Eddie Murphy Raw
At one point in time, it was difficult to comprehend the levels of popularity and cultural acceptance required to have a concert movie made for either a band or singular entertainer, a literal filmed and edited live performance which would then be released and distributed in movie theatres alongside the other standard issue cinematic offerings for consumers to buy tickets for and watch just like they would any other movie. For stand up comedians, it was even rarer, with one exception: Richard Pryor, who scored with no less than three (3) theatrically released concert movies, a testament to his legendary stature in his chosen field. As the 1980s came on and Pryor’s own stardom began to wane, one particular African American comedy star would emerge in Pryor’s wake to even greater stardom: Eddie Murphy, starting from a groundbreaking run on Saturday Night Live to an even more successful and lucrative film career, arguably the top comedy star of his time in a decade filled to the brim with utterly brilliant comedic minds. Murphy’s first filmed stand up routine would be Delirious, in actuality a cable TV special but one that acted as an hilarious slap in the face to those who only knew him through his SNL work at that time. After a string of blockbuster hits that were carried almost completely by his talent and comic timing, Murphy finally got a shot at his idol Pryor’s specialty: a filmed and theatrically released concert film that hit in 1987 and blew away all previous examples of this format of filmmaking before or since. Murphy had been booked to do a live performance at New York City’s Felt Forum and with that had brought along a film crew led by Robert (Hollywood Shuffle) Townsend acting as director (even though at least logistics wise, Dice Clay would outdo Murphy a few years later by having HIS concert film be done at the adjoining and much bigger Madison Square Garden, selling it out two nights in a row in what would be an unprecedented feat for a comedian). The film opens with a prologue from Murphy’s childhood, a family Thanksgiving celebration where all the kids are “putting on a show” for the adults and after waiting patiently, little Eddie gets up and tells a joke for his relatives that features some scatological humor so to speak which only his wild looking uncle (Samuel L. Jackson) seems to appreciate. We then fast track to the Felt Forum where excited fans are gathering to see the biggest movie star in the world at that time telling dirty jokes. Murphy starts off by clearing up some unfinished business from Delirious, talking about being threatened by Mr. T (whom he had denigrated as being gay) and Michael Jackson before relating an hilarious phone call from Bill Cosby (a brilliant impersonation) where he was chastised for being too dirty and using the word “fuck”. From there, almost the entire rest of the performance is Murphy talking almost nonstop about women, relationships and sex. Now, it has been said that the greatest stand up comedians get the most mileage out of talking about the subjects of which they are the most insecure about while keeping everything nicely situated underneath a veil of false confidence (unlike Dangerfield who was known to openly admit to his audiences that he was indeed, talking about his own insecurities and neurotic tendencies). Clearly, Murphy (who was practically an 18 year old kid when he broke through into superstardom) up to that time was having trouble in his own personal life, having been through a slew of relationships where he was constantly concerned that these women were only after his money and a taste of his fame and that comes across abundantly here, albeit in a brilliant alpha male fashion (a trait he shared with Dice Clay) where he states his opinions as facts and ignorantly declares how all males and females are pretty much alike when it comes to both dating and handling conflicts. It sums up a lot of what makes a great stand up: you don’t have to agree with what they’re saying, but just as long as the delivery and timing is spot on, you find yourself laughing anyway. Eventually, Murphy’s neuroses and paranoias about women expand into his feelings about stardom itself and finding himself either used and / or targeted by EVERYONE he knows simply based on his being the biggest box office draw in the world and all of the money that goes along with it, as reflected in his bit about a nightclub fight with an Italian guy (complete with another spot on impersonation) that resulted in several black friends coming to his rescue who STILL sued him afterwards simply because they could. By this point, Murphy’s psyche has been stripped completely bare, that of a brash, brazen, testosterone driven comedian with a ton of bravado who deep down is still just an immature little boy, not quite grown up yet but still pretty nervous to see what life will have to offer him as he grows older and wiser. In real life, Murphy would see his stardom crater in the 1990s even as he maintained a respectable career trajectory (and picked up an Oscar nomination) but he would never again hit that peak where he was at the time of this release, a brilliantly insightful look at the persona of the top comedy name of the 80s who revealed himself to be just as neurotic and insecure as your average guy on the street, black male or otherwise…
10/10