Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling
1986 film by Richard Pryor
- May 2, 1986 (1986-05-02)
Running time
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling is a 1986 American biographical[3] comedy-drama film directed, produced by and starring Richard Pryor, who also wrote the screenplay with Paul Mooney and Rocco Urbisci. Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling was Richard Pryor's first[4] and only directorial effort,[5] although he is credited as such on the screen version of his 1983 stand-up comedy concert film.
Background
Pryor plays Jo Jo Dancer, a popular stand-up comedian, who has severely burned himself while freebasing cocaine. The film came out six years after Pryor had set himself on fire while freebasing.
Plot
As Dancer lies hospitalized in a coma, his spiritual alter ego revisits his life, from growing up in a brothel as a child and struggling to beat the long odds to become a top-rated comedian. However, his success leads to extensive drug use and womanizing that takes its toll on his life. It affects every relationship, including his marriages. Jo Jo's spirit watches and attempts to convince his past self to end the cycle of self-destruction.
Cast
- Richard Pryor as Jo Jo Dancer
- E'Lon Cox as Jo Jo Dancer (child)
- Paula Kelly as Satin Doll
- Art Evans as Arturo
- Barbara Williams as Dawn
- Fay Hauser as Grace
- Billy Eckstine as Johnny Barnett
- Diahnne Abbott as Mother
- Carmen McRae as Grandmother
- Debbie Allen as Michelle
- Tanya Boyd as Alicia
- Wings Hauser as Cliff
- Michael Ironside as Detective Lawrence
- Scoey Mitchell as Father
- Dennis Hayden as Policeman #1
Production
The earlier parts of the film were shot in Pryor's hometown of Peoria, Illinois.
Reception
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling received mixed reviews from critics. It currently has a 50% "Rotten" rating on the movie review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews.
References
- ^ https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57382-JO-JO-DANCER-YOUR-LIFE-IS-CALLING
- ^ "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling", Box Office Mojo.
- ^ Siskel, Gene (May 4, 1986). "Richard Pryor Comes Clean In Harrowing Recap Of Life". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- ^ "Short Circuit A Box-office Live Wire". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
- ^ "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
External links
- Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling at IMDb
- Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling at Rotten Tomatoes
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| Original |
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|---|---|
| Compilation |
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- Live & Smokin' (1971)
- Live in Concert (1979)
- Live on the Sunset Strip (1982)
- Here and Now (1983)
- The Richard Pryor Show (1977)
- Pryor's Place (1984)
- Here and Now (1983, also writer)
- Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986, also produced and writer)
- Uncle Tom's Fairy Tales (1969, also writer)
- Bustin' Loose (1981, also writer)
- Live on the Sunset Strip (1982, also writer)
- Live & Smokin' (1971)
- Blazing Saddles (1974)
- Live in Concert (1979)
- I Ain't Dead Yet (2003)
- The Funniest Man Dead or Alive (2005)
- Omit the Logic (2013)
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