Rain Pryor explores unconventional childhood in one-woman show

The holidays in Rain Pryor’s house are a bit of a hodgepodge — she and her family light a menorah to celebrate Hanukkah and a kinara to recognize Kwanzaa before decorating their Christmas tree.

The equal opportunity celebration is a natural fit for Pryor, who grew up black and Jewish and now practices the African religion Ifa.

“We do it all,” says the 45-year-old comedian-actress-playwright, who also hosts a show on the Arise News network, wrote a new play called “Out” and is the mother to a 6-year-old daughter.

The melting pot that is Pryor’s life is just one of the many issues she addresses in her one-woman cabaret-meets-comedy show “Fried Chicken and Latkes.” She’s been performing the show off-Broadway and across the country since 2001, but will bring it to Atlanta for the first time Jan. 15-17 at the Southwest Arts Center in partnership with the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta and Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre.

“(The show) kind of puts a lot of things in your face, especially because it’s about a (certain) era,” Pryor says. “But nowadays for whatever the climate we’re in, it kind of represents where we are now. I like that and I think it’s a great way to perhaps get the two different communities that tend to be at odds with each other to also have a conversation.”

From her home in Baltimore, she talked about how she developed the show, her unconventional childhood and growing up as Richard Pryor’s daughter.

Q: You do many impressions in your show, including one of your father. How do you reconcile being your your own person with the knowledge that many people link you to your father?

A: Rain is who Rain is, and she's always been that way. I don't know why I'm talking about myself in the third person! (Laughs.) It's not going to change anything. My dad was iconic. He did what he did, and if it wasn't for him, I don't think I could do what I'm doing now. That's kind of how I deal with it, and I'm lucky. I'm lucky to have had such a man who spoke such truth and was so unapologetic about it. We've grown up that way and I love that. It could be a curse, or it could be a great thing to have, and it's both.

Q: Why did you conceive of “Fried Chicken and Latkes” as a one-woman show?

A: It wasn't something I set out to do. I actually just wanted to do this cabaret show. My mentor, (actor and director) Melvin Van Peebles, was like, you can't wait for Hollywood to come to you, make it happen. And why don't you take your life and the characters that are in your life, and just do this casual thing? And then it kind of took off on its own. I actually thought I wrote a dramatic cabaret, like, I'm going to sing these songs and talk about my childhood and my life and imitate my family. I had no idea I wrote kind of a comedy with some drama in it.

Q: How does Judaism fit into your life now?

A: I identify because it's part of my heritage. It's a part of what my makeup is, it's a part of what my ancestry is. But I'm Ifa, and that's my spiritual life, and that's my path. … Judaism was a very big part of my life. My mom never practiced it but my grandparents always did, and that's where I got the traditions from, and the food and the flavors and the lifestyle.

Q: What do you hope people who come to see your show come away with?

A: That they see themselves, and a reflection of what they can be. I love that people tell me, "You told my story." Maybe there's more stories like that to be told.