Eddie Murphy is arguably one of the biggest comedians ever. Before making an impact on Saturday Night Live, he was building a reputation for himself with an early stand-up career, and continued to do stand-up comedy during his SNL time. Murphy has now aimed his focus towards his movie career and family, but would he ever want to return to stand-up comedy? He has one condition.
The Beverly Hills Cop franchise star's documentary, Being Eddie, is available with a Netflix subscription. It highlighted his career, including his early comedy days. Murphy admitted to ET that originally, the documentary came about because he was thinking about doing stand-up again. They were all coming up with ideas, but then the pandemic hit, and the plans were scrapped. They kept shooting the documentary, and his mind was changing about going out there and telling jokes. Fast forward to the documentary now being out. Where does Murphy stand on doing stand-up?
Now, I’ve gotten to where I’m over the pandemic, and I’m open to the idea of doing it again. It has to strike me as something that would be fun, because the only reason to do it is if it’s fun for me to do it.
Considering Murphy is one of the funniest actors out there, it’s hard to imagine him being worried about being funny since it seems so effortless for him. However, it being fun for him is also a big factor, which is understandable. Having to do stand-up just to do it is one thing, but wanting to do it and making sure it’s a good time is truly the most important part for him:
That’s the only way it would be funny. If I’m having fun, then it’s gonna be fun. But, if I go do something and it don’t feel right and I feel pressure and I feel like people are checking to see if I want to do it as opposed to just laughing, if I feel all of that shit — like I said, it has to feel like it’s fun.
Whether or not Eddie Murphy will ever actually go back to stand-up is hard to tell, but he seems to be interested in it, which is a good sign. Of course, he is pretty busy, so it’s possible that if he chooses to do stand-up, it might just be a one-time thing, a very brief tour, or perhaps another stand-up special. If anything, stand-up comedy has not left his mind.
Meanwhile, Murphy is staying plenty busy. He starred in The Pickup last year. He also did SNL50: The Anniversary Special, and even as a legend himself, he was still in awe of the people who were in attendance. Murphy is set to reprise his voice role of Donkey in the long-awaited Shrek 5, releasing in theaters in 2027. According to his IMDb, he has another six projects in the works, including an untitled George Clinton biopic, in which he will portray the funk legend.
Murphy’s stand-up career may be in his rearview mirror for now, but there’s always the possibility that he’ll make a comeback in the future. Fans will have to settle for the many projects that he has in the works and all the projects he’s already done. By the time you get through every single one, perhaps he’ll have made a return to stand-up.
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