Category: Filmed Performance

Whoopi’s original Broadway one woman show paints her as not just a funny comedian but also a masterful storyteller. From her portrayals of a little Black girl who dreams of being white to a young teenager who gives herself an abortion to a disabled woman who has recently gotten engaged, she somehow manages the tone from funny to sad extraordinarily well without it feeling jarring. She incorporates the characters so thoroughly that each one feels a bit like they must be a part of her. Some of them, like the disabled women, were re-worked somewhat for her Back to Broadway performance and it’s interesting to compare how she advances their narrative. 

Richard Pryor was definitely a comic genius. This is the second concert film I’ve seen of his and he’s just incredible at his craft. He makes it look incredibly effortless and more like a conversation than a well-honed bit. Filmed relatively soon after his freebasing incident, there’s a nervousness, especially early in the act, that is a bit affecting. While the act covers a wide range of subjects, he has an incredible honesty about the incident and his drug addiction as a whole. There’s obviously quite a bit of internal pain there, which one can only hope that getting out provided some catharsis for him and it wasn’t just fodder to entertain the public. 

Prince’s Super Bowl half time show is probably my favorite of the Super Bowl performances I’ve seen. I had hoped that this concert film, produced with the hopes of boosting slogging American sales of the album of the same same, would be equal to that production. Unfortunately for me, this was a bit of a drudge and failed to present the electricity of the live Super Bowl experience. The narrative between the songs was a bit silly and distracted from the concert footage as was the decision to include the music video for U Got the Look instead of a concert performance. It’s still Prince though and seeing him perform is still a treat even when it’s one of lesser quality.