Kill Your Idols: Eddie Murphy Delirious

I'm fascinated by this one.

For those of us who are too young to remember Richard Pryor at his peak, I think this comedy album/special is the biggest of such of most of our lifetimes. I think it was so much bigger than anything that's come out in the last 20+ years, even Bring The Pain and Rock's other stuff.

I've heard this discussed on several podcasts where they basically say, "Eddie's got to be mortified when he listens to that now..."

Maybe he is.

It's 30 years later. It's about as politically incorrect as you can get, but I still think it's funny, even though if a comedian came out with something similar these days, they'd probably never work again.

Curious what others think...

 

Raw was better. Nothing Richard Pryor did was bigger than Delirious, though. Fuck that politically correct shit, though. Which Eddie Murphy is closer to his real personality, Pluto Nash or the brash standup king?

 

At the time? I think he was pretty close to the brash standup king. To be fair, he was really young at the time, and even if people don't think it holds up today, it was the biggest thing going at the time.

I still love Raw too, but he was really angry for that one, which just made it funnier. I know he's said publicly that that's tough for him to watch these days, but Delirious is rarely mentioned.

That was 30 years ago though. Most people change a lot in 30 years.

 

Delirious is, and always will, be the top seed for comedy specials or whatever you call it. If you think otherwise, you're wrong.

 

The only people who don't think it holds up today are sewn too tightly in to their girdles.

Murphy has to say some of those jokes make him uncomfortable. But the only thing he should feel while watching those is pathetic because he threw away so much talent. He would have been filthy rich without selling out.

 

I completely agree. I listened to it a few days ago and laughed my ass off...

I'll bet there are more than a few who loved it when it came out who claim to hate it now.

 

Probably. Those people are dumb.

 

Getting mad now at a standup comic for saying "faggot" in 2013: eyeroll-inducing.

Getting mad now at a standup comic for saying "faggot" in 1983: Get over yourself.

 

Raw is good, but Delirious is in its own stratosphere.

Delirious was the best in a good era for brash standup. Sam Kinison, Andrew Dice Clay, Denis Leary, Bobcat Goldwaith, Roseanne Barr before her TV show. Hell, even Howie Mandel had a decent brash act in the 80s.

Of course it all pales in comparison to Pryor. And George Carlin should have his own wing

 

Agreed. Give me Carlin or Pryor at their peaks, but I loved Delirious was outstanding and it's still damn funny.

For those who need to refresh their memories.

I had forgotten that he starts the show with the bit about being afraid of gay people.

 

I'm definitely a comedy nerd and I think Delirious is probably the best stand up special I've ever seen. I've seen all of Carlin's and all of Pryor's and obviously all of the recent stuff.

 

Did he sell out though? I'm too young (29) to have really been around for his peak, but my impression of Murphy has always been that he was more interested in making something that appealed to a wider audience, as opposed to being a critical darling. If it was something that happened to be critically well-received, like Beverly Hills Cop or 48 Hours, or his stand-up specials, then cool. But unless I'm mistaken, I don't think he was ever interested in that socially conscious capital letters Important Comedy, it was just a byproduct of some of his bits at times.

When Tower Heist came out, he made a bit of noise about doing stand-up again maybe, but then that movie didn't do great and he pulled out of hosting the Oscars when there was the snafu with the director. Which kind of sucks, because I would have loved to see him do that, but in the Rolling Stone interview from the time he did seem like a mellow, happy dude.