Both Dice and Sam Kinnison were funny coming out of the gate, but petered out fast IMO. Comics have the same problem a lot of musicians have in that you have your whole life to write your first album, but then only a year to write your next one. This goes for comedy acts to, which is why so many originally funny comics die out eventually.
That’s why Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin were smart and moved onto movies. Their standup stuff was great, but they pretty much milked it for all it was worth.
But for stand-ups, nobody could touch Pryor in his prime, he was a great storyteller. And his routine on visiting the Arizona State Penitentiary, being all naive and upset about all the black men in the joint, then coming out and saying, “Thank God We Got Penitentiaries!”
A valid argument.