Eddie Murphy: Raw

 

Raw is one of Eddie Murphy’s most infamous stand ups from the late 1980s. I’ve been told that it is a classic and one that every fan of comedy must watch. In this standup he talked about women, being single, the gay community and celebrity.

I had never seen this stand up before so I was surprised that quite a few of his jokes held up. With that being said, there were plenty of cringe worthy moments. When he would talk about women, he was very demeaning. These jokes were also a bit lazy and not very funny. It was more like an omission of his truth vs just telling the jokes. He also spent a lot of time talking about how all men cheat and why it was okay. I thought was pretty extreme; you could tell he was going through something personally. In 2019 Murphy disclosed that during the time he filmed Raw, he wasn't in a great place. He was an angry young man with a broken heart. So that kind of makes sense why he went so hard at women; I just wish he could have figured out a better outlet. 

Additionally, some of the homophobic language he used was hard to hear and definitely not something he could get away with now. Overall, Eddie Murphy isn’t my go-to when it comes to standup. He does not measure up to the comedic genius of Chappelle. To me he was pretty basic and he lost me at the end when it got too awkward. I much prefer him in the acting lane.