DVD Pick of the Week - Eddie Murphy: Delirious
ICE CREEEEEAAAAAAAM!
Eddie Murphy: Delirious
Want to generationally-profile your friends and acquaintances? Just look them square in the eye and say “I have one word for you. Just one one word…..
“Goonie-goo-goo.”
If they’re laughing hysterically, it means that they probably grew up in the 80’s and feel the same way we do about Delirious, Eddie Murphy’s landmark 1983 standup concert recorded at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., which finally lands on DVD this week. “Goonie-goo-goo” being the punchline of an extended bit about Murphy’s hirsute Aunt Bunny, who isn’t the only family member he sends up during the raunchy 70-minute long special that became a smash hit for the young comedian following his breakout on SNL and back to back hits 48 Hrs. and Trading Places. It was also, for most of us kids at the time, a classic case of desperately seeking out something you shouldn’t; sneaking downstairs when our parents were asleep to watch Delirious on HBO, trying to stifle our nervous giggles, was a bonafide rite of passage in the 80’s, much the same way listening to Richard Pryor records was for the generation before.
Pryor’s influence is all over Murphy’s performance here, which he’d go on to acknowledge in the good-but-not-quite-as-funny Raw a couple of years later. Though in retrospect, the no-holds-barred approach to his material isn’t always as finessed as it could be – it was probably a mistake to put all those gay jokes at the top of the show, as he still gets branded a homophobe to this day – but what makes Delirious work in the end is the showmanship, which he’s got in spades. From the red leather jumpsuit and chains to a stunning battery of flawless musician impressions (Elvis and James Brown especially, though Teddy Pendergrass is a personal favorite: “That motherfucker’s crazy, throw your panties on the stage!”), Murphy’s more than just a little bit rock star and he knows it, playing straight out to the back of the room for every punchline.
With Dreamgirls acclaim and his career seemingly back on track for the first time in years (Yes, we’re prepared to forgive him for Norbit if he can pull better offers from here on out), it’s an excellent time to revisit Eddie when he was just as crass, yet pretty goddamn funny.
Other recommended titles for February 6th: The Amazing Screw-On Head; Anything But Love, Vol. 1; Hellboy: Sword of Storms; Hollywoodland; The Science of Sleep.
—Nicole Campos
