re: Is Richard Pryor the greatest comic of all time?

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Easily. Carlin didn't have to go blue to get laughs.

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Carlin's most widely-known bit is his Seven Words bit that is basically him throwing them all out and justifying the use. He got laughs through shock. Again, it all comes from him being very raw and real. I don't think Carlin and Pryor really compete against one another. They're not even similar comedically whatsoever.

Pryor was a very personal, "real" comic who was going to give you access to his stream of consciousness styled "story". Richard Pryor's act was being Richard Pryor. If you turned one of his sets on and muted it, you'd still get a few laughs out of it. As much as he loathed his earlier work where he mimicked Bill Cosby and did a ton of variety show style physical comedy, he never really attempted to disconnect himself from that physical aspect. He was 100% into every aspect of his act both physically and mentally. He wasn't like Robin Williams manic, but his roots were always evident.

Carlin was a very thought-provoking observational comic who has you torn between reassessing all that you know and doubling over laughing. He would find the small things in life that we glance over and attack it from every angle until the absurdity of it was just too much without ever getting wildly animated over it. It was a very cerebral form of comedy that could translate well to writing or really any form of medium.

It's really the classic debate in comedy where people struggle to agree on what is "funny". Is it the actual material standing up on its own and being funny or is it the delivery? Is it both or does one trump the other? It's why comedy writers and comics performing the material always go at it.

Personally, I don't like the idea of choosing between them because I think they were both perfect at what they did. I hate the whole "Pryor needed potty humor as a crutch" idea where that somehow reflects negatively on his comedy when that unfiltered, raw, aggressive approach is a major part of what made him great. What's hurt him over time is the number of comics who literally go on stage and attempt (and fail miserably) to do his sets with a few slight changes. It's one things when Rich was channeling growing up to a hooker in a brothel that his grandmother ran with an iron fist surrounded by addicts and scum. It becomes evident that the audience is watching his "therapy" or coping mechanism for the negative parts of his life. Louis CK is has that cerebral approach of Carlin at times, but he's very much a self-labeled disciple of Richard Pryor. He goes on stage and "vents" through his comedy. His impact on many of the big comedians of today is overlooked because of the stream of sub-par racial comics who knock off his mannerisms while foolishly thinking that race was where the humor came from.

Richard Pryor takes a lot of shite from people who think he's overrated, but he really was the total package. Like most great comics, he was self-destructive, self-conscious, vain, and battling depression, and he was never afraid to go out there and tell everyone who would listen about it for a laugh along with some ridiculous gestures for added flavor.

Just to be clear, I'd be arguing in Carlin's favor if the thread was

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Is George Carlin the greatest comic of all time?

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They're incomparable because they're both important figures right atop the Mt. Olympus of Comedy.