#richard-pryor

#richard-pryor

In the late '80s and early '90s, a group of five African American men - all famous comedians - created a body of work that shifted popular culture, altered the entertainment industry and impacted generations to come. He cites the works of vaudeville-era comedians Bert Williams and George Walker as early examples of the craft. He adds that pioneering African American playwright William Wells Brown and even famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass used comedy to critique white power structures.