Murphy’s Law?

It’s the early 1980’s and after midnight. I’m in my friend's bedroom that’s stinking of old socks, stale air and the walls are plastered with throwing stars, nunchucks, posters of rock artists and pin up girls like Samantha Fox and Christie Brinkley. My hair is long, my jeans are too tight, I’m buried in junk food, and more than likely we’re watching Letterman, SNL, or some B horror movie, and then out of nowhere my friend jumps from his bed with a smile on his face, and mischievously closes the door.

I knew something was about to go down. The door was supposed to stay open so my friends’ mom could catch us doing some delinquent shit. Which usually involved fire or sneaking out. There’s no telling what I’m about to be a part of.

I see my buddy reaching deep behind his vinyl albums which consisted of bands like Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Van Halen, and anything you can imagine 14-15-year-old rebellious teenage boys would be listening to back then, but I see he’s pulled out something unique. It was unlike the rest of his stash. This isn’t Def Leppard, Metallica or Zeppelin! It’s a black dude on stage wearing some tight ass red leather suit holding a microphone, and he’s got this goofy smile on his face. I was confused!? Why is my buddy about to play this bullshit? And I think I recognize him. WAIT! It’s the dude who plays Buckwheat on SNL! and before I had the chance to say, “Fuck that! Play Zeppelin!” I hear the opening with what’s about to become a moment in my life I’ll never forget. It was the moment I laughed harder than I ever have. I laughed so hard; I’m fucking crying as I write this because I haven’t experienced laughter like that since.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Eddie Murphy!

Thank you. Thank you so much. Too kind, far too kind.

Before I even get started, how about a big round of applause for the Bus Boys!

There's some rules, I got some rules when I show down and I do my standup, I got rules and shit…."

And the rest is comedy history.

The next hour was spent trying to breathe. My abs were hurting because it was the type of laughter that comes from deep inside your stomach and soul. It was laughter that forces stomach muscles to contract, making it feel as if you just did 100’s of sit ups, but it was also after midnight and we were supposed to be asleep, so I had to bury my face in the pillow, soaking it with tears. We needed to prevent waking up my friends’ mom who surely would have confiscated the offensive contraband.

The following years of my life were spent sharing with friends the ‘Delirious’ album. Yep, Eddie Murphy was alongside my favorite bands. As mainstream as Eddie Murphy became, he didn’t start off like that. Murphy was first enjoyed by the same counterculture kids that eventually embraced Metallica, Anthrax, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy and NWA all at the same time. While the rest of the world was compartmentalizing how they perceived music and entertainment, we were all over the place enjoying anything that grabbed hold of us.

I don’t need to tell most of you Eddie Murphy’s story, but if you’re too young, all you need to know is that ‘Delirious’ helped make Eddie Murphy the biggest star on the planet. He was larger than life! Eddie was the biggest comedian at the time to come from SNL, surpassing Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. He had hit movie, after hit movie, a song on the charts, and 1 more standup special that made it to theaters.

And then in the blink of an eye, which in hindsight now seems like, for all intents and purposes, vanished from his standup fans.

For the next 30 years Eddie Murphy stayed away from the comedy stage and focused on being a Hollywood star. Yeah, he was still putting out movies, but it was a very watered-down version of Murphy that many in gen X resents to this day.

I believe Eddie Murphy was, and possibly still is the most naturally gifted comic of all time. At 15 he was doing impersonations of Al Green in front of club audiences, and by 25 he took over the world. By the way, ‘Raw’ is still the #1 grossing stand-up film of all time. 32 years later.

The End?

Nope. AND HOLY SHIT!

We all thought it was though. Comedy changed so much since the days when one of the filthiest and offensive comics reigned before us. During his final performance in 1987’s Raw, Eddie Murphy used the word “fuck” 223 times, came under fire for his “offensive” material by numerous groups, and then just walked away from standup. Over the years we heard the rumors that our king may return to the spotlight, but that chatter never came to fruition. It was disappointment, after disappointment. Until now!

On Friday, September 6^th 2019, Eddie Murphy made it official. This was more than conversations in cars with other comedians.

"Next year I am going to tour, do some stand-up," he revealed while speaking on the "Present Company with Krista Smith" Netflix podcast.”

The big question now is, what is Eddie Murphy going to bring to the table in 2020? How? Wait, WHAT? Eddie Murphy? It’s still not fully absorbed. The man who made me laugh harder than any person on planet earth has decided to do what no other comic of his stature has ever done? Take a 30+ year break from standup and then return?   

When I watched him on Jerry Seinfeld’s 1^st episode of this season’s ‘Comedians in cars getting coffee’, I started to have hope.

Since then I’ve wondered how!? Especially now. Not to mention…It’s been exactly one week since Dave Chappelle released ‘Sticks and Stones’ on Netflix. A comedy special targeting ‘cancel culture’ and the sensitive PC crowd. The fallout has been glorious, and people have lost their minds. (read my review here) Can Eddie Murphy pull this off? Seriously?

Yes! I think. Maybe?

At first, I was thinking its perfect timing for that type of comedy and pretty sure we would see the Eddie Murphy we remember well, but the more I think about it, the more I think he’s going to shock in a different way.

I believe once he gets back in the clubs and starts to exercise that part of the brain that needs to be strengthened, it's going to come back. We have no idea what’s been going on in his head for the past 30 years, or what he’s flushed out on his own.

Make no mistake, I think he’s going to eat big bags of dick and shit for the first year he’s in the clubs but think about what he just did! He signed a 70-million-dollar deal with Netflix to put out standup, and just confirmed he will be going out on tour.

He must really want to do stand up again, right? If you pay close attention when he’s talking with Seinfeld, he said something showing vulnerability and a type of humbleness he’s going to need to pull this off, he made it clear that he regrets not keeping that part of his brain working over the years. He showed fear. Eddie Murphy is not being delusional. That’s a great sign. He’s very cognitive and knows he can fail. That realistic doubt he’s showing is a sign of maturity.

He may very well go in a totally different direction and disappoint those hoping to see old Eddie, or he could come back and be very funny without being offensive, pleasing everyone.

Remember this…Eddie has his impersonations! They were fucking amazing, and impersonations have been on the back burner in standup for a while. His timing to make impersonations relevant again with audiences could be perfect, and a way to move past what some find “offensive”. Then again, we could get old Eddie Murphy, and if that’s the case, I’ll just enjoy watching the world burn.

I don’t know guys, but I’m REALLY excited to see what he brings to the table. 

WE’VE NEVER SEEN THIS HAPPEN IN STANDUP COMEDY! EVER!

Will Eddie Murphy become the George Foreman of comedy? Will he knock us out making a triumphant comeback this late in his life? Who knows!? All I know right now, is that I can’t wait to see his fight.