When Eddie Murphy impersonates a gay guy imitating a police siren and a starving man’s reaction to eating a cracker, it’s laugh-out-loud funny, but such moments are fewer and farther between than the ones from his Delirious show.
That one rarely lets up. This one is funny; once you get past the corny introduction skit; but not nearly as often. He spends too much time on Bill Cosby, which isn’t one of his best impersonations, romantic relationships and sex.
my rating : 3 of 5
1987
I don’t know about Delirious, but Eddie Murphy is certainly hilarious in this HBO special. It’s a stand-up comedy show live from Washington DC, but there’s nothing politically correct about it. Even with kids in the audience, Murphy comes with a barrage of raunchy jokes, often via personal anecdotes and spot-on celebrity impressions. He also goes after white people and “fags”, but it’s all in fun. “I fuck with everybody,” he says, “I don’t give a fuck.”
my rating : 5 of 5
1983
1983
2019
nbc.com
1992
Eddie Murphy deserves some praise. His Delirious concert from nearly thirty years ago is a masterpiece, but this Spike TV tribute show, which comes across as a polar roast in which the recipient is praised instead of insulted, is all wrong. It’s not just the format that’s the problem; it’s the fact that old Eddie Murphy video clips are the only funny thing about it.
Every guest, from Jamie Fox to Chris Rock, aims to make you laugh and even their lamest jokes work on the giddy Saban Theatre crowd, but their attempts rarely work on me. Tracey Morgan is a hack. The Stevie Wonder performance, which shows he still has a wonderful singing voice, is, in this context, off-puttingly random. The whole show is a bit of a mess.
my rating : 2 of 5
2012