Eddie Murphy Bio on netflix

[Anonymous]

Google “is Eddie Murphy overrated as a stand-up comic” and read all that has been said and written—including by black comics as well as Eddie himself who has publicly stated he doesn’t think his 2 specials were great.

Note: nobody has dismissed his lucrative movie career. He was a great comedic actor.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know what that long winded poster is talking about, that he aggressively pursued more substantial roles. It’s pretty well known that Eddie Murphy’s only audition was for SNL. He did state there were roles he regretted turning down, like a lead in Ghostbusters, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Rush hour, etc. He was interested in Space Odyssey but he wasn’t offered a role.

I have no idea what his outfit choices had to do with anything. A lot of people were influenced by Elvis.

[Anonymous]

When Eddie talks about his old stand up he regrets the homophobic slurs. He’s apologized for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I really enjoyed it. Learned quite a bit about Eddie and other celebrities.

OP here. I kind of enjoyed it, he came across as a really interesting guy. But then I remembered his stand up from the 80s and how it was just "f*ck this" and "mother-f*cker" etc and just was not funny (I was a very young teen)

Also I looked up his kids. The eldest three all came from different mothers, including the woman he married.

I think there was a lot of bad behavior that was not touched upon.

If that's all you got out of it, you weren't paying attention. It was some of the greatest standup of all time, up there with Robin Williams.

Quote some great lines, please. Otherwise, no. BS.

I'm not the person you quoted and have been going back and forth with, but you’re remembering the language, not the comedy. The jokes landed because of the observations, timing, and storytelling. The words were just seasoning.

Remember his ice cream truck joke, something about how when you're a kid the ice cream truck is the highlight of your life. Every kid turns into an Olympian when they hear that music. It was funny as hell because it was so relatable. Kids nowadays won't get it, but back in the 80s , yes, the ice cream truck was EVERYTHING and made kids lose their minds. That’s why people put Eddie Murphy up there with Robin Williams. Not because of swear words, but because he was sharp, observational, and charismatic. If you only remember the profanity, you missed the point

You dreaming cracker

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you guy kidding? Raw and delirious are considered top 10 stand up specials of all time and he didn’t have the type of movies Denzel did but he was very successful in his movie career and had lots of hits

She is judging his comedy by today's Puritanical standards where nothing is funny and everything is offensive.

Wrong.

I’m in my 50s and watched his original stand-up when it came out. I thought it was funny…but I was young.

Have you rewatched it recently? It’s not that funny. A lot if it was boring. Silly.

And I’m not judging it by puritanical standards or today’s values. I love comedy and my taste skews off color/offensive/pushing limits.

Like some others deemed legendary/icons/GOATS by prior generations, subsequent talents have dramatically eclipsed him—illustrating that he was a bit overrated.

ICYMI: his stand-up career was very short-lived. He had a limited amount of material and at some point realized he needed to hang up the microphone lest he tarnish his reputation. That’s okay, but it underscores how he really wasn’t the stand-up genius some people thought. Yes, his silly movie career (a la Sandler) was quite lucrative. So much so that he could have transitioned to a more serious/quasi-serious film career (a la Sandler), but he didn’t…because his pompous and difficult reputation preceded him (along with baby mama drama and drug issues).

You are vastly underrating his early movie career by calling it "silly." 48 Hours was the start of an entire genre - the buddy cop comedy - and Beverly Hills Cop continued it along. For a time, he was one of the biggest movie stars in the US.

you seem to be simultaneously arguing that Eddie was (i) overrated and (ii) a tremendous talent who limited his career because he was an a-hole. Pick a lane.

And I'm also in his 50s, and still think the early standup was hilarious.

I’m really not underestimating his early career. In fact, I think he had quick success with a number of legit films early on—so much so that he was well primed to transition into a far more substantial acting career. Heck, I said he could have transitioned to play roles like Denzel!

He always had presence. It’s what got him the SNL gig (after another black comic got it but was quickly let go) which opened the door to his two big stand up specials and movies. He was everywhere, riding a big wave of popularity.

But he had some scandals and generally burned some bridges in Hollywood, which obviously impacted his trajectory.

I’m not saying he was a failure. Rather, he could have been more successful but for his missteps and personality issues. I suspect he knows this and it probably irritates him.

His legacy is essentially a couple stand up specials that were raw and unique at the time (but not as funny as many of his successors), SNL (a handful of classic skits), and a highly profitable catalogue of movies—a few of which remain classics/solid but many of which skew silly.

Seems entirely plausible that a man of his age might look back and wish he could have been taken more seriously as an actor. Personally, I think he’s more talented than Will Smith, yet Will transitioned to a more substantial body of work than Eddie did.

Anyway, the ping of this thread is he’s put out a whitewash history…which I guess is to be expected. Everyone knows his ego is huge and he demands respect. Zero chance a more honest account of his life/career would happen.

Why do you insist on comparing Eddie and Denzel? Eddie is a stand-up comedian who transitioned into acting with no formal training. Denzel studied Drama at Fordham University (and graduated) and also spent time studying at American Conservatory Theater (ACT). Denzel started his career on Broadway. They are not similar.

Eddie’s stand-up career was very overrated…and he knows it. He shrewdly went all in on movies. Smart move, but not unusual.

Fun fact: tons of comics are really aiming for movie careers or tv shows.

Nobody said Eddie and Denzel were exactly the same. But if you were paying attention, Eddie became a sex symbol and was regularly featured on mainstream magazines for a long time—at the same time he was in movies with some gravitas.

Given his wide appeal coupled with his ability to open a film, he absolutely could have done many of the roles offered to other black actors.

His arrogance and being labeled as difficult (coupled with the personal issues) created roadblocks to the career any actor would have wanted.

Anyway, you don’t need to agree. That’s okay with me. But you seem really invested in making Eddie seem more influential and important than he was. Yes, the world was looking for the next Richard Pryor…which is why he was propelled onto the national stage so quickly…but Eddie has never had the same stand-up talent as Pryor. Eddie was more like a shock jock comic who quickly dropped the mic to do movies and never looked back. That’s ok, but he really underscores that he was never a comic at the same level as Chris Rock, Chappelle, heck even Gaffigan or any other comic who lives for the stage and grinds out shows on the road for decades.

Eddie and Sandler are very similar imho: ho-hum comics who America loves for their silly movies. But Sandler seems to have avoided alienating Hollywood (as well as scandals).

If by overrated, you mean he had two of the most popular and well-known stand up routines of all time, then sure. There are obviously no objective metrics to judge what is overrated or not, so you are free to keep proclaiming it to your heart's content. But it's just your opinion, and I'm guessing it's a distinct minority opinion.

You seem to hold it against him that he didn't in your words, "grind out shows on the road for decades." Why on earth would he do that? It's a brutally tough life. I'll bet that any comic who supposedly "lives for the stage" would trade that life in a heartbeat for Eddie's career. He's had a better career than all of the people you mention - wildly successful at stand-up, star of some iconic movies early in his career, one of the most recognizable voice acting roles of all time, and then the "silly movies" you mention, while conveniently ignoring the rest of his career. But when people think of Eddie Murphy, no one thinks of the Nutty Professor or the Clumps.

As for him being influential and important, I have no particular dog in that hunt, but I do like to challenge idiocy when I read it. To just name two things, he pioneered the buddy cop movie, and and is mentioned by an entire generation of comics as being a significant influence on their careers. What more to you want?

Dig a little deeper, perhaps?

Eddie had precisely two comedy specials. He strategically leveraged them to propel him into films and stardom, and summarily dismissed stand-up for good. He dressed in Elvis-esque leather jumpsuits and styled himself as a rockstar. He even went so far as to release a music album.

Eddie took the “throw spaghetti against the wall” approach to fame and shrewdly stayed in his comedy film lane which is what everyone remembers. But what many of you seemed to miss is that he wanted more. He wanted to be a serious actor. He tried…hard. He positioned himself as a sex symbol (remember the topless posters?) and aggressively pursued more substantial roles.

Anyway, it’s really strange how some refuse to remember history…or ignore decades of what has been written about him or come out of his own mouth.

And where are the feminists? I mean, this guy has a really, really bad track record with women and his own children (never mind the dead trans sex worker).

Re: his icon comedy rep - it is well deserved for his movies, and his 2 stand-up specials were huge for the time, but history should not hail him as one of the great stand-ups (just like Sandler shouldn’t be hailed as a great stand-up). He did two shows then gave it up. The shows were so big for myriad reasons.

Those two stand up specials are top 10 of all time and other comics revere Eddie and if it he was so hard to get along with, it probably wouldn’t be the case. He’s a true legend and if he toured tomorrow, it would be the number one comedy tour in the world, instantly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what that long winded poster is talking about, that he aggressively pursued more substantial roles. It’s pretty well known that Eddie Murphy’s only audition was for SNL. He did state there were roles he regretted turning down, like a lead in Ghostbusters, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Rush hour, etc. He was interested in Space Odyssey but he wasn’t offered a role.

I have no idea what his outfit choices had to do with anything. A lot of people were influenced by Elvis.

Every entertainer tried to act like a rockstar, it’s part of branding. Its why so many music videos are in front of large crowds to portray the musical act as bigger than they might actually be

[Anonymous]

Who is the weirdo poster with the Eddie career rewrite fetish who is pretending to know the inner workings of his mind and the “regrets” of a person who has only auditioned once in his entire career?
A. Eddie stated MANY years ago that he could stop working tomorrow and sit on the couch and raise his babies.
B. Mel B has stated that she has forgiven Eddie and said he’s an amazing father and person.
C. The GOATS of comedy have said Eddie is their GOAT and the nicest guy.
D. The only people Eddie burned is an out of work SNL comic and a few tightwad racists at the Academy for telling the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t think Eddie regrets not broadening his career into more dramatic roles—particularly after being eclipsed/replaced by Tyler Perry (who used Eddie’s playbook and then elevated it into an empire, achieving what Eddie never could), that’s okay.

But I guarantee you Eddie has regrets…and compares himself to all the usual suspect black actors from his day and ever since.

Now he wants to be Tyler Perry? 😂

Did you know that Eddie Murphy compared Tyler Perry to Rudy Rae Moore? He is a performer/filmmaker known for blaxploitation comedies (hugely popular in the 70s). His point was that Tyler Perry, like Rudy Rae Moore, built a grassroots audience and succeeded by believing in his work and grinding it out. Just like Rudy Rae Moore did. Even when others didn’t believe. He said Tyler Perry didn’t have industry advantages early on, yet still made it and became hugely successful.

Also, did you know that Tyler Perry credited Eddie Murphy’s portrayal of multiple characters (especially female ones like Mama Klump in Nutty Professor II) as an inspiration for his creation of Madea.

Maybe, Murphy has regrets. I bet a lot of his peers have them too, there’s nothing unusual about that. But this made up beef that you think Eddie Murphy has with Tyler Perry is weird.

Um, yes…everyone knows Tyler Perry used Eddie’s playbook to launch his own career in comedy films—precisely by doing characters in the same vein. (As stated earlier in the thread.)

It’s interesting how many Eddie-stans are in Dcumlandia…and seemingly don’t remember Eddie’s history.

Perhaps the one-sided glowing documentary wasn’t needed after all?

We know his history, we just don’t agree that he’s comparable to Denzel, jealous of Tyler Perry, overrated, failed in his career, or kicked out of Hollywood.

I did not watch the documentary and I’m too old to be anyone’s “stan”.

Ditto

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you guy kidding? Raw and delirious are considered top 10 stand up specials of all time and he didn’t have the type of movies Denzel did but he was very successful in his movie career and had lots of hits

She is judging his comedy by today's Puritanical standards where nothing is funny and everything is offensive.

Wrong.

I’m in my 50s and watched his original stand-up when it came out. I thought it was funny…but I was young.

Have you rewatched it recently? It’s not that funny. A lot if it was boring. Silly.

And I’m not judging it by puritanical standards or today’s values. I love comedy and my taste skews off color/offensive/pushing limits.

Like some others deemed legendary/icons/GOATS by prior generations, subsequent talents have dramatically eclipsed him—illustrating that he was a bit overrated.

ICYMI: his stand-up career was very short-lived. He had a limited amount of material and at some point realized he needed to hang up the microphone lest he tarnish his reputation. That’s okay, but it underscores how he really wasn’t the stand-up genius some people thought. Yes, his silly movie career (a la Sandler) was quite lucrative. So much so that he could have transitioned to a more serious/quasi-serious film career (a la Sandler), but he didn’t…because his pompous and difficult reputation preceded him (along with baby mama drama and drug issues).

You are vastly underrating his early movie career by calling it "silly." 48 Hours was the start of an entire genre - the buddy cop comedy - and Beverly Hills Cop continued it along. For a time, he was one of the biggest movie stars in the US.

you seem to be simultaneously arguing that Eddie was (i) overrated and (ii) a tremendous talent who limited his career because he was an a-hole. Pick a lane.

And I'm also in his 50s, and still think the early standup was hilarious.

I’m really not underestimating his early career. In fact, I think he had quick success with a number of legit films early on—so much so that he was well primed to transition into a far more substantial acting career. Heck, I said he could have transitioned to play roles like Denzel!

He always had presence. It’s what got him the SNL gig (after another black comic got it but was quickly let go) which opened the door to his two big stand up specials and movies. He was everywhere, riding a big wave of popularity.

But he had some scandals and generally burned some bridges in Hollywood, which obviously impacted his trajectory.

I’m not saying he was a failure. Rather, he could have been more successful but for his missteps and personality issues. I suspect he knows this and it probably irritates him.

His legacy is essentially a couple stand up specials that were raw and unique at the time (but not as funny as many of his successors), SNL (a handful of classic skits), and a highly profitable catalogue of movies—a few of which remain classics/solid but many of which skew silly.

Seems entirely plausible that a man of his age might look back and wish he could have been taken more seriously as an actor. Personally, I think he’s more talented than Will Smith, yet Will transitioned to a more substantial body of work than Eddie did.

Anyway, the ping of this thread is he’s put out a whitewash history…which I guess is to be expected. Everyone knows his ego is huge and he demands respect. Zero chance a more honest account of his life/career would happen.

Why do you insist on comparing Eddie and Denzel? Eddie is a stand-up comedian who transitioned into acting with no formal training. Denzel studied Drama at Fordham University (and graduated) and also spent time studying at American Conservatory Theater (ACT). Denzel started his career on Broadway. They are not similar.

Eddie’s stand-up career was very overrated…and he knows it. He shrewdly went all in on movies. Smart move, but not unusual.

Fun fact: tons of comics are really aiming for movie careers or tv shows.

Nobody said Eddie and Denzel were exactly the same. But if you were paying attention, Eddie became a sex symbol and was regularly featured on mainstream magazines for a long time—at the same time he was in movies with some gravitas.

Given his wide appeal coupled with his ability to open a film, he absolutely could have done many of the roles offered to other black actors.

His arrogance and being labeled as difficult (coupled with the personal issues) created roadblocks to the career any actor would have wanted.

Anyway, you don’t need to agree. That’s okay with me. But you seem really invested in making Eddie seem more influential and important than he was. Yes, the world was looking for the next Richard Pryor…which is why he was propelled onto the national stage so quickly…but Eddie has never had the same stand-up talent as Pryor. Eddie was more like a shock jock comic who quickly dropped the mic to do movies and never looked back. That’s ok, but he really underscores that he was never a comic at the same level as Chris Rock, Chappelle, heck even Gaffigan or any other comic who lives for the stage and grinds out shows on the road for decades.

Eddie and Sandler are very similar imho: ho-hum comics who America loves for their silly movies. But Sandler seems to have avoided alienating Hollywood (as well as scandals).

If by overrated, you mean he had two of the most popular and well-known stand up routines of all time, then sure. There are obviously no objective metrics to judge what is overrated or not, so you are free to keep proclaiming it to your heart's content. But it's just your opinion, and I'm guessing it's a distinct minority opinion.

You seem to hold it against him that he didn't in your words, "grind out shows on the road for decades." Why on earth would he do that? It's a brutally tough life. I'll bet that any comic who supposedly "lives for the stage" would trade that life in a heartbeat for Eddie's career. He's had a better career than all of the people you mention - wildly successful at stand-up, star of some iconic movies early in his career, one of the most recognizable voice acting roles of all time, and then the "silly movies" you mention, while conveniently ignoring the rest of his career. But when people think of Eddie Murphy, no one thinks of the Nutty Professor or the Clumps.

As for him being influential and important, I have no particular dog in that hunt, but I do like to challenge idiocy when I read it. To just name two things, he pioneered the buddy cop movie, and and is mentioned by an entire generation of comics as being a significant influence on their careers. What more to you want?

Dig a little deeper, perhaps?

Eddie had precisely two comedy specials. He strategically leveraged them to propel him into films and stardom, and summarily dismissed stand-up for good. He dressed in Elvis-esque leather jumpsuits and styled himself as a rockstar. He even went so far as to release a music album.

Eddie took the “throw spaghetti against the wall” approach to fame and shrewdly stayed in his comedy film lane which is what everyone remembers. But what many of you seemed to miss is that he wanted more. He wanted to be a serious actor. He tried…hard. He positioned himself as a sex symbol (remember the topless posters?) and aggressively pursued more substantial roles.

Anyway, it’s really strange how some refuse to remember history…or ignore decades of what has been written about him or come out of his own mouth.

And where are the feminists? I mean, this guy has a really, really bad track record with women and his own children (never mind the dead trans sex worker).

Re: his icon comedy rep - it is well deserved for his movies, and his 2 stand-up specials were huge for the time, but history should not hail him as one of the great stand-ups (just like Sandler shouldn’t be hailed as a great stand-up). He did two shows then gave it up. The shows were so big for myriad reasons.

Well then he was in good company. It appears that it was a trend at one time and many famous or well-known men were wearing leather.
https://uk.pinterest.com/LeatherAdmirer/famous-men-in-leather-pants/

[Anonymous]

I’ve actually never heard a big name comic ever put down Eddie (maybe David spade) but they all seem to revere Eddie

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve actually never heard a big name comic ever put down Eddie (maybe David spade) but they all seem to revere Eddie

Sigh.

Spade made a silly joke on SNL about Eddie 25 years ago that made Eddie become irate and share his anger publicly.

It’s safe to assume every comic quickly realized Eddie is very thin-skinned and they couldn’t joke around with him/about him—which practically speaking translated into nobody commenting on him unless it was glowing praise.

Put another way: I think comics are more afraid of him than in awe of him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve actually never heard a big name comic ever put down Eddie (maybe David spade) but they all seem to revere Eddie

Sigh.

Spade made a silly joke on SNL about Eddie 25 years ago that made Eddie become irate and share his anger publicly.

It’s safe to assume every comic quickly realized Eddie is very thin-skinned and they couldn’t joke around with him/about him—which practically speaking translated into nobody commenting on him unless it was glowing praise.

Put another way: I think comics are more afraid of him than in awe of him.

Yes, Eddie was mad about the David Spade SNL joke in the 90s. Eddie himself has said it bothered him because it came from SNL, a place he helped build. Spade has also said he regretted it, and they’ve both said publicly that it’s been squashed since then.

But turning that into “all comics are afraid of Eddie Murphy” is just dumb. There’s no evidence of that. One beef does not equal the entire comedy world walking on eggshells.

Also, if comics were “afraid” of him, you wouldn’t see so many of them openly calling him a legend or citing him as a major influence. Plenty of comics disagree on rankings or don’t think he’s the GOAT, and they’ve said that publicly without issue.

Eddie Murphy is one of the biggest comedy stars ever, and many comics respect his impact. You don’t need a conspiracy theory about fear to explain that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve actually never heard a big name comic ever put down Eddie (maybe David spade) but they all seem to revere Eddie

Sigh.

Spade made a silly joke on SNL about Eddie 25 years ago that made Eddie become irate and share his anger publicly.

It’s safe to assume every comic quickly realized Eddie is very thin-skinned and they couldn’t joke around with him/about him—which practically speaking translated into nobody commenting on him unless it was glowing praise.

Put another way: I think comics are more afraid of him than in awe of him.

Yes, Eddie was mad about the David Spade SNL joke in the 90s. Eddie himself has said it bothered him because it came from SNL, a place he helped build. Spade has also said he regretted it, and they’ve both said publicly that it’s been squashed since then.

But turning that into “all comics are afraid of Eddie Murphy” is just dumb. There’s no evidence of that. One beef does not equal the entire comedy world walking on eggshells.

Also, if comics were “afraid” of him, you wouldn’t see so many of them openly calling him a legend or citing him as a major influence. Plenty of comics disagree on rankings or don’t think he’s the GOAT, and they’ve said that publicly without issue.

Eddie Murphy is one of the biggest comedy stars ever, and many comics respect his impact. You don’t need a conspiracy theory about fear to explain that.

The fact that a former SNL cast member who was once a comedian couldn’t take a harmless joke aired during a SNL segment poking fun at a bunch of celebs proves he is thin-skinned…and obviously doesn’t have a sense of humor about himself (which is common for arrogant celebs).

The fact that the one-sided grudge/beef carried on for 25 years speaks volumes about Eddie.

I don’t think people truly fear him. Rather, they realize he can’t take a joke or any less than praiseworthy comments—and they don’t want to be on the receiving end of a 25 year Murphy grudge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you guy kidding? Raw and delirious are considered top 10 stand up specials of all time and he didn’t have the type of movies Denzel did but he was very successful in his movie career and had lots of hits

She is judging his comedy by today's Puritanical standards where nothing is funny and everything is offensive.

Wrong.

I’m in my 50s and watched his original stand-up when it came out. I thought it was funny…but I was young.

Have you rewatched it recently? It’s not that funny. A lot if it was boring. Silly.

And I’m not judging it by puritanical standards or today’s values. I love comedy and my taste skews off color/offensive/pushing limits.

Like some others deemed legendary/icons/GOATS by prior generations, subsequent talents have dramatically eclipsed him—illustrating that he was a bit overrated.

ICYMI: his stand-up career was very short-lived. He had a limited amount of material and at some point realized he needed to hang up the microphone lest he tarnish his reputation. That’s okay, but it underscores how he really wasn’t the stand-up genius some people thought. Yes, his silly movie career (a la Sandler) was quite lucrative. So much so that he could have transitioned to a more serious/quasi-serious film career (a la Sandler), but he didn’t…because his pompous and difficult reputation preceded him (along with baby mama drama and drug issues).

You are vastly underrating his early movie career by calling it "silly." 48 Hours was the start of an entire genre - the buddy cop comedy - and Beverly Hills Cop continued it along. For a time, he was one of the biggest movie stars in the US.

you seem to be simultaneously arguing that Eddie was (i) overrated and (ii) a tremendous talent who limited his career because he was an a-hole. Pick a lane.

And I'm also in his 50s, and still think the early standup was hilarious.

I’m really not underestimating his early career. In fact, I think he had quick success with a number of legit films early on—so much so that he was well primed to transition into a far more substantial acting career. Heck, I said he could have transitioned to play roles like Denzel!

He always had presence. It’s what got him the SNL gig (after another black comic got it but was quickly let go) which opened the door to his two big stand up specials and movies. He was everywhere, riding a big wave of popularity.

But he had some scandals and generally burned some bridges in Hollywood, which obviously impacted his trajectory.

I’m not saying he was a failure. Rather, he could have been more successful but for his missteps and personality issues. I suspect he knows this and it probably irritates him.

His legacy is essentially a couple stand up specials that were raw and unique at the time (but not as funny as many of his successors), SNL (a handful of classic skits), and a highly profitable catalogue of movies—a few of which remain classics/solid but many of which skew silly.

Seems entirely plausible that a man of his age might look back and wish he could have been taken more seriously as an actor. Personally, I think he’s more talented than Will Smith, yet Will transitioned to a more substantial body of work than Eddie did.

Anyway, the ping of this thread is he’s put out a whitewash history…which I guess is to be expected. Everyone knows his ego is huge and he demands respect. Zero chance a more honest account of his life/career would happen.

Why do you insist on comparing Eddie and Denzel? Eddie is a stand-up comedian who transitioned into acting with no formal training. Denzel studied Drama at Fordham University (and graduated) and also spent time studying at American Conservatory Theater (ACT). Denzel started his career on Broadway. They are not similar.

Eddie’s stand-up career was very overrated…and he knows it. He shrewdly went all in on movies. Smart move, but not unusual.

Fun fact: tons of comics are really aiming for movie careers or tv shows.

Nobody said Eddie and Denzel were exactly the same. But if you were paying attention, Eddie became a sex symbol and was regularly featured on mainstream magazines for a long time—at the same time he was in movies with some gravitas.

Given his wide appeal coupled with his ability to open a film, he absolutely could have done many of the roles offered to other black actors.

His arrogance and being labeled as difficult (coupled with the personal issues) created roadblocks to the career any actor would have wanted.

Anyway, you don’t need to agree. That’s okay with me. But you seem really invested in making Eddie seem more influential and important than he was. Yes, the world was looking for the next Richard Pryor…which is why he was propelled onto the national stage so quickly…but Eddie has never had the same stand-up talent as Pryor. Eddie was more like a shock jock comic who quickly dropped the mic to do movies and never looked back. That’s ok, but he really underscores that he was never a comic at the same level as Chris Rock, Chappelle, heck even Gaffigan or any other comic who lives for the stage and grinds out shows on the road for decades.

Eddie and Sandler are very similar imho: ho-hum comics who America loves for their silly movies. But Sandler seems to have avoided alienating Hollywood (as well as scandals).

If by overrated, you mean he had two of the most popular and well-known stand up routines of all time, then sure. There are obviously no objective metrics to judge what is overrated or not, so you are free to keep proclaiming it to your heart's content. But it's just your opinion, and I'm guessing it's a distinct minority opinion.

You seem to hold it against him that he didn't in your words, "grind out shows on the road for decades." Why on earth would he do that? It's a brutally tough life. I'll bet that any comic who supposedly "lives for the stage" would trade that life in a heartbeat for Eddie's career. He's had a better career than all of the people you mention - wildly successful at stand-up, star of some iconic movies early in his career, one of the most recognizable voice acting roles of all time, and then the "silly movies" you mention, while conveniently ignoring the rest of his career. But when people think of Eddie Murphy, no one thinks of the Nutty Professor or the Clumps.

As for him being influential and important, I have no particular dog in that hunt, but I do like to challenge idiocy when I read it. To just name two things, he pioneered the buddy cop movie, and and is mentioned by an entire generation of comics as being a significant influence on their careers. What more to you want?

Dig a little deeper, perhaps?

Eddie had precisely two comedy specials. He strategically leveraged them to propel him into films and stardom, and summarily dismissed stand-up for good. He dressed in Elvis-esque leather jumpsuits and styled himself as a rockstar. He even went so far as to release a music album.

Eddie took the “throw spaghetti against the wall” approach to fame and shrewdly stayed in his comedy film lane which is what everyone remembers. But what many of you seemed to miss is that he wanted more. He wanted to be a serious actor. He tried…hard. He positioned himself as a sex symbol (remember the topless posters?) and aggressively pursued more substantial roles.

Anyway, it’s really strange how some refuse to remember history…or ignore decades of what has been written about him or come out of his own mouth.

And where are the feminists? I mean, this guy has a really, really bad track record with women and his own children (never mind the dead trans sex worker).

Re: his icon comedy rep - it is well deserved for his movies, and his 2 stand-up specials were huge for the time, but history should not hail him as one of the great stand-ups (just like Sandler shouldn’t be hailed as a great stand-up). He did two shows then gave it up. The shows were so big for myriad reasons.

You're all over the place. You argued, ad nauseum, that Eddie was overrated, not a great comedian, and made "silly movies." But now, when you're unable to defend that (and hopefully recognize it as idiocy), you switch gears to "he wanted more," "what about the bad behavior," and "where are the feminists?"

I have no opinion on his personal life, or his goals. But he is undeniably a huge talent who had huge success in and made a lasting impact on standup, movie roles, SNL, and as a voice actor. Why do I need to "dig deeper" than that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve actually never heard a big name comic ever put down Eddie (maybe David spade) but they all seem to revere Eddie

Sigh.

Spade made a silly joke on SNL about Eddie 25 years ago that made Eddie become irate and share his anger publicly.

It’s safe to assume every comic quickly realized Eddie is very thin-skinned and they couldn’t joke around with him/about him—which practically speaking translated into nobody commenting on him unless it was glowing praise.

Put another way: I think comics are more afraid of him than in awe of him.

Yes, Eddie was mad about the David Spade SNL joke in the 90s. Eddie himself has said it bothered him because it came from SNL, a place he helped build. Spade has also said he regretted it, and they’ve both said publicly that it’s been squashed since then.

But turning that into “all comics are afraid of Eddie Murphy” is just dumb. There’s no evidence of that. One beef does not equal the entire comedy world walking on eggshells.

Also, if comics were “afraid” of him, you wouldn’t see so many of them openly calling him a legend or citing him as a major influence. Plenty of comics disagree on rankings or don’t think he’s the GOAT, and they’ve said that publicly without issue.

Eddie Murphy is one of the biggest comedy stars ever, and many comics respect his impact. You don’t need a conspiracy theory about fear to explain that.

The fact that a former SNL cast member who was once a comedian couldn’t take a harmless joke aired during a SNL segment poking fun at a bunch of celebs proves he is thin-skinned…and obviously doesn’t have a sense of humor about himself (which is common for arrogant celebs).

The fact that the one-sided grudge/beef carried on for 25 years speaks volumes about Eddie.

I don’t think people truly fear him. Rather, they realize he can’t take a joke or any less than praiseworthy comments—and they don’t want to be on the receiving end of a 25 year Murphy grudge.

I think that still stretches one moment way too far. Eddie didn’t flip out over a random roast; he reacted to a career-hit joke coming from SNL, a show he helped define. Context matters. Plenty of comedians have said getting clowned by outsiders is one thing, but getting publicly dunked on by your own house hits different.

Also, calling it a “25-year grudge” ignores the fact that Eddie just moved on and didn’t talk about it much. Spade has even said that he brought it up way more than Eddie did. Eddie wasn’t doing press tours trashing him; he just stayed away from SNL for a long time, which he’s explained pretty reasonably. He was more upset at SNL than at David Spade himself.

And not loving a joke at your expense doesn’t mean you “can’t take a joke” or lack self-awareness. That’s a huge leap. By that logic, almost every comic who’s ever bristled at a roast is thin-skinned and arrogant, which we know isn’t true.

People have debated his stand-up, his later movies, his legacy, etc., publicly. Nobody is scared of a “Murphy grudge.”