It was during lunchtime at Blaine-Sumner Elementary School, in 1953, that Richard Pryor first performed for a larger audience — as part of a double bill that included The Glow Girls, a singing group that included his close friend Margaret Ruth. The sixth-grade Richard performed his Jerry Lewis-influenced brand of slapstick; the Glow Girls performed the songs of the era—including the popular Mills Brothers’ song “The Glow Worm,” from which they derived their name.
The entrance to the school gym served as an amphitheater, its steps as risers for an audience of twenty-five or more kids. An alcove around the corner formed the wings of the stage, where the acts could make their dramatic entrances. The Pryor-Glow Girls double bill had a theatrical run of around fifteen impromptu performances.