Eddie Murphy - Raw
This was Eddie Murphy’s second stab at a feature length stand up film after ‘Delirious’, (or the one in the purple suit for those who saw both of these many eons ago). When this was filmed he had already completed his tour of duty on Saturday Night Live and made several of his most popular films that had catapulted him into the position of the world’s most popular black man...
This was Eddie Murphy’s second stab at a feature length stand up film after ‘Delirious’, (or the one in the purple suit for those who saw both of these many eons ago). When this was filmed he had already completed his tour of duty on Saturday Night Live and made several of his most popular films that had catapulted him into the position of the world’s most popular black man. So, it is no surprise that his comic timing is finely tuned and his performance is carefully controlled.
The basic set up is a brief 4-minute sketch, where we see a supposedly young Eddie announcing his crude sense of humour at a family gathering, which is then followed by his fans outside the concert stating his popularity among his audience, followed by the concert itself. The humour is hit or miss, covering the main theme of relationships and several other themes like taking a shit and men having sensitive nuts. He does hit upon some funny nuggets of insightful information, that in their day were considered extreme for a mainstream audience but the knowledge of the existence of the genius Richard Pryor and Sam Kinison make Murphy’s comedy nothing more than a rehash of jokes that we have heard before. When Lenny Bruce legitimised the use of certain so called ‘offensive’ phrases and words, it is no surprise that it would not be long before language and words would once again become pretty meaningless, leaving us in a situation today where nobody believes a word that anyone else says.
However, one has to be admired for standing up in front of X million people with nothing more than a microphone and regurgitating 80 minutes of your own jokes. He goes into routines about how men have figured women out, stating such lines as “if you make your woman cum good, then as long as you apologise for fucking up, she will forgive you for anything”. But again with Pryor, Kinison and Bill Hicks been and gone, Murphy’s material does seem to tread similar steps to material that has been delivered with much more insight, a better delivery and ultimately is more funny.
For Murphy fans out there, if they still exist, then this will definitely deliver the giggles.It is the crudities and the language thrown together for 80 solid minutes. Also fans of such humour may also find it a smile and when compared to the Roy Chubby Browns of this world, this could also be called some of the best stand up comedy available on the market. However if you like your comedy worldly, check out Richard Pryor Live, Bill Hick’s ‘Revelations’ and Eddie Izzard’s ‘Dressed to Kill’ DVD’s. They would both make fantastic boxing day viewing and deserve multi watches. This though is one off viewing and with no extras at all to speak off, worth only purchasing as a budget buy if you are curious and have yet to see Murphy live. A shame really as some of his Saturday Night Live sketches were hilarious, especially the sketch about the band ‘The Clarences’, (the original ‘Beatles’ with Lennon, MCartney et al), before they kicked the 5th member of the group out of the band (Murphy with a huge afro) and renamed themselves ‘The Beatles’.
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