Film

Eddie Murphy Raw

Name: Eddie Murphy Raw
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1987
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Tatyana Ali, Billie Allen, Samuel L. Jackson, Deon Richmond

Gross-out comedy
Light-hearted

This is Eddie Murphy at his commercial and creative peak, filmed at Madison Square Garden in a red leather suit and pure swagger. It's blue, loud, occasionally exhausting, and packed with impressions and bits about relationships, fame and family that landed him the biggest stand-up gross of the era. Watch it for the confidence, not the delicacy.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love a comic who builds a bit from a single voice, a sharp impression, or a memory of home, and you don't mind a stand-up set that swerves from vulgar to tender within a minute.

Skip it if you want a film with a plot or any sense of story, since this is a single performer on a stage, and much of the humor is blunt, sexual and dated in ways that may land flat today.

What it asks of you: It runs about ninety minutes of one man talking to a crowd, so you need to sit with a loose run of jokes, sometimes raunchy, and let the rhythm carry you from bit to bit.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip1982

Richard Pryor's own concert film is the blueprint Murphy was working from — rawer, funnier about pain, and honest about addiction in a way that still lands.

But It's looser and less polished than Murphy's show, with less spectacle and more silence.

Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip poster

Chris Rock: Bring the Pain1996

Chris Rock's HBO special that made him a main event, sharp on race, relationships and O.J. with a rhythm that's been copied ever since.

But Some references are firmly mid-90s and need context now.

The Original Kings of Comedy2000

Four comics, one stage, Spike Lee behind the camera — Bernie Mac alone is worth the ticket, and the crowd energy is electric.

But Four sets back-to-back means uneven pacing; not every comedian is at the same level.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Eddie Murphy Raw

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Lenny1974

Murphy inherited the taboo-breaking stand-up tradition Bruce paid for; this shows the courtroom-and-ruin version of the same fight over what's allowed to be funny.

Dustin Hoffman plays Lenny Bruce, the comic who got arrested for obscenity a generation before Murphy made a fortune off similar material — a black-and-white drama about the cost of saying it anyway.

But It's a tragedy, not a comedy special — bleak, slow in places, and asks you to sit with the price of the act rather than laugh at it.

Dave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly2000

Chappelle before the Netflix era, hungry and specific, filmed in DC with a crowd that clearly adores him.

But Shorter and rougher-edged than his later specials, with less polish.

Dave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly poster

Martin Lawrence: You So Crazy1994

Martin Lawrence unfiltered, arguably more explicit than Murphy ever got, and a huge influence on the loud-suit stand-up era.

But It's relentlessly filthy with little tonal variation — a lot of one gear.

George Carlin: Jammin' in New York1992

George Carlin doing furious, precise material on language, war and hypocrisy — a completely different comic engine than Murphy's.

But Cerebral and political rather than character-driven; a very different pleasure.

George Carlin: Jammin' in New York poster

Bill Hicks: Revelations1993

Bill Hicks at his most apocalyptic and philosophical, filmed in London not long before his death — bracing, angry, brilliant.

But Dense and confrontational; not the crowd-pleasing good time Raw is.

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain2013

Kevin Hart filling arenas with pure physical comedy and relationship material, the modern inheritor of Murphy's showman instincts.

But Broader and safer, with none of Raw's edge or danger.

Katt Williams: American Hustle2007

Katt Williams manic, quotable, and genuinely unpredictable — a cult favourite among comedians for a reason.

But Less mainstream polish, and some material has aged badly.

Comedian2002

Raw shows Murphy at his most assured; this shows what assurance costs to build, the invisible labour behind every effortless-looking bit.

Jerry Seinfeld, at the height of his fame, tears up his act and goes back to open mics to build a new hour from nothing — a documentary about the terror behind the confidence you see on stage.

But No big laughs here, just process, flop sweat and small clubs — a completely different rhythm from a polished special.

Punchline1988

Same era, same stand-up world Murphy dominated, but fictionalised and turned inward — the psychological cost of being funny for a living, played straight.

Tom Hanks and Sally Field as comics clawing their way toward a New York stage, made the same year as Murphy's fame peaked, and unusually clear-eyed about how personal wreckage fuels the jokes.

But It's a drama with jokes in it rather than a comedy, and the tone swings harder into sadness than you'd expect.