Stylizing the preacher: Preaching, performance, and the comedy of Richard Pryor

Abstract This article illustrates the ‘moving parts’ involved in the stylization of the voice of the Black preacher in the comedic performances of Richard Pryor with the ultimate goal of uncovering what these linguistic features help the performer to accomplish in interaction. Overall, while Pryor often utilizes hyperbolic and exaggerated features of Black preaching traditions and potentially Southern-inflected speaking styles in his performances, I argue that he engages in a type of linguistic subterfuge, blending elements of his own voice into a more favorable depiction of a witty, street-wise preacher. In fact, stretches of working-class speech, whose features overlap considerably with Pryor's ‘stage voice’, may blur the line between Pryor's ‘own’ personal stance and that of the preacher that he is constructing. (Black preachers, performance, stylization, comedy, African American English)*