DVD Reviews

Eddie Murphy: Delirious - 25th Anniversary – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Jun 2, 2009, 17:05 GMT

Taped live and in concert at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. in August, 1983, Eddie Murphy "Delirious" captures Eddie Murphy\'s wild and outrageous stand-up comedy act. Reminiscences of hot childhood days and the ice cream man are intermixed with classic vocal parodies of top American entertainers. Here then, is 22-year old Eddie Murphy, live and red hot! Uncensored and Uncut! ...more

If you’re of a certain generation and onward, Eddie Murphy is a kid-friendly actor.  However, if you’re from another time altogether you’ll remember him much differently and dirtier.  

Eddie Murphy jointed the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1980 and would be a fixture on the show until 1984.  1982 saw him starring in 48 Hours to much favorable box office and he followed that with 1983’s Trading Places, with fellow SNL alum Dan Aykroyd, and the concert film Delirious. 
For folks of my generation it might be the first time that we’ve heard someone work “blue.”  At the time, I laughed my arse off at Murphy’s hilarious riffs and found it very original - that is until I discovered Richard Pryor. 

Delirious is still pretty funny, but Murphy was just bouncing off the legacy of one of his heroes – Richard Pryor.  That’s not to say that Murphy isn’t a talent in his own right – just that I though Murphy was originating the naughty standup (well, dirty jokes have been around long before both performers) to my young eyes and ears.

It certainly will be to a certain generation the first time they snuck a dirty concert film into the VCR (remember those?) when the parents weren’t looking.  If you’re counting Murphy uses “f*ck” 230 times and “sh*t” 171 times.  That’s a lot of f*cking sh*t!  [insert Eddie Murphy laugh here].  The concert was recorded on August 17, 1983 at Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. 

It proved so successful that Murphy followed it up with Eddie Murphy Raw in 1987.  It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty five years and it might be harder to believe that Murphy has cleaned up his act and now stars in kid-friendly fare.  It would’ve seem Murphy’s career was in the sh*tter, who thought Beverly Hills Cop III was any good, but it was the hit Nutty Professor and Shrek that steered him towards the star of more PG-rated films.

I guess for those of us that remember his dirty days we can pop in Delirious and be swept up in the cussing and hilarious observations.  

Delirious is presented in fullscreen.  The concert is on disc one, with the special features being on disc two.  Special features include the 28 minute “Making of Delirious,” 4 minutes of bonus footage (“Buckwheat Impression” and a bit on “Cursing”), and a 34 minute uncut interview with Murphy and Byron Allen.  

Eddie Murphy has grown kinder, gentler, and done away with the potty mouth as he reinvents his persona to those just learning how to potty.  However, if you’ve been around with him from the beginning you remember when he had “edge” to him.  It’s been twenty five years and now we can look back to the concert film that cemented his stardom along with him.  This new edition seems much like a previous release, I don’t think 2007 edition had the “making of” doc on it, but we still can laugh along with it.  

Eddie Murphy: Delirious - 25th Anniversary is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.