Craps' (After Hours)

Before Richard Pryor officially came out to the mainstream as a comedian and social critic who knew no boundaries, he honed his more raunchy material in black comedy clubs, road-testing the controversial act about sex, racism, and his own screwups that he would use to great effect later in his career. Craps, recorded live in 1971 at the Redd Foxx Club in Hollywood, is a perfect example -- one look at the distinctly adult-looking characters on the album cover and the X-rated track titles and you know the tame stuff Pryor once did on Ed Sullivan has been jettisoned in favor of the ribald. The comedian riffs his way through black culture ("Black Preachers," "I Spy Cops"), sex ("Big Tits," "Getting' the Nut"), and street life ("Wino Panthers," "Crap Game"). And though his monologues and segues aren't as razor-sharp and seamless as they would become on records like Bicentennial Nigger, they're still pretty damn funny. Tracks like "Jackin' Off" and "Masturbating" may seem redundant, but if anyone can expose the differences between the two and milk them for a laugh, it's Pryor. Though not part of Rhino's nine-disc anthology, this record was recently reissued on CD. ~ Steve Kurutz