Here's the quote from Eddie Murphy, currently plugging his particularly kooky movie that is Meet Dave, that's gotten people buzzing about him again.
"I have close to fifty movies and it's like, why am I in the movies?" he said, adding, "I've done that part now. I'll go back to the stage and do standup."
Eddie Murphy cut his teeth on stand-up, reaching a pinnacle with his 1987 smash concert film Eddie Murphy: Raw, which certainly lived up to its name. Inspired by Richard Pryor and inspirer of Chris Rock, people have long quietly hoped that Murphy would stop churning out duds like Norbit and get back to what made him an admired and respected (not to mention hilarious) talent in the first place. Seriously, watch this classic SNL bit where he goes undercover as a white man. It may have started his make-up fetish, but it's still genius.
The question, however, will quickly become whether or not Eddie's still got the stand-up chops. A lot has changed since 1987, and a lot of people won't really react well to stereotypical gay jokes anymore, especially given Murphy's own history with "giving rides" - not to mention the fact that he did his two biggest stand-up specials while being clad head to toe in brightly-colored leather suits with big flaming collars and even a scarf. Also, it's entirely possible Eddie himself has changed a lot since 1987, perhaps becoming a sheltered, pampered movie star with no connection to the real world anymore. His stand-up success was built on relating crazy childhood stories of his alcoholic father's rantings, his mother's giant homemade hamburgers and getting into the filthy nitty-gritty of sex and relationships. Now that he's a famous zillionaire father in his late 40s, how is he going to recapture that deliriously raw feeling that made him what he was?
It could either be exactly what he needs to do right now, or a colossal disaster. Let's cross our fingers and hope for the former, so he can regain the comedy icon status that his recent movies have diminished. When Eddie Murphy is on, there's no one better.
Watch the trailer for Meet Dave.
Classic Eddie Murphy clips from Saturday Night Live:
Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood
Buckwheat Gets Shot
Buckwheat Is Dead: America Mourns
Buckwheat's Killer: John David Stutts
Prose and Cons - a Norman Mailer short
