RICHARD PRYOR Grandmother raised me.

Grandmother raised me, you know, used to send me to church and stuff so I'd be good. But I liked to hang with the winos. I did. 'Cause winos know Jesus personally. Very religious, you know. Every wino, you ask 'em, "Where's Jesus?" [imitates a screaming wino] "JESUS! HE LIVE OVER IN THE PROJECTS!" And I'd stand around watchin' 'em direct traffic early Sunday morning. Winos are great at directin' traffic, you know.

[As the wino, whistles] "HEY, FOOL! YOU BETTER SLOW THAT CAR DOWN! DON'T COME DRIVING DOWN THROUGH HERE LIKE YOU CRAZY! THIS A NEIGHBOURHOOD - THIS AIN'T NO RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT! You could have killed that sign, anything! [mimes pulling a bottle from his back pocket, has trouble unscrewing the top] Damn! [drinks] Whoooo! Buddy, buddy! Jesus on my mind!

[Sees something and points] "Now, look at him, look at that boy over there, standin' in the middle of the street. Boy's a stone junkie. Look at him. Used to be a genius. Now he can't remember who he is. Hey, Junior! GET OUT OF THE STREET, BOY! NIGGER, YOU AIN'T NO STOP SIGN! GET OFF THE STREET! JUNIOR!"

[Imitates the junkie, mouth open, head thrown back, face to the sky] "What's happenin'?! Hey! What's happenin'?! I know somethin' happenin' 'cause everything movin'. HEY, OLD DUDE! Pops! You got anything? I feel bad enough to drink some milk."

[As the wino] "Yeah, I got somethin' for ya, boy! Come on off that street. Come here. Nasty, stinkin' devil, you. Whyn't you get a job, boy, go to work?"

[As the junkie] "Get a job? Go to work? I worked five years in a row when I was in the joint. And I can work my tail off, man, pressin' licence plates. That's right. But where niggers gonna get a job out here pressin' licence plates? Huh? I went to the unemployment bureau ... Damn, baby. [Falls asleep on his feet, abruptly wakes up, confused] Was I through? I walked to the unemployment bureau, walked downtown - clean, you know what I mean? Walked up to the lady sittin' in there with a ol' tiara on her head, typin' tip-tip-tip-tip-tip. I said, 'HEY!' She said: 'Ooh ooh!' I said, 'Hey! What's happenin'?' She looked at my paper: 'You got a criminal record!' I said, 'I know that! I'm a criminal! Tell me somethin' I don't know.'

"I went home, y'know. Mama called me a dog. Ma dear, she did. Daddy say he don't wanna see me in the vicinity. Just 'cause I stole his television. Wasn't nothin' on it. Can you help me out, old dude? Please? I'm sick, man. Help me make it through the night."

[As the wino] "I'm gonna help you, boy. 'Cause I believe you got potential. You know what your problem is? You don't know how to deal with the white man! You got a white-man complex. I know how to deal with him. That's why I'm in the position I'm in today." [Drinks from bottle, makes a face, screws the top back on, and pockets it].