AVC: How did the soldiers respond to your performances?
PM: Oh, some loved it. Some didn't. Because they were caught up in it. They were part of the war. Some people hated it, they hated us. They could have killed us. And I understand that, too, because you don't want to feel like you're doing something wrong, that you're risking your life for nothing. You don't want that feeling. Look at the Vietnamese. What a hell of an audition for a manicure and pedicure. That war, what a hell of an audition.
AVC: What was your first impression of Richard Pryor? When did you first meet him, and what were you thinking?
PM: I was living with my half-sister, who was the first black diva on the cover of Vogue, French Vogue. She was the first black woman that was ever put on the cover of any white magazine. You can go to the library, you can look her up. We were living in a cheap hotel on Sunset, and it was during the Motown days. Tammi Terrell was a good friend of my sister's back in the day. Gladys Knight and The Pips, everyone came because they had had no money. They all stayed at our cheap place, slept on the floor, wherever. Richard was dating a girl that was working at the telephone company. She was moonlighting, what they called it at night, dancing go-go at the Whisky with my sister. And Richard came by. I'd heard about Richard Pryor. It was during the mid-'60s and that hippie shit, he said "Let's all get in the bed and have a freak thing." It was like Bob, Ted, Alice, and Lassie in those days, where everyone got in the bed together. And I threw him out of the room. And in his book, he says, "I didn't know that was Paul's sister, I never would've said that." Then two weeks or two and a half weeks later, I went to a Trini López concert in West Hollywood, and Richard was there. We met, had a drink, and the rest is history. And also his first white wife, Shelley, the first one he married because he had a child already, she was working at a theater as a ticket girl where I was assistant manager, the Tiffany Theater on Sunset Boulevard. We just hooked up, and the rest was history.
AVC: What was your working relationship with him like? Did you write together? Would you bounce ideas off each other?
PM: It was like Lone Ranger and Tonto, Lucy and Ethel, any group that you can think of. Bonnie and Clyde, that was us. We were the perfect marriage, because I was Richard's biggest fan. When you listen to all Richard's old albums, you'll hear me laughing.
AVC: So how would you work together in terms of writing?
PM: It's so funny. When I met Richard, he was probably 28, 27, somewhere around there. He once stood in front of a TV set and said to me, "Do you think I can act? I want to be an actor." I said he was the best actor that I know, I said, "You're an Academy Award performer." He said, "What makes you say that?" I said, "You've convinced everybody you're not crazy." And he started laughing. Shelley Winters gave him his first movie role. He played a hippie. Wild In The Streets.
AVC: What was it like writing for Richard Pryor during his first appearance on Saturday Night Live?
PM: I was Richard's black writer. Richard took me everywhere. We went there and we wrote that. All of that stuff, all that stuff that's classic. That's what they call it, "classic." Yeah, but it's interesting, isn't it, that they call it a classic? I find it so interesting, because there was no such thing as a black comedy writer. They flew me into Miami and cross-examined me like I was trying to get over the border.
AVC: Who cross-examined you?
PM: Lorne Michaels and all the little big shots.
AVC: Is it true that Richard Pryor didn't get along very well with Chevy Chase?
PM: Oh no. Chevy Chase, he wanted to knock his teeth out. He was the golden boy.
AVC: It seems like everyone kind of hated Chevy Chase at that point in his career.
PM: Yeah. It was all crazy. First of all, Richard was on the drugs. He was getting high. Everybody on that show was high. They were all addicts. I should have turned them all in, because I don't do drugs. I was slow. I should have turned them all in.
AVC: Was it pot, mainly? Was it cocaine?
PM: Coke. Coke. You're naïve. It was really cocaine. Weed too. It was secondary. It's like smoking cigarettes. But they were into that coke.
AVC: So why didn't you do drugs? That's relatively unique in the comedy field.
PM: I've been around a lot of drug addicts. Redd Foxx, Flip Wilson, all of 'em. I don't do drugs. Because my grandmother raised me. I think like an old, black, Southern woman. If I'd have done coke, I'd probably be cooking pancakes.
AVC: Do you think Richard Pryor was satisfied with the way his film career went?
PM: I think that Richard was an Academy Award performer. I think that he picked the wrong scripts, because he was really a good actor. But the drugs had a lot to do with it too, I think. And choices, it was unfortunate. But Richard was like a little boy, really. That's one of his plusses. He had the heart of a little boy.
AVC: Do you think genius and self-destructiveness go hand in hand?
PM: It comes with the territory. There's a yin for the yang. There's a price that people pay.
AVC: You've vowed to stop using the N-word.
PM: I won't be using that, no. That's a no-no.
AVC: What was the reasoning behind that?
PM: Well, Michael Richards, his meltdown. His nervous breakdown is what did it.
AVC: How so?
PM: Well, it was something else. I heard about it, and then I saw the video, and it freaked me. I'm not easily freaked. And the way I used the word, I was an ambassador for the word. The way I used the word, I was a part of it too. It became an equal-opportunity word. All the little white kids, all the little Latin kids, the Asians, the Mexicans, they were all using it. And it shouldn't be equal opportunity. Even though some people say "We use the n-a, not the n-e," it doesn't matter. A goat's a goat. Whether you sauté or barbeque it, it's still a goat. And there were layers to his breakdown, to Michael. I've known Michael for over 20 years. There were layers to it. This came out of Michael. Michael's a victim of America. There are a lot of white people who have this stuff inside them. It just takes the right situation to bring it out. White America should take responsibility for it like I'm taking responsibility for it. I'm not saying it. You have to say no to it. I was married to the word, I was the ambassador for the word and now I'm not saying it any more.
AVC: Didn't Richard Pryor stop using the word at some point as well?
PM: Yes, but when he said it, I couldn't see the n-word for the trees. Richard went to Africa. I hadn't been to Africa. He said he didn't see any N-words there, so when he got home, he said he wasn't going to say it any more. He was touched. Now I'm touched. You can't pick when you're touched. You can't pick the time. It just is. It's the reality. What it is, is. I can't change the past. I can only deal with the present and the future.
AVC: Why do you think the word continues to have such power?
PM: It's because of the way it came about. That's why. I understand why people don't want to give it up. It's like Richard's old joke: "Let me check my penis to make sure you haven't taken that."
AVC: Has it been difficult weaning yourself off the N-word? You used it very, very liberally in your last special.
PM: I'm backing off it now. I have to tell you a story. Whoopi Goldberg called me when all this was going on, and said, "Paul, you're the ambassador for the N-word, but I'm going to have to ask you for a week pass. I have to cuss some black folks out on Friday, but after that, I won't say it any more." That's a true story, and I gave her a pass because she asked for one. I haven't used it. I did a show with Dick Gregory in The Lincoln Theater in D.C. I've been doing shows, being onstage for two hours, two-and-a-half hours, and I haven't used it. I'm a creature of habit, and I have an N-word jones, but I've figured it out. If I ever have an N-word jones, I'll just say "Arnold Schwarzenegger." He is my governor.
AVC: You're strongly associated with Dave Chappelle, whose stand-up seems strongly influenced by your own. Would you describe yourself as a mentor to him?
PM: There are a lot of people I've influenced, a lot of people I've worked with. I've worked with the best, from Moms Mabley to Redd Foxx to Flip Wilson to Bill Cosby to Eddie Murphy to Richard Pryor to Sandra Bernhard to Robin Williams to Johnny Witherspoon… Chris Rock, Chris Tucker. I've worked with them all. The king of comedy is dead. Richard Pryor was the king of comedy. The rest of them are the king of copycats.
AVC: Were you at all angry at Chappelle for ending the show so abruptly?
PM: No. That's his show. That's not my show. They asked me to host some "lost tapes" or something. I told them no, If Dave doesn't approve it, I don't want to do it. You have to have some loyalty somewhere. That was his choice and his show. I wasn't angry about that. It was a smart move. It put him on the A-list. And then he went to Africa. He did what white people have been telling me to do for years: go to Africa. So that really caused controversy. And he turned down that money. That stressed people out. Millions. People in America worship money, and a white man's face on a green piece of paper does not make me wealthy. My health makes me wealthy. I used to work at a hospital, so I know the real deal.
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