In the past month, in cities across the nation, people protested the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two casualties of a troubling spate of police violence. Such incidents aren’t new, and, as John Lurie pointed out on Twitter, Richard Pryor actually did a flawless bit on the police chokehold—the exact method by which Garner was killed—all the way back in 1978.*
This is Pryor at his best—incredibly dark, but so spot-on you have to laugh with him. His social commentary was always excellent, but it’s proved to be strangely prescient as well.
Update, Nov. 4, 2015: This clip has been removed by request.
*Correction, Dec. 6, 2014: This article originally misstated that Pryor’s bit was from 1977. It was performed in 1978, and featured in 1979’s Richard Pryor: Live in Concert.
