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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Light years before political correctness--1983 to be exact--or his comeback in tame Disney comedies, Eddie Murphy was a charismatic, wonderfully offensive, egocentric 22-year-old black comedian known for crude celebrity impersonations and often shockingly frank diatribes on racial and sexual politics. Dressed in a skin-tight red leather suit and delivering endless streams of obscenities faster than Richard Pryor ever did, Murphy is captured in this raunchy HBO special (a filmed document of his Grammy-winning album, Eddie Murphy, Comedian) at his confident, swaggering, comedic peak--a posture that soon disappeared after a string of bland Hollywood comedies. Here, however, his energy and sheer virtuosity command complete control over the audience for 107 minutes, whether he's mocking personalities like Elvis, James Brown, and Stevie Wonder, or spinning long, gag-filled personal anecdotes about the ice-cream man or dysfunctional family barbecues. There's no apologizing for the immature stereotyping, blatant homophobia, and sexism (though Murphy did so several years later) that surface during the routine. But, then again, unlike his much nastier, one-sided concert film, Raw, no topic here is safe from Murphy's uproarious tongue-lashings--including the comedian himself. --Dave McCoy
It's so nice to see the old Eddie again!,
Review date: 2007-06-25 Rating: 8 out of 10
I LOVE this routine. Eddie Murphy is and always will be a comedy genius. The film is side splitting from the outset; Eddie just seems to bring that uniqueness to the stage and makes the most basic thing funny. Revisiting "Delirious" 24 years after its creation is great to have. The material does seem to have aged as well as the transformation to this disc, but it's hilarious.
The look of Eddie and some of the pop culture it consists of gives it away that this is the '80s; however, enough of the material is comprised of solid universal themes it remains funny. I still laugh myself senselessly when Murphy launches into "I got some ice cream, I got some ice cream!" or "I want half!" He's a filthy mouthed funny guy that reminds me of Richard Pryor's vulgarity coupled with Bill Cosby's charm. He is a brilliant comedian with a tremendous standup presence. It's a shame Murphy has given up live performance, because "Delirious" proves he was a master of the comedy stage.
The shocking thing watching the special is how offensive Murphy was back in the day, and how he offers no apology for the material. He was more hyper than he is now, more irreverent, and also a lot cockier. He does come off as a homophobe with his insensitive remarks, but you have to keep the era in context. He was protested by gay groups all along this tour, and surely outside of this venue picketers could be found (which was Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.). If you're sensitive about politically incorrect topics against homosexuals and women, you just might want to veer away from this item. Other than that, "Delirious" is a great disc to own right now but was so long overdue.