Eddie Murphy Raw (1987)

Okay, yes, it's rated R but 230 F words is unneeded.About 40 of them are from a routine about Eddie's abusive father. How is child abuse funny? I have only seen about 10 or so minutes of this movie but I don't won't to finish it. I do give it a one because of the opening scene and the rabbit/bear joke at the end but that's it. This is the same guy who made Coming To America the next year, that's my favorite Murphy movie. Mulan, Shrek 1-4, Daddy Day Care, Norbit, and a few other movies are way better than this. I don't always hate profanity-laced movie-I think The Departed earned the Oscar, but one guy saying it in a 75ish minute time period 200+ times is uncalled for. Skip this and Harlem Nights and pick a different movie of his.

Like Richard Pryor, I must admit, it is fun to watch another foul mouthed comic, up on stage. Though not matching the credentials of the late, brilliant insightful comic, Pryor, who I believe was even a better actor, what we have is 86 minutes guaranteed worth of raucous laughs. From infidelity to poverty, where the poor Murphy family were reduced to eating slinky springs, Murphy kicks up a storm of laughs, while remaining coolly confident, which a few budding comedian must envy. Murphy knows how to dress too, his attire more effective than his ruddy sort in Delirious. Too, the start was inventive, with Eddie's childhood, Samuel L Jackson, playing a small but fine role as the Grandfather, egging little Eddie on in the tellings of a dirty joke, seeing star potential. And to split opinions, where personally I didn't like Best Defence, I'd choose Beverly Hills Cop over 48 Hours, any day. I must admit, Murphy isn't afraid to be dramatic about the underlying realities of his jokes. it. His impersonations are fantastic, Bill Cosby, is almost nailed, plus others that impress. Here's a great night in, to save you from going out in the cold to a concert. If you don't mind profanity, that is.

Live in New York, Eddie Murphy may well look quite ridiculous in his purple jumpsuit but he holds the stage really well in this large arena. It goes without saying that his material is relentlessly foulmouthed and occasionally offensive but it rarely bothered me because he does manage to be consistently funny throughout the show. His topics are mostly in the realm of relationships in regards sex and women generally. This worried me a little bit because these topics hardly offered much in the way of originality but actually he did really well with it.It wasn't that he avoided clichés (because he doesn't) but more that he manages to inject energy into his whole show. At times his material is very strong but even when he is being obvious and crude, his energy lifts it, engages the audience and makes it feel better than it is. I wasn't rolling with laughter all the time but I did really enjoy the show so, even when I didn't laugh at some bits, it wasn't really a problem but he was generally still amusing. Director Townsend doesn't really help him by having the camera tight on him so much either; Murphy's energy is in his whole body so the close shots reduce this somewhat – plus the whole setup makes it hard to appreciate the audience being in the room.Overall though a funny and energetic show from Murphy. It isn't a classic by any means and his material is hardly original but he has stage presence and energy and that helps a lot. Maybe too crude and foulmouthed to be to everyone's tastes but if it is your thing then it is worth a look.

Except for the beginning where you see some Thanksgiving of 1968 where a child is telling a joke (I only saw that once because now I always fast forward to the show). It's a great gift to hear Eddie talk about various stuff and often his physiognomy is especially funny.. He talks about women who nowadays.. (he refers of course to the 80ties (but it's still true) get "half" of what you own if the marriage breaks up. He starts this joke with seeing Johnny Carson on the front page of the Enquirer looking very unhappy and then talking about switching to the story where you see a picture of her wife which he is also mimicking.. getting half of Johnny's 300 million.. And the he keeps talking about relationships in general and how to handle them (some very usable information), about a call from Bill Cosby about Italians after they saw Rocky.. and so on.. If you are not offended by the very adult language this Show is a must see DVD.. And for those who don't speak English that well there are subtitles included.. which you sometimes even can use if your English is good, because sometimes he mumbles a bit.. But go out and buy it.. or at least rent it.. And a little hint to to companies: Release 'Delirious' on DVD. Finally... But as I said.. send the Children to bed first..