Because some mornings can be so depressing that you just gotta to have a belly aching laugh to get you going. I first heard snippets of Richard Pryor's masterful comedy on a NPR's "Fresh Air" on the history and sociology of the word "Nigger".

Incidentally this was on the road trip back from my first ten day Vipassana meditation retreat. There I was sitting in a car, hitching a ride back to Atlanta from Flordia on a Georgia backroad formerly known as the Cotton Highway, and there was this man on the radio saying "Motherfucker" in about twenty different unique styles. In spite of the high level of profanity etc in his comedy, I thought Pryor was quite close to being a Zen master then as I do now.

So here are some links to the man who quipped on being given the inaugural Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: "Two things people throughout history have had in common are hatred and humor. I am proud, that like Mark Twain, I've been able to use humor to lessen people's hatred. I feel great about accepting this prize. It is nice to be regarded on par with a great white man. Now that's funny."

on working for the Mafia (a video clip) on comparative sexology (a video clip) playing Mudbone (a video clip) an interview on "Fresh Air" some snippets on NPR