Richard Pryor spits fire in his return to the spotlight, RICHARD PRYOR: LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP. Presented in 35mm!

“So Black people – we the first people who had thought, right? We was the first ones to say, ‘Where the fuck am I, and how do you get to Detroit?’” – Richard Pryor

Live on the Sunset Strip is an extraordinary feat even for a once-in-a-lifetime talent like Richard Pryor. His third stand-up film, Sunset Strip, captures Pryor as he makes his triumphant return to the stage after his whirlwind ride into stardom left him junked-out, burnt-up and broke. Cut together from two shows filmed at the Hollywood Palladium in 1981, Pryor starts off uncharacteristically shaky before settling into a remarkable performance that wrestles with the black experience in America, his formative years of poverty and grift, and his spiraling, hopeless addiction to drugs — and, somehow, it’s just about the funniest thing ever put to film.

Part of Nitehawk’s summer program COMEDIANS IN FILM (Stand Up/Stand Up Companion).

POOTIE TANG is too cool for words. Presented in 35mm!

No comedian wants to have to analyze and defend something. It’s like, you thought something was funny; you wrote it down; you acted it out; you talked to people. You know? It works or it doesn’t work. – Chris Rock

Directed by Louis C.K. and adapted from a sketch of the “The Chris Rock Show,” Pootie Tang is probably strangest comedy to be released by a major studio. It may have been panned at release but it’s now a cult favorite. A satire of blaxploitation films of the 1970s, Pootie Tang centers around a hero and role model to the kids, Pootie. Everybody looks up to Pootie except for the evil Dick Lecter, CEO of Lecter Corp, the company that makes cigarettes, alcohol and fast food. Watch to see if Pootie’s cool determination and strength prevail over the evil Dick Lecter and his crew. Did we mention that Pootie also speaks his own language that the audience can’t understand but those in the film with him do…do you speak Pootie?

Part of Nitehawk’s summer program COMEDIANS IN FILM (Late Nite).

An unplanned pregnancy complicates things for a single and unemployed Brooklyn comedian in OBVIOUS CHILD.

I don’t think men have time to be funny because they have to make all of our rules about what we can do with our vaginas. – Jenny Slate

Anchored by a breakout performance from Jenny Slate, Obvious Child is a winning discovery, packed tight with raw, energetic comedy and moments of poignant human honesty. For aspiring comedian Donna Stern, everyday life as a female twenty-something provides ample material for her incredibly relatable brand of humor. On stage, Donna is unapologetically herself, joking about topics as intimate as her sex life and as crude as her day-old underwear. But when Donna gets dumped, loses her job, and finds herself pregnant just in time for Valentine’s Day, she has to navigate the murky waters of independent adulthood for the first time. As she grapples with an uncertain financial future, an unwanted pregnancy, and a surprising new suitor, Donna begins to discover that the most terrifying thing about adulthood isn’t facing it all on her own.

Part of Nitehawk’s summer program COMEDIANS IN FILM (Women in Comedy).

Seven lame superheroes try to save the day in MYSTERY MEN!

I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth. – Janeane Garafolo

When Champion City’s legendary superhero, Captain Amazing, falls into the hands of the evil madman Casanova Frankenstein and his disco-dancing henchmen, an aspiring group of misfit superheroes called the “Mystery Men” show what they can do. Based on the Dark Horse comic, Mystery Men includes: Mr. Furious, whose power comes from his boundless rage; The Shoveler, a father who shovels “better than anyone”; The Blue Raja, a fork-flinging mama’s boy; The Bowler, who fights crime with the help of her father’s skull; The Spleen, whose power is pure flatulence; Invisible Boy, who’s only invisible when no one’s watching and The Sphinx, a cliche-spewing philosopher.

Part of Nitehawk’s summer program COMEDIANS IN FILM (Women in Comedy).

Jim Carrey portrays the legendary comedian Andy Kaufman in MAN ON THE MOON.

Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. – Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey delivers one of his best serious roles in Miloš Forman’s Man on the Moon by playing one of the most enigmatic figures in comedy, Andy Kaufman. Famous for his roles on Taxi and Saturday Night Live and his bizarre appearances on the David Letterman show, Kaufman was best known for playing elaborate tricks on his audiences. Who was the real Kaufman? This film explores this a little by showing his personal life (girlfriend and illness) and confusing public persona. Consider this the ultimate comedian on comedian in film.

Part of Nitehawk’s summer program COMEDIANS IN FILM (The Serious Comedian).

It’s tough to be a black hero but Jack Spade takes a crack at it anyway in I’M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA. Presented in 35mm!

To this day, my stand-up act pretty much is me. It’s my life, my experiences, my point of view — that’s what my act will always be. – Keenan Ivory Wayans

Keenan Ivory Wayans writes, directs and stars in this blaxploitation spoof. Wayans plays Jack Spade, an earnest soldier who comes back to the neighborhood (“Any Ghetto U.S.A.”) when he learns that his brother, Junebug, died from an overdose of gold chains. In order to get these deadly gold chains off the streets, Spade enlists the help of a troupe of 70s crime fighters to teach him what it takes to become a real black hero and to take down Mr. Big for good. Steeped in Wayans’s patented silliness, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka spoofs the genre with love and wit, and also shows off the comedian’s eye for spotting young talent (Chris Rock and most of the cast of In Living Color pop up in the film).

Part of Nitehawk’s summer program COMEDIANS IN FILM (Late Nite).

New York Comedian Perry Strong introduces a special COMEDIANS IN FILM screening of HARLEM NIGHTS.

Screening before the film is the short film, STICK, by Perry Strong, John Orphan, Greg Wayne.

Richard said, “The next time the motherfucker call, tell him I said, “Suck *my* dick.” I don’t give a fuck. Whatever the fuck make the people laugh, say that shit. Do the people laugh when you say what you say?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Do you get paid?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Well, tell Bill I said have a Coke and a smile and shut the fuck up. Jello pudding-eating motherfucker.” – Eddie Murphy

Harlem Nights is a dark comedy one-two punch with the greats, Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. In the waning days of Prohibition, Sugar Ray and his adopted son, Quick, run the speakeasy Sugar Ray’s Harlem nightclub in late-1930s Harlem, New York. Things are great: the drinks are strong, the women are beautiful and the money is a-flowing but a gangster is about to get in the way. When gangster Bugsy Calhoune learns that Sugar Ray’s place is pulling in more money than his own establishment, the Pitty Pat Club, he pays a corrupt cop to close Club Sugar Ray down. Quick doesn’t exactly help the situation when he falls for Calhoune’s gun moll, Miss Dominique La Rue. Eddie Murphy wrote, executive produced, and directed Harlem Nights. It’s also Red Foxx’s last film.

Don’t mind the cameras, they’re filming a movie up in here and Eddie Murphy’s the only one gonna get paid in EDDIE MURPHY: RAW. Presented in 35mm!

Now I can’t have no “curse” show, I mean I gotta throw in a few jokes in between the curses. – Eddie Murphy

Recorded at Madison Square Garden’s Felt Forum, Eddie Murphy: Raw blew up the box office, inspired a generation of comedians, and made the MPAA’s head spin with its carpet-bomb use of the f-word (223 times!). Directed by fellow comedian Robert Townsend and produced by Keenan Ivory Wayans, Raw is Murphy’s stand-up swan-song, where the comic covers his poor upbringing in Bushwick, the paranoid effect that wealth has on romance (HALF!), and the public backlash he received for telling sexist and homophobic gags.

No cheating! No gambling! No booze! No smoking! No pizza! No nothin’, just EASY MONEY.

I tell you, with my doctor, I don’t get no respect. I told him, “I’ve swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills.” He told me to have a few drinks and get some rest. – Rodney Dangerfield

An early Dangerfield gem that gets no respect at all, Easy Money was the first film to cast the comic in a leading role, this time as a wisecracking Staten Island baby photographer with a gambling problem and a taste for the ganj. Not much of a stretch. But the film allows Rodney to be Rodney, putting his comic persona to the test with a dead mother-in-law whose $10 million inheritance comes with the caveat that he must cut weight, lose the booze and act like a respectable human being for a whole year. Easy money, right?

Part of Nitehawk’s summer program COMEDIANS IN FILM (Late Nite).

Running a revenge for hire business is some DIRTY WORK!

I always told everybody the perfect joke would be where the setup and punch line were identical. – Norm MacDonald

I ain’t apologizing for anything, especially if it’s a joke. – Artie Lange

Directed by Bob Saget, co-written and starring Norm MacDonald, Dirty Work is the funniest buddy comedy about two losers opening a highly successful business specializing in revenge. Two friends, Sam and Mitch, need to find $50,000 to pay for Sam’s dad’s heart surgery fast! When they’re fired for getting revenge on their abusive theater-owner boss, they have a great money-making idea: a revenge-for-hire business. The friends are soon successful but not all their clients are good customers. When real estate developer Travis Cole tricks them into vandalizing a building that isn’t his, Sam and Mitch concoct their best revenge plan yet.

Part of Nitehawk’s summer program COMEDIANS IN FILM (Late Nite).