you don't want to."

If you have the place
and there's no cover charge,

we'll work all the time,

but when we go onstage
and you charge $5 at the door,

then I think
that the comedians are

entitled to something.

I took Mitzi's side.

I owed Mitzi.

I think it was a mistake

to cross the picket line
of my friends.

I regret it.

I remember Garry Shandling
crossed the picket line

and he was persona non grata
for a lot of people.

I remember Mitzi drove in
in the Jag

and took a look,
and when she saw Letterman

and, subsequently, me,

it broke her heart.

She went downstairs and sat
next to Al and Steven

at the window, looking out
onto Sunset Boulevard.

Everyone was waiting to see
what Letterman was gonna do,

and when he joined
the picket line,

it just destroyed her.

Whenever Mitzi would talk
about the strike,

she would mostly express
about how hurt she was.

She called me and said,

[as Mitzi]
"David,

I heard you're going
on strike."

"Yes, Mitzi, I am."

"Why would you do this to me?"

And I said, "Mitzi, I have to.
These are my friends."

They could be a doorman
or a telephone man

and then they learn their craft
'cause they're here every night

and they work up.

They break in new lines

and go on TV
and they're proven already.

I mean, that's what this is
all about.

Most of those places
are furnished,

most of the young comedians
who come here.

- [Buddy] That's right.
- You know, who start here.

We get them from The Improv,

we get them
from The Comedy Store,

we get them from these places.

I thought it was about money.

But it's not really about
the dough, is it?

I don't care what--I don't care
if it's 2019.

[Mike] It was never about
the dough.

It was more about the control.
This was her club.

And I knew now
we had to dig in.

Do you know
how the strike ended?

I'm not sure.

We had this big meeting
down here on Sunset Boulevard

at some union hall.

So Mitzi sent over Biff Manard
to speak for The Comedy Store.

And then you say good bye

I'm paraphrasing,
but he basically said,

"Comics don't need to be paid
because they're artists

and artists don't need
to be paid."

Well, in the room are
all artists.

All screen actors,
Guild actors, you know?

At the end of that,
they voted there

that they were gonna
support us.

You think you know me well

But you don't know me

[wild laughter]

[cheers and applause]

Now, Biff leaves there
very angry,

and I come back here

and we're out in front
of The Comedy Store,

we're picketing.

Across the street,
facing this way,

facing east,

is Biff Manard in his car
racing his engine.

- [imitates engine revving]
- [tires squeal]

And I hear, boom!
And scream and boom.

I look around.

And you go down to the ground.

- [boom]
- Yeah, that's right.

And you go down
to the ground hard.

And the car goes
all the way back here

and Jay Leno's laying
on the ground

and his eyes are in the back
of his head like this

and I went, "Oh, my God,"

and the women start screaming,
Dottie Archibald screaming,

"He hit Jay! He hit Jay!
Oh, my God.

- Somebody call an ambulance."
- [siren wails]

Somebody came outside and said,

"Mitzi wants to talk
to you inside."

I went inside, she said,
"Tommy, let's settle this thing

"once and for all.

I've had it."
And I said, "So have I."

And we sat up till four o'clock
that morning.

We had a lawyer, Ken Browning,
come down

and we wrote out the contract
and agreed to it.

Dreesey comes over and says,
"Should we call an ambulance?"

And you go, "No, no,

put me in a car
and take me to the hospital."

I kneel down and I said,
"Jay, Jay,"

and he opens one eye
and he goes like this.

And they drive away and you go,

"Looked real, didn't it?"

- [both laugh]
- Yeah, that's right.

You slammed the side
of his car.

Yeah, I went like this,
like "Ah!"

[groans]

We had to have that negotiation

and we achieved what we needed
to achieve.

It was an idea
whose time had come.

If you look around
the United States now,

there's not a club
where comics are working free.

But also needed to get over it.

All of it was
just so unnecessary

and I just never came back.

At the end of the strike,
one of Mitzi's favorites,

an up-and-comer
named Steve Lubetkin...

Steve Lubetkin came to me
and said to me, "Tom,

"I've called in
three weeks in a row

and I'm not getting any times."

People got spots, people didn't
get spots, you know?

But he had--he was
a mental illness problem.

"She'll retaliate."

I said, "No, no,
it's in the contract

"that there's no retaliation
for walking the picket line,

so it's gonna be fine."

[Lue] He ends up checking in
to the hotel next door

and jumping
from the 12th floor.

I was the last guy
to see him alive.

I was at the--
I was at the train having--

you know, that boxcar
that sells hot dogs

down the road on Sunset?

I was sitting there
and he walked by

and I said, "Steve, what's up?"

And he goes, "Nothing, man.
Nothing."

And he just walked right by me.

And then 40 minutes later,

I hear police cars
and ambulances

going towards the Hyatt House.

[Harris] And then
we're starting the show

and a cop comes to the door

and shows me
his driver's license

and says, "Do you know him?"

And I go, "Yeah,
he's a comedian here.

Is there any trouble?"

And the cop just pointed
at the ramp.

I knew him, little--

you never know he gonna jump
off a damn roof

because, you know,
Mitzi told him--

he said Mitzi told him

that you're never gonna work
here again.

You're never gonna work
here again.

He thought that was the end
of his life.

He was suicidal.
They can all talk that crap.

Mitzi ain't had nothing to do
with that.

Richard Lewis was sitting
at the bar

and he almost fell over,

'cause Steve Lubetkin was
his best friend.

He had some of the worst runs
of bad luck.

He got "The Tonight Show"
and then one night,

it was, like, 1:30
in the morning

and he was just
fucking around onstage

emceeing,
"Hey, where you from?",

you know, what people do,

and a talent coordinator
saw him

and immediately canceled
his "Tonight Show" show.

I know a lot of people
that have killed themselves

and you always say,
"What could I have done?"

You know, the person
who ultimately takes their life

is responsible.

[emcee] Gentleman coming
to the stage right now

is making his first appearance
back at The Comedy Store

in 40 years.

Tom Dreesen,
ladies and gentlemen.

Bring him out.

[cheers and applause]

[Dreesen] Thank you.

I don't think
I'll ever get married again.

I think about it sometimes.
I think I'll just get a dog.

Yeah, 'cause the dog is
man's best friend.

My buddy said, "No,
my wife is my best friend."

I said, "A dog is
man's best friend."

Put your wife and your dog
in the trunk of your car,

leave them there for an hour,
open the trunk,

see which one is happy
to see you.

[laughter]

I will say this: my wife did
try to save the marriage.

I came home one day,
she was stark naked.

She said, "Tie me up

and you can do
anything you want."

So I tied her up
and I went to play golf.

[laughter]

I'm gonna be honest with you,
couple times,

I had a little trouble
concentrating

'cause I was thinking,
"Look where I'm at.

I'm back here
at The Comedy Store."

It was so much fun.

- Did you ever come back after?
- No.

I came back here
in the mid, late '80s

and was frightened

because it was Sam Kinison days

and I felt
that they might hurt me.

[both laugh]

What's it like
when you drive by the Store?

I think of all those days

that I used to stand
out in line

hoping to get on
on open mic night.

[Bill] And I can't believe
I've know you all these years

and I've never asked you,

what was your first audition
like for Mitzi Shore?

It was at
the Westwood Comedy Store

and I was late.

You were late
for your audition?

I was late, but I parked
in the alley

and I jumped over the wall.

And I was wearing a suit.

I don't even know
why I was wearing a suit.

Because I just saw guys on TV,
they wore suits.

I figured for my audition,
jacket and a tie,

and I ripped my pants
from the knee all the way down.

Course you did.
Course you did.

And I just said,
"I'm going on anyway."

And I just got very lucky,
'cause the crowd liked me

and it was the right time spot
and I killed.

While you were killing onstage,
were you thinking,

like, "I'm getting passed"
or "Don't fuck this up"?

I just couldn't believe
I was killing.

I was finally out there.

I'd come all the way
from Detroit,

drove out there,
I was 18 years old,

and Mitzi calls me over.

She goes,
"You were really funny.

"You can come back,
you can be a regular,

"but I don't like
the 'ripped hole

in the suit' thing."

- [laughs]
- "I don't like that.

Lose that."

She thought that was a bit.

Yeah, she thought it was,
like, my hook.

The kid with the ripped suit
with the suit--

Do you realize
how lucky you are

that she didn't like it?

'Cause she would be,
"Every night you go onstage,

you wear that."

Oh, I might have been stuck
with that.

"Call you Mikey Ripped Pants."

Yeah.

- [laughs]
- That's what she would've.

I auditioned for Mitzi
on a Monday night.

[Paul] And she'd sit
right there

and she was judge and jury

and she didn't give a fuck

if you were the funniest guy
in Houston.

That didn't matter to her.

She didn't read your résumé.

Anybody from Bill Burr
to Richard Pryor

to you and to me
and to Jim Carrey

had one path
into entertaining,

one woman, Mitzi Shore,
to make those decisions.

I don't give advice, Arsenio.

- Oh, don't tell me that.
- I really don't. No, I don't.

I saw you tell a girl
to put on a green wig

and she'd be funnier.

Oh, that was different.

[laughter]

The wonderful advice
of Mitzi Shore.

Mitzi told me I was too pretty
to be funny

and there was
no way in hell that...

I could be a stand-up comedian.

My grandma taught me
a lot though.

She taught me how to value
myself as a woman.

I'll never forget.
It was my 18th birthday.

She should've told me this
on my 16th birthday though,

'cause at that point,
I had started renting out

the property already.

She had her little weird ways,

like putting me with Joey Camen

in a group, Salt and Pepper.

[as Mitzi]
"You're gonna be Salt

"and he's gonna be Pepper.

It's gonna be so funny."

I'm tired of being white.

I wanna get down.
I wanna have some fun.

I wanna be Black.

And it's like, he was getting
all the laughs,

and she would be in the back
of the room laughing

and giving us spots.

We'd get three spots a night.

And then I told her, I said--

that's the first time I got
thrown out of The Comedy Store.

"I'm not gonna do this no more.
I didn't come out here to be...

"Pepper.

I'm not gonna do it.
I can't do it."

I remember Jack Graiman.

Mm-hmm?

She told him, "You need to wear
an all-yellow suit

"and you need
to dye your hair yellow

and change your name
to Jackie Banana.

[laughs]

- Did he do it?
- Yeah.

[both laugh]

[as Mitzi]
"Jackie Banana."

I'm gonna enter.

Oh, hi.

You guys shooting something?

- [Mike] No.
- Oh.

I got a girlfriend.

She's awesome, but we have
a real basic problem,

which is, I don't talk enough

and she talks--ladies?

[women] Too much.

That's correct.
That is correct.

Yet she needs to--she literally
tells me everything.

She tells me, like,
"Here's everything

"that happened to me today

"and here's every thought I had

"and let me tell you
about my feelings

"and let me tell you
about my plans

and let me tell you
about my family,"

and then finally,
she just tires herself out

and goes to sleep, right?

And then she wakes up
eight hours later

and she's like, "Let me
tell you about my dreams."

I'm like, "Fuck."

I auditioned for Mitzi
in, probably, 2009.

Didn't get passed.

I got in at other clubs.

I mean, I had to emcee
and stuff,

but I got in at Laugh Factory,
I got in The Improv,

and then here,
it was like, "Sorry.

Sorry, kid.
Get in line."

Told me I was screaming
for no reason.

She told you
you were screaming?

Yeah, she's like,
"Why's your voice get so high?"

I would do
this, like, hyper thing.

I'd be like--
[indistinct shouting]

I didn't know how to get
an audience's attention.

So I got this job here,

that was the number--
first showcase,

and then to get passed,
it was 37 more showcases.

You'd come offstage

and you'd just see your name
just scratched.

She would just, like, black out
your name

so she couldn't even remember--

you know,
wouldn't even remember you.

I auditioned for Mitzi
a few times

and she didn't even see me.

Comics would just stand
in that doorway

and talk to her

the entire time
people were showcasing.

It was the most
passive-aggressive shit ever.

The night I was there,
Eddie Griffin sat next to her

and made sure
nobody talked to her.

Whenever that shit used
to happen to me,

I'd always just think,
you know, fuck it.

Whatever.

You know, I'm gonna get
in here, eventually.

Having said that, though,
it did hurt a lot

because that was,
I felt, Pryor's club

and I felt like--
and she knew him.

She was like,
"You're not ready."

And I was like--in my head,
I'm like, "I'm so ready.

I'm auditioning
for Last Comic Standing."

Like, it's amazing
how your brain...

tells you
you're ready for things

when you're
genuinely not ready.

Had she passed me at that time,
I would be a flop.

The very first time I performed
an open mic,

I did it at The Comedy Store

probably 1984.

I, of course, was horrible

and probably didn't do stand-up
for years after that.

She just never passed me.

And she said, "Go work
other clubs," she said,

which, at the time,
I was really hurt

and disappointed,

but in hindsight,
it was the best thing

that could've happened to me.

I bet I would be
a really good dad...

if I was home more with my kid.

[laughter]
You know what I mean?

But I think you're my priority.

I worked other clubs,
I quit my bartending job,

I started working on the road,
open for people,

then I became a headliner.

The time that I showcased
for Mitzi

when I was 21,

I ate the biggest turd onstage.

I mean, death.

And only one person
was laughing,

and that was Mitzi Shore.

[laughs]
And I got made a regular.

I was beat up by the town bully
name Debbie Gorego.

She used to beat the shit
out of me

and as she'd beat me up,
she'd say things like,

"You and your mom are nothing
but lazy trash.

"You're probably gonna be
a stripper

by the time you graduate
high school."

And I thought a lot
about what she said to me

on the night that I did become
a stripper.

[Sam] Mitzi wants to start
an all-Middle Eastern show,

and, course, you gotta kiss
the ring, right?

She goes, "Are you Syrian?"

And hand to God,

I had no clue what a Syrian was
at that moment.

I was public educated,
upstate New York.

I had no clue what Syrian was,

where Syria was,

what a Syrian wa--
I had no clue.

But I was like,
"Yeah, I'm Syrian.

"I love being Syrian.
I love my Syrians.

We're just Syrians, right?"

She's like, "Great."

[laughter]

You gotta do
this act of worship,

and she would sit
in the back of the room

in a monkey fur coat

and just, like, watch you,
and you--

and then she would--you'd he--
she had the most wicked laugh,

and if you made her laugh,
you knew you were in.

And when she said,
"Start calling in,"

it's just like--
I felt like I floated home.

You know,
there's certain things

that happen to you
in show business

that you go, "I'm on my way."

That was one of 'em.
"I'm on my way.

"This crazy bitch
think I'm funny.

[laughs]
I'm on my way."

And you would get up there
and I would sit and watch him

and just, like--
he would go to territory

that you just don't go.

It was fun.

The fuckin'--the thing
about your sister

getting beat up.

- Oh, yeah.
- Jesus Christ.

- The dentist always say...
- Oh, my God.

How the dude knocked
her teeth out

and she's talk about,
"I did that by myself."

No, "It's just something
about him."

Why are you with this guy?
Keeps beating your ass.

"It's just something
about him."

This was my introduction
to The Store.

Sandy Shore, at the time,
had a thing

called Sandy Shore's Sandbox.

It was a class.

So I saw this class in,
like, LA Weekly or whatever

and my thing was,
"Oh, I get in to the class,

"Sandy likes me,
she'll just tell her mother,

'Got a kid in the class
who's really good.'"

So that was my thinking
behind the class.

So the first day of class,
Sandy mentioned,

"I don't get along with my mom.

So I just wanna let
you guys know that"--

so already, I'm like,
"That's $600 gone."

LA Catholic church is like
nothing I've ever seen before.

I go to confession today,

I find out
you gotta submit a headshot...

[laughter]

...with your sins on the back
of the headshot.

[laughter and applause]

So I got a callback
next Sunday.

[laughter]

They're giving me two minutes.

When I started doing
stand-up comedy,

I went to a place
called The Comedy Store.

Yeah, you have to pass
audition there.

And I had
already done specials,

I was already...

but I didn't mind this,

because the comedy club owner
is an important part

of stand-up to me

and it was to be respected,
you know?

So I wanted her to pass me.

I didn't wanna
just get onstage there.

And so Mitzi Shore sa--
I came in to audition

and she's sitting in this table
directly across from me

and I go on and there's
a light here that indicates...

They used to have a light
that would go on

at the end of five minutes.

That's right.

And I remember one night,
a guy went up

and a minute into his act,
he was auditioning for her,

she goes, "Light him.

He doesn't have it."

I said hello
and I started a joke

and the light went on,
immediately.

And I turned to her and I go,
"That's Louis C.K."

"I don't care."

And I thought, "Well,
that can't really be it."

So I keep going and I see Mitzi
and she's going like this.

Literally, she's going...

[laughter]

Like, pointing
and then doing this.

- "Get off."
- Oh, my goodness.

And I think,
"Okay, I'm not passing,

but I'm not getting off
after one fucking minute."

I already been doing this
for, like, 20 years.

I'm not doing
one minute anywhere.

So I just kept going,

and then she took the candle
off her table

and she started
waving it around.

[laughs]

- And going like this.
- That's crazy.

So I did, like, five minutes.
The audience liked me.

And then I left
and my manager called

and she said, "I hated him.
It was terrible."

So I just--I wasn't allowed
to work there.

upbeat music

[Segura] Adam Eget is
now the booker here,

and he basically is the person

that is in charge
of passing people,

basically giving them
the green light to come here

and organizing the schedule,
the spots.

It's like--it's a job
I would not want.

"Why does this person
get passed"

and "How come I didn't get
more spots?"

I mean, he has to deal
with that every fucking day.

Comics' egos, I mean...

I can't believe
he hasn't, you know, jumped.

And I enjoy the way
he manages comics, you know?

If I complain to him
about something,

he's like, "Oh, really?"

and just, like,
really pays attention

and will go, you know, look
at what I'm talking about,

and then walk away
and I'm like,

"He just defused me without
actually doing anything."

And that's the best way
to manage comics.

[Leslie] He really will go
to bat for the comics.

Even, like, if I'm arguing
with him about the lineup,

like, "Why the fuck
did you put him there?",

and he'd be like,
"Les, come on.

You gotta get my"--
you know what I'm saying?

He's very fair
across the board.

He's disciplined.

He doesn't let people
manipulate him.

You wanna be a dream maker,

but the nature of that job
is to be

a 99.9% dream crusher.

Brought in a lot of...

very established comics

who had a big draw.

Some of the things
that Adam did was, like,

getting contact with people
that didn't wanna come here

and get them back here,
and that drew more people here.

[Adam] I hear
all these great stories

of Mitzi telling people
to give someone the light

ten seconds into their set

and I never understood quite,
like, how you could determine

if someone had potential
or had it or whatever it is

in such a short amount of time
until I started watching

all these comics go up
over and over and over again

and now, I'm really starting
to understand what she meant.

[Luke]
This is Potluck.

Every Monday
since the late 1870s,

people have been signing up
for the open mic.

16 names get randomly chosen.

Last week, we had 175 people.

The first time I went onstage
at The Comedy Store, I cried.

I mean, I think it was months

that I signed up
for the open mic.

Because, you know, 50, 100
people would wait out there.

You'd come at five o'clock,
you'd sign up,

you'd find out
at seven o'clock

if you got picked
from the potluck,

and then if you did get picked,
you'd just sit there

and wait for three hours

to then go on
for three minutes.

It's funny,
when people ever say, like,

"Whitney Cummings,
where'd she come from?

That was an overnight success."

I'm like, I sat on the curb
of Sunset Boulevard

for two years trying to get
three minutes of time.

I'm sick of dating guys

who are commitment-phobic,
you know?

So I decided, from now on,
I'm only dating married guys.

That's it.

Okay.
Here we go.

Time to feed the fish.

upbeat music

Here it is.

[laughter]

[Whitney] It was so surreal
and I was so starstruck

just by the neon words

and was overcome with the sense

of, like, "You don't deserve
to be here.

Like, how dare you."

[Joey] And I still remember
walking in here

and thinking
that I did not belong here.

She was gonna tell me
to go home

and that was it.

I was gonna move back
to Boulder or New York

and just commit to criminal.

I mean, David Letterman went up
for the first time

at some point.

I showed up on a Monday night

and put my name on the list,

and I went up there
and I hadn't--

no, I was not prepared for--
the light is right on you

and I found that alarming.

There was a small bit
of trauma.

You get offstage and you don't
really know what that was.

I had never done anything
like that before in my life.

You've ne--didn't do
any stand-up

before you came out here?

No.
I mean, I had done--

- A lot of TV.
- Yeah.

Sometimes you would have
to go out

for a sponsor,
and they were having a--

come down and guess
the weight of a melon

and we give you a car,

but never when the spotlight
was just right there.

Isn't it weird
that there's always,

like, a super masculine guy

that's so grossed out
by periods?

You're like, all day,
all you've talked about

was how you wanted to murder
that pussy.

Now you're presented
with a crime scene

and you want
nothing to do with it?

- Like--
- [laughter]

I remember I came in to park
and everything

and the parking attendant
was like,

"You can't park back here.
This is for paid regulars."

I'm like, "I think I am one,"

and he's like, "Yeah, right,"
or whatever.

I was like, "I don't know."

And then I went in
and talked to Tommy

and then I came back out

and he was like,
"I'm so sorry."

He's like,
"Why didn't you tell me?"

And I was like, "Well,
I kinda wanted this moment

where you apologize to me."

[Tony] The stories I would hear
about Richard Pryor was,

he would come
in The Comedy Store

and go on and comics would
just stop what they were doing

to stand in the back
of the room

to watch Richard Pryor.

And then I heard
the same stories about Eddie.

That Eddie would come in

and he would come in
with Robert Townsend

and Arsenio
and Keenen Ivory Wayans

and these were all guys
I looked up to in the business

and he would shut down
The Comedy Store

and comics would stop
what they were doing

to watch Eddie.

And that was my goal,
to be a guy

that walks in The Store

and everybody says,
"Holy shit, Tony Rock's here."

My whole goal was,
at that time,

it was 1 through 20,

and if you picked, like, 15,
you went 15th,

so I was like, God, I hope
I get later on in the lineup,

so if I got 15, I figured,

that's where the paid regulars
started to come in.

Hopefully, maybe those--

one of those guys would see me
and recommend me.

That's how you got into
The Comedy Store back then.

You had to have a guy
vouch for you

to showcase in front of Mitzi.

[man] Hey, guys, listen up.

We're opening the doors
for the potluck.

If you are a comic,
sit in the back.

If you are checking in,
go to the right.

Comic?

- Comic?
- Comic?

I'm gonna say
some of the rules here.

You get three minutes.

When you're at two minutes,
that light turns on

right over there.

After your minute is up,

uh, you get off the stage
or you'll die someday.

80% of the open mic
is fucking horseshit,

but they're new, so you gotta
cut 'em some slack.

I feel pretty intimidated,
I gotta tell you.

It's a lot of pressure
to be here.

That's why I don't date
fat guys anymore.

I don't do well under pressure.

[scattered laughs]

I'm in
a long-distance relationship,

which is hard.

Every time we fight,
we're stuck having makeup text.

[scattered laughs]

Any time I hear something new
and fresh or exciting,

I'll stop what I'm doing,
I'll focus...

[applause]

[emcee] Welcome to
a sold-out Potluck night.

First comic coming
to the stage, guys.

Ehsan Ahmad, everyone.

I saw this earlier today.

Did you guys know

that in some parts
of the world,

Uber has a helicopter service?

That means there are people
out there

that own a helicopter,

but still need a little
extra money on the side.

[laughter]

I moved here from the Midwest,

so now, every guy I see is
the hottest guy I ever saw.

[laughter]

I was driving down Sunset

and a guy popped out
of a dumpster

and he was hot.

Were people just like,
"What is this, another hot guy?

"We already have
infinity of these.

Put him in the trash."

[laughter]

You know, I got married
about, like, six months ago,

married to a white girl,
which is great,

thank you very much.

It's a big deal
to my Mexican family.

Having a white girl
in your Mexican family

is like having a brand-new car.

First time my cousins met her,
they were like, "Holy shit!

Yo, is that yours?"

I'm like, "Yeah, man."

They're like, "What kinda
white girl is that?"

I'm like,
"Oh, that's a Suburban."

[laughter]

Like, "Holy shit!

Yo, I hear those are
so expensive to maintain."

[laughter]

Thank you guys so much.
My name's Frank Castillo.

Have a great night.

Give it up for Frank,
everybody.

Come on.

[Mike] Listen, man, I thought
you had a great set.

Thank you very much.

But I can't read
the guy's mind.

You know, but that was
a tough crowd.

Yeah, and I really wanna
get passed, man.

It's, like, everything to me
right now.

I know you do.

I feel like he's got
so many comedians right now,

and when I first came back here
to start doing this thing

and I heard people had to wait

as long as they do
to become regulars,

I was like, "What?"

Yeah, I was fine
with waiting that long

'cause you gotta work hard
and makes it worth it.

Can I take Frank for a minute?

- Yeah, yeah.
- Frank, want to talk to you.

Here.

First of all, great set.

- Thank you very much.
- Sincerely.

It's been a fucking joy

watching you mature
over the years.

You've been here for what?
How long now?

- Five, six years now.
- Five, six years.

It's just been a joy for me
to watch you mature

as a comic and a person,

and you've put in
a lot of fucking hard work.

You really turned a corner.

I'm really, really proud
of you.

That being said,
you're passed.

- No way.
- Yeah.

- For real?
- Yeah. Paid regular.

- I've wanted this forever.
- I know.

Well, thanks for being patient,
and you earned it.

- Thank you very much.
- Thank yourself.

You're the person to thank.

Thank you, Adam.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

- Yeah!
- All right.

That's awesome.
What'd he say?

He said I'm a paid regular.
I'm passed.

Oh.
That's great.

- That's really great.
- That's fucking amazing.

- How does it feel?
- Feels great, man.

Yeah.
I gotta call my dad.

- I gotta call my dad.
- That's great.

Give a hand
for a new paid regular.

One of the best I've ever seen.

- [all cheering]
- One of the best.

First, everyone had to do
"The Tonight Show,"

but then, when cable television
first started,

everybody had to get
a cable special.

You're talking your generation.

Yeah.

They did a lot

of the Young Comedians
specials

in the main room
of The Comedy Store.

- And Marty Call--
- Is that right?

Yeah, and Marty Callner
directed 'em all,

and he retrofitted
The Comedy Store,

the lighting,
and Mitzi loved Marty.

[Bill] Every time I think
I know

everything that happened
at The Comedy Store,

there's always,
like, another...

like, "Oh, that was shot there,
or this guy went onstage here?"

I'm a nerd
for all of that stuff.

That's really cool.

chill music

This is the place
where all the influencers came

to find talent.

I ended up with
a Young Comedians special.

A loose--okay,
I got my handbag.

This is my handbag.

[laughter]
What? What?

Richard Lewis.

I left my shrink too soon.

I had to take an incomplete.

I just don't know
what I'm doing anymore.

I'm not going back no more.
That's too much bread.

60 bu--I'm going
to Evelyn Woods.

It's, like, speed therapy.
It's cool.

It's like,
"You hate your mother,

you hate your father,
$5, boom,"

and you get outta there.

And Jerry Seinfeld.

I'll tell you my main question

about these wanted posters
on the wall.

Why didn't they hold on
to this guy

when they were taking
his picture?

Changed my life for--
I was playing theaters.

I didn't have anything.

I did a special in '85.

Went to the hardware store
and bought some used paint.

[laughter]

It was in the shape of a house.

And it was right about when
"The Tonight Show" was

slowly becoming less important

and having less power.

Mitzi's the one that really
taught me about comedy.

Stand-up was--

even though it had been around
for a while,

it had never been exposed
to the masses

because television had
never done it,

with the exception of a bit
on Ed Sullivan, you know,

but never a full hour.

Do you remember Gallagher's
Showtime specials?

- I watched all of them.
- Okay.

Gallagher was the first guy
that figured out

Showtime wasn't in every city.

Not everyone had cable,
but he would book himself

in theaters in Showtime cities.

- Mm-hmm.
- And he'd sell out like crazy.

Only people that had Showtime
knew who he was.

I think he's
unbelievably underrated

as a comedian

because it became
this snobby thing about props

and he was just judged
by his closing bit.

Is there anyone
that particularly does not

want me to smash this pig?

[crowd] No!

Well then, let's go!
Hip, hip, go!

I did a Showtime special

called
Jim Carrey's Unnatural Act.

Seems like
no matter what happens,

no matter how bad things get,
Jimmy Stewart can look at it

in a positive way.

[laughter]

[as Jimmy Stewart]
Well, I guess we're gonna

have ourselves
a nuclear holocaust.

[wild laughter]

Oh, hey, everybody,
come on over to the window!

By the time you came out here,

you already had
a Showtime special.

Men are pigs, right, women?

[women cheering]

All men care about
is a full pegboard.

[growls]

The altar to a man.

[sings organ music]

That's what rang
everybody's bell.

I did this whole tool thing.

A Binford CO2-powered nail gun.

Oh, yeah.

But I developed the Midwest
out of desperation

from doing some corporate gigs
that no one was listening,

and the crowd is smoking
cigarettes and eating steaks,

just guys, and they're not--

their backs are to you,
corporate gigs,

and I just hear--
[grunting]

So I mimic that,
these guys turned around,

and I remember
I wrote that down.

I wrote it right away,

"Grunt like you're curious,
grunt like you're this,"

and it gave me a hook

that they remember the guy
talking about power tools.

Every new appliance,
toaster, whatever,

you got that new plug.

One side's just a little bit
bigger than the other side.

[grunting curiously]

[laughter]

I got the first use
out of that new grinder.

[mimics grinder]

[laughter]

- Ha-ha.
- [cheers and applause]

If you get a sitcom,

it was like, boom,
you're on your way.

But how many shows teach people
how to use stuff like this?

[laughter]

upbeat music

In the days that I was here,

there were
three television networks,

and the thing to do was
the Freddie Prinze model.

You go on The Tonight Show.

The next day, they're making
a situation comedy

starring Freddie Prinze.

- You listen to me, Ed Brown.
- Eh, eh, eh.

That's a fouled sparkplug.
Clean it.

[as Igor]
Oh, right away, Master.

I'm so sorry.

Did you find that was a plus
or a minus

to be a stand-up comic
on the shows?

It was entirely a plus

to have somebody who knew
their way around comedy.

If you get one television show
in your life,

my God, that's unbelievable.

Well, then it became,

everyone had to have a sitcom.

It started
kinda with Jimmie Walker,

and then, you know, Robin
with Mork and Mindy.

As much as I like Mindy,

it's against intergalactic law
to eat fellow space travelers.

Fly!
Be free!

[Dave] Suddenly, there was
this explosion of,

ooh, comedians are the ones
to get to anchor a sitcom.

We got a big surprise for you,
right, Jess?

- It's big.
- [laughs]

Yeah, so close your eyes.

- Right, close 'em up.
- Close your eyes.

- Close your eyes.
- Here we go.

Wait.
[sniffs]

I know what the surprise is.

Joey, you're making
that chili again.

I guess I really wanted to--
to be an actress

as well as, you know--
as a live performer.

I can't believe
the breeders are trying

to take back Halloween.

- Yeah.
- Oh, please.

I was doing Halloween

since before there even were
any gay people.

I went onstage and I did
six minutes my first time

and I came off the stage
and Mitzi said,

"Go do 20 in the big room."

And it was like--
everybody said

that never happened before.

You knew
as soon as she started,

you knew in the middle,
you knew at the end,

she had it.

Well, she filled a void
that we hadn't heard before.

We didn't have
the female lead domestic--

- Housewife.
- Yeah.

You know what'd be really good
for breakfast?

- What?
- Pie.

- Tell him no.
- No.

- Bye.
- Bye.

- [Roseanne] Bye.
- [Dan] Bye.

Quick, they're gone.
Change the locks.

[Judd]
I used to write jokes.

That was how I made my living.

I remember I was with Tom
and Roseanne,

and so I'm just
this, like, little kid

and they're going through
this really wild time

where they're super famous
and they're in the news

and everything they do
is a big event,

and Roseanne's like,
"Tom won't let me have lunch

with Jesse Jackson!"

And Tom was like, "Yeah,

I don't want you
to have lunch with him!"

And she's like, "Why not?"

And he's like, "'Cause he might
fall in love with you!

"What if he falls in love
with you?

And then you leave me
for Jesse Jackson?"

And she's like, "He's not gonna
fall in love with me.

You're crazy.
What are you talking about?"

He's like, "I fell in love
with you!

Why wouldn't Jesse Jackson
fall in love with you?"

And I'm just, like,
this scared person

in the corner

in the middle
of this, like, madness

going, "What is--
what is happening?"

[David]
I went up on an audition

for a situation comedy
about Saturday Night Fever.

And I go into the outer room

and everybody has
their... sides.

- Right.
- And I'm reading it.

The part was
the John Travolta part.

[Mike] They wanted you
to play that part?

[David]
Me and 19 other men.

So you had to stand there

and you're blow-drying
your hair

because you're getting ready
to go out

and catch Saturday night fever.

And then while you're
blow-drying your hair,

you're also dancing.

Yeah.
Of course.

And I looked over at the guy
sitting next to me

and I said, "Excuse me."

He said, "Yeah?"

I said, "Would you hold this
for me?

I think I left my car running."

And never went back.

Are you aware

that non-issue hosiery can
inhibit your ability

to apprehend a prisoner?

I'll have you know I can
kick butt in bunny slippers.

[laughter]

Sir.

[Ari]
The next guest,

she's a regular
here at The Comedy Store--

been a regular
here at The Comedy Store

probably, I'm betting,
40 years.

Lotta noise, lotta love,
Marsha Warfield, everybody.

Marsha Warfield.

[cheers and applause]

Good evening.
Ari, thank you so much.

My name is Marsha Warfield

and I used to be famous.

[laughter]

What happened to me was,
at the height of my career,

I decided to take some time off

to get really old.

[laughter]

And as you can see,

when I set out
to do something...

[laughter]

...that shit gets done.

[Howie] I remember one night,
there was, like, a hubbub.

Steven Spielberg and Elaine May
and Mike Nichols

and anybody who was anybody
was in The Belly Room,

and I go, "What's going on
up there?"

I was standing
in the back of the room

when Whoopi Goldberg went on.

They were looking at her
for the possibility

of doing this movie,

which I found out later
was The Color Purple.

Talk about that.

Didn't I just?

[both laugh]

Was I not out loud?
Was I just thinking that?

- You were thinking that.
- Oh.

You know what I've just been
thinking about?

[Whoopi]
Mitzi Shore was so good.

She made me feel like this was
a place for me.

She saw my one-woman show
and she said, "Wow.

"You know, we can do this
in The Belly Room.

"Would you like to do this
in The Belly Room?

"I'd like you to do it
in The Belly Room.

"Would you do it
in The Belly Room for me?

"I'd like it if you did.

Do it in The Belly Room
for me."

And I said, "Okay."

And so A Piece of Theater ran

for about a year
in The Belly Room.

I got to watch all these
extraordinary people,

and spending time
with Rodney Danger--

I mean, just--
he's funny as hell.

And I learned
how to make material better.

I learned how to tell
a better story.

It was fun
'cause I could just fly.

I could fly all over there,

and no one said,
"You're doing it wrong."

Mitzi was really good
at giving comics the sense

that The Store was their place,

and probably she got that
from Pryor.

So you wouldn't see him
for a while

and then he would
just come down?

He'd be gone
for maybe a year or two,

and when he was ready
to come in

and work out a new hour,

he took over the place.

funky music

[Paul]
Welcome to The Comedy Store.

We now have the pleasure
of presenting

one of the most brilliant
comics in show business,

Richard Pryor.

[cheers and applause]

[Richard] Thank you very much.
Welcome.

Hope I'm funny.

'Cause audience been known
to kick a little ass.

[laughter]

Richard had 22 episodes to tape

on NBC at eight o'clock.

And Richard, with Mitzi's help
and Paul Mooney's help,

recruited all these great
young comics.

[John] He told Mooney,
"These guys are so funny.

"Let's pick
some of these comics out

to be in the show."

We would all be so happy

because we make $500 a week.

[Rocco]
And to Paul Mooney's credit,

he assembled
some really funny people

and Jimmy Martinez
and Tim Reid.

Yeah, you got five minutes
to leave, whitey.

- I'm counting now.
- The attack was at night.

You know how slippery they are.

[Rocco]
The big surprise was Robin.

How soon we forget

what the Negro has done
for you.

Who taught you the meaning
of doo-dah?

[Marsha]
We were all so new

and Robin had pretty much
just gotten to town.

He's a complete unknown.

Robin was performing
at The Comedy Store.

Rocco Urbisci
and Pryor wanted him

to do The Richard Pryor Show.

He had a deal to do Laugh In

and yet he went off
and did that series.

[Rocco] I don't think
there was a contract.

He just came over.

But he just wanted to do it,

and that's the way I think
everybody felt about--

'cause Pryor was so revered

and they were doing
something so unusual.

There's this one scene
that says,

"Richard and a beautiful woman
seduce each other with food."

That was the whole thing.

So we got together and he said,
"You got it?"

I said, "I think so."

Then he said,
"Okay, let's move on."

That was that.
No rehearsal.

It was first up.

The curtain goes up
and there I am.

I agonized over that
for a couple of weeks.

And then to have to sit there
and be seductive,

I just improvised.

[laughter]

Star Wars theme

[alien whines]

Hey, why don't you watch
where you're going?

You got the biggest eyes
in the place.

Richard Pryor was first
and foremost.

It gets no better than Pryor
to me.

There was something
about Pryor, right,

when Pryor showed up,
that was...

it wasn't like
anything else, man.

I'd sit in the back every night
and study Pryor.

If you water down
Richard Pryor,

you get Chris Rock,
you get Eddie Murphy,

you get Martin Lawrence,
you get Chris--

like, we're all doing a version
of Richard Pryor.

[Bill]
Well, when I started out,

everybody wanted to be Pryor.

Like, Pryor was the guy.

And I--I still think
he is the guy.

[Richard] I remember
when Black wasn't beautiful.

Black men come through
our neighborhood.

"Black is beautiful!
Africa's your home!

Beware of the Black man!
Be proud to be Black!"

And my parents go,
"That nigga crazy."

He was the greatest
because he had every element.

He was like an angry boxer.
Tough childhood.

Perfect storm to be
either a fighter

or a comic.

He never really did a show
for the audience.

He was more or less talking
to himself.

He just knew that however
he was telling this joke,

he was never gonna do it
the same way again.

[Whoopi]
Richard was the only person

that understood
what I was doing,

where he's talking
about characters

and he's doing characters.

I understand that.
That's a story.

I can tell a story.

And I think it becomes easier

when you're telling stuff
that you know.

He would show up here
and he would refuse

to do any material
from the previous albums

and start from scratch.

He would come in here
with a couple of ideas.

[Felicia]
He would do new material,

but it'd be so terrible,

and as a new comic,
you're like, "What?

This is the great Pryor?"

I remember, in the main room,
watching him stop his act

and say, "I just--
I'm not funny tonight."

At a point
of almost embarrassed silence

to the crowd.

[Richard]
This ain't as funny

as we thought
it was gonna be.

[laughter]

Motherfuck show biz.

He'd have one joke to begin
with, honest to God.

One or two jokes at the most.

Then he'd play around
with this joke

and it was terrible,
it didn't--

'cause you know
the audience doesn't care

how famous you are.

If the joke's not funny,
they're not gonna laugh.

You saw--you saw him work out
that hour?

Oh, yeah.
I was just a kid.

I was a doorman.

What a great place,

to be able to come here
to this workshop

and be able to, you know, bomb

and have Mitzi, if she believed
in you, go, you know,

"Trying some stuff out,
aren't you?"

[Richard] Nobody like pussy
nowadays, huh?

But in the old days,
when you liked pussy,

when you couldn't get it...

does anyone remember
liking pussy?

From a murder,
you get all kinds

of forensic information,

but nobody collects information
from, like, a birthday party,

from, like, a happy occasion,

so when you have a hard show,
you walk away

with all kinds
of ability and knowledge,

and so that's what Pryor did.

The brave ones can go up there
and fail

for the sake of the next set.

You know, if I didn't
embarrass myself here,

I wouldn't be able to go home
and write a new joke.

I would just think,
"Oh, I know comedy."

And the second night,

anything that got a titter
the first night,

he would expand on.

Then you got to see,
every night, the progression

of how he was building a bit.

But it would be almost like
watching Bach or Mozart

write a fucking symphony.

And by the end
of four, five weeks,

he had a new 40 minutes.

[Richard] My uncles and them,
my family only fucked

in one position: up and down.

Then my uncle go, "Boy,
don't you ever kiss no pussy.

- [wild laughter]
- "I mean that.

Whatever you do in life,
don't kiss no pussy."

I couldn't wait
to kiss a pussy.

He'd been wrong
about everything else.

[laughter]

A woman had to beat me off.
"That's enough! That's enough!

Please. Please.
Two days."

[Mike] Mitzi loved Richard.

[as Mitzi]
"Oh, Richard's so brave.

"He can just start over.

"He's an artist, Mike.

That's an artist.
Watch an artist work."

He was, like, Coltrane
of comedy.

He's, like, the guy
who plays the riffs

that everyone wants to do.

[Bruce]
There was a period of time

where she put me
between Richard Pryor

and Robin Williams.

And if you don't step up
your game,

you're the mop rag
between two orgasms.

[Jay] I remember he used to
do joke about his old lady.

He says, "I'm gonna go out
and get me some new pussy."

And she said, "If your dick was
two inches longer,

you get new pussy right here,"
you know?

[Richard]
I don't like movies

when they don't have
no niggas in 'em.

[wild laughter]

I went to see
Logan's Run, right?

They had a movie of the future
called Logan's Run.

Ain't no niggas in it!

I said, "Well,
white folks ain't planning

for us to be here!"

Richard Pryor taught me
about edge, okay,

because he was always testing,

always taking things to a level

of, "Oh, my God,
did he say that?"

I mean, if you think about it,
you know,

Richard was the Michael Jordan
of comedy.

From '77 to the late '80s,

this club was
Richard's laboratory.

His work ethic,
his whole naked and raw,

autobiographical version
of comedy became the standard.

Everyone from Jim Carrey,
Damon Wayans, Whoopi Goldberg,

Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison,
Chris Rock,

Dave Chapelle,
and then Louis C.K.,

they all did their best
to pay tribute to the master.

Even today,
when I see Bill Burr,

Whitney Cummings,
Sebastian Maniscalco,

Ian Edwards, Andrew Santino,
Annie Lederman,

Neal Brennan, Joe Rogan,

using The Store
to build new routines

for specials or albums
or tours,

they're doing it in this form
of personal memoir

or, like, truth telling.

They're doing it in a way

that I think is reminiscent
of Pryor.

If any one person
is responsible

for making The Store
the most important comedy club

in the world,
other than Mitzi,

it's Richard,

or as everyone used
to call him when we were here,

Richie.

Where a ribbon's
in the sky

For our love

If allowed

May I touch your hand

And if pleased

May I once again

So that you

Too will understand

There's a ribbon
in the sky

For our love

Doo

Stevie Wonder,
"Ribbon in the Sky"

[vocalizing]

Were you here the night
he pretended he was God?

- No.
- Okay.

Richard Pryor walks
into the room

and he walked up onstage
and he was quiet for a minute.

He goes, "I'm God."

And they were giggling
'cause it's Pryor.

And he said, "I'm here
to pick up my son."

Says, "Anybody seen him?

"He's wearing this robe thing
and he's got a beard

and little Jesus and I told him
I'd pick him up now,"

and he looks at somebody
in the front row

and he goes,
"What was done to my son?

What did you people do
to my son?"

And he just starts screaming

'cause he comes
to the realization

that his son was crucified,

and then when he regains
his composure,

he goes,
"All right, let me talk

to somebody else
that was crucified."

And he goes,
"Well, where is he?"

He keeps doing down
this litany of people

and he goes, "All right,
I need to talk

to Martin Luther King.

Bring me Martin right now."

And he goes,
"What did you do to Martin?

Kennedy.
I need to talk to Kennedy."

And then he's
just standing onstage,

he goes, "Fuck."

Crying.
He's just screaming.

He goes, "My son,
the apostles, Kennedy."

The audience is standing there,
like, you know--

remember, this is the '70s--
with their jaws just dropping.

People in the audience
are crying,

and he just puts out his hand
and he goes,

"You're on your own."

And he walked out of the room.

And I remember
just sitting there

and everybody's just crying

and all you can hear
is sniffing.

And I went, "Fuck."

This is not

A coincidence

And far more

Than a lucky chance

But what is

That was always meant

Is our ribbon in the sky

For our love, love

We can't lose

With God on our side

We'll find strength

In each tear we cry

From now on