Eddie Murphy is an extremely talented actor who has a diverse range of acting skills. However, he is best known for his comedic performances that have made him one of the most famous and successful comedy actors in the world. In fact, he was awarded the Mark twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2015 in recognition of his contributions to comedy. While he is now known predominantly for his roles in blockbuster movies, he began his career as a stand-up comedian. He is now returning to his professional roots and becoming a stand-up comedian on television.
In his teens, Eddie Murphy was inspired by stand-up comedians (Richard Pryor being the biggest) who were famous at that time and decided that this was a career he wanted to pursue. He even took part in talent contests performing as a stand-up comedian. He then began performing in clubs and became known for his sketches featuring copious profanity and making jokes relating to the stereotypical images of people from different ethnicities, along with sketches featuring overweight and gay people.
It was his stand-up career that gave him the opportunity to get into television, as he became one of the cast members on Saturday Night Live. He appeared in this series between 1980 and 1984, and he was nominated for multiple awards for his performances. During his time on this series, Murphy also began his film career. He made his film debut playing the role of Reggie Hammond in the 1982 film ’48 hours’, which was directed by Walter Hill. For his performance in this film, Murphy was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year- Actor.
This led to Murphy appearing in many more films throughout his career. Some for which he is best known include the ‘Beverley Hills Cop’ series of films, ‘Trading Places’, ‘The Nutty Professor’ and its sequel, ‘Dreamgirls’, ‘Norbit’ ‘Coming to America’, and ‘Tower Heist’. He has been nominated for and won multiple awards for his roles in many of these films. Murphy has also provided the voices for many films. The most famous character he has voiced is Donkey in the ‘Shrek series of films. He also voiced Musha the dragon in ‘Mulan’.
Despite enjoying huge success in his film career, Eddie Murphy has now returned to his stand-up roots, says The Daily Mail. Murphy says that late comedian Don Rickles had encouraged him the past to return to stand-up performances, and now he has finally done just that. Apparently, it was a big offer from Netflix that helped persuade him to do stand-up comedy again. It is reported that they have offered the actor a whopping $70 million contract to for an undisclosed number of specials, although this figure is still part of the negotiations.
This figure is comparable to what the streaming service has been willing to pay other stars of Murphy’s standing in the past. They paid Chris Rock $40 million for two stand-up specials, while Dave Chappelle performed three stand-up specials for $60 million. Murphy, 58, is currently in ongoing negotiations with Netflix to iron out the details of this deal. The last time Murphy performed as a stand-up comedian was back in 1987, over 20 years ago. He has noted that things have changed since he last did stand-up and that writing new material is tricky. He has described how he thinks he knows what the audience wants, but that also means the audience knows what to expect. He wants to write routines that are new and surprising. A series of stand-up specials would not be the first time that Murphy has appeared on a Netflix series. He was recently interviewed on ‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee’, which is a Jerry Seinfeld Netflix show. In his interview with Seinfeld, Murphy hinted that he was making a return to stand-up.
Other than rumors about ongoing negotiations, little else is known about Murphy’s potential stand-up routines. Netflix has not confirmed the rumors or released information about any specials they are planning. Similarly, Murphy has not released any more information after he hinted at making a return. So, it is unknown when these stand-up performances will become available for fans to stream, or if they will even happen at all. Therefore, fans of Eddie Murphy will have to wait and see if the rumors are true before getting too excited about watching the actor return to his professional roots.
In the meantime, there are two upcoming Murphy films for them to look forward to as Murphy has been a busy man. The first of these is ‘Dolemite is My Name’, which is a biographical comedy film that is set for release in September 2019. Murphy is playing the lead role of the real-life comedian Rudy Ray Moore. Others starring in this film include Wesley Snipes, Mike Epps, and Craig Robinson. It is directed by Craig Brewer and co-written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. Murphy is also working as a producer of this movie. The second film that is currently in post-production is ‘Coming to America 2′, which is set for release sometime in 2020. Murphy is reprising the role of Prince Akeem Joffer/ Randy Watson, which he played in the original 1988 movie.
No doubt his personal life will also keep Murphy busy. He now has ten children from five women, and his children range in age from 20-years-old to under one. He is currently in a relationship with model Paige Butler. They had a daughter together in May 2016. They then had their second child, a son who is Murphy’s tenth child, and he was born in December 2018. So, Murphy is now juggling the demands of a toddler and the sleepless nights that come with having a baby alongside his many professional commitments. Fans can only hope that he can find enough time in his busy schedule to make the specials for Netflix.
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