DJ Pryor

Deztin Pryor is originally from Petersburg, Virginia, slitting some time in Richmond, VA and later moved to Clarksville, Tennessee due to his father's military service.[1][2] He is the oldest of 12 children. Pryor was born when his mother was 13 years old.[3] As a child, his grandmother would let him watch Bill Cosby and he would secretly watch Richard Pryor. He began doing stand-up comedy professionally at the age of 15 years.[1]

As a child, Pryor suffered physical and verbal abuse from his mother and verbal abuse from his biological father. He is vocal about his dark childhood, poking fun at his unorthodox upbringing within his stand-up routine.

In 1994 Pryor's mother married his stepfather, Rodney Pryor, who then adopted six-year-old DJ. After his stepfather and mother divorced, he continued to live with his stepfather who raised him as a single father. “My father (Rodney Pryor) is a pillar in my life he raised six of us independently that’s why he is still my hero,” Pryor said.

Pryor performs in a variety of venues from comedy clubs to churches and colleges. He has performed at the Virginia House of Comedy. Pryor was once the opening act for Corey Clark.[1] In 2012, Pryor's promoter and manager was Kasey Carlton.[1]

Pryor has trained under Kim Hardin and participated in improvisation classes with Chris Berube. He has performed in commercials for Allstate and Jack Daniel's. He hosted a radio show, The DJ Pryor Show in early 2014, that will soon become a watchable series. From 2013 to January 2019, he was represented by Dan Talent Group. As of February 2019, he is represented by APA Talent Agency and still based out of Clarksville, TN. In January 2019, Pryor participated in the CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase. He was one of 21 actors and comedians selected out of over 3,000 auditions. Pryor has acted in several short films.[4]

In June 2019, Pryor and his son, Kingston, were featured in a Denny's commercial for Father's Day.[5] The Wired recognized Pryor as a "dadfluencer."[6]

At the close of 2019, DJ Pryor was a guest on Dateline NBC's: A Toast to 2019! and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve 2020 to commemorate the highlights of 2019.[7]

Pryor resides in Clarksville, Tennessee.[4] He is married to Shanieke Pryor since 2015.[9] In 2019, a home video of him and his 19-month old son babbling went viral.[10] Author Jenny Anderson and Al Race of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University remark that Pryor's interaction with his son demonstrates a social-feedback loop called serve-and-return which contributes to child development.[11] Pryor is Christian.[2]