Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (February 25, 2026)
After 1982's Live on the Sunset Strip became a box office hit, Richard Pryor went back to the well pretty quickly. This meant another stand-up comedy concert film in fall 1983 called Here and Now.
Shot in New Orleans circa August 1983, Now starts with Pryor riffing on the audience and the stage background. He then shifts to his thoughts about New Orleans, weather, his new sobriety and his escapades under the influence.
Next Pryor chats about differences among women of various races and marital issues, the then-current state of the US, his visit to Africa, fears of nuclear war, various bodily functions, sex and drugs. He also revives the audience favorite “Mudbone” character.
As noted, Sunset Strip did nicely at the box office - well, for a comedy concert film. Its $36 million meant it wound up in 20th place on the year's financial charts, a total that placed it above the much more hyped and pricey Tron and other high-profile wannabe blockbusters.
Now fared less well, as its $16 million plopped it in 45th place between Spacehunter and DC Cab. I suspect that total disappointed Pryor and the studio after the relatively high receipts for Sunset Strip, but it still acts as a pretty good return on investment since one imagines Now didn't cost much to shoot.
I admit I didn't think a lot of Sunset Strip. While it came with some laughs, it felt like it showed us a Pryor in artistic decline.
Still, I held out hope that Now might offer a comeback of sorts. Unfortunately, that didn’t prove true.
Some of the issues on display exist outside of Pryor’s control. He greets an unusually rowdy crowd and they cause distractions.
Pryor needs to deal with a seemingly unending series of audience interruptions. Of course, these occur for most standup performances, but the New Orleans folks prove so relentless that they clearly annoy Pryor.
While I can blame the attendees for the way they disrupt Pryor’s rhythm, I can’t claim that Now would prosper without those issues. If you saw Sunset Strip, a lot of Now will seem familiar.
Not that Pryor literally repeats the same jokes. However, he touches on similar territory too much of the time.
This means more humor about his substance abuse. We also find overly familiar threads related to relationships/women, his time in Africa, race, and the like.
Do these generate a smattering of laughs? Sure, but they feel recycled and without any new insights.
This seems even truer when Pryor trots out the Mudbone personality. This seems like a concession that he can’t come up with fresh content so he relies on the tried and true.
To be sure, lower tier Pryor still delivers some entertainment. However, 20 years into his career as a standup, Here and Now found him low on inspiration.
