Thursday, September 5, 2019

Eddie Murphy Planning Return To Stand-Up Comedy In 2020


You can go home again. Eddie Murphy has already announced he’s returning as a host to Saturday Night Live in its upcoming season after a long hiatus. Now, he’s hinting that another homecoming of sorts is in the works, as he said on a podcast that he would be mounting a stand-up tour in 2020.

Murphy has been rumored to be talking with Netflix about a series of stand-up specials. His past efforts, including 1983’s Delirious and 1987’s Raw, were enormously popular, and he commanded arena-level crowds before he went on to bigger and better things in films.

Now, with a new Netflix movie, Dolemite Is My Name, and his highly anticipated return to a beloved character in the forthcoming Coming To America 2, the time may be right for him to remind the world of his stand-up skills.

The plans were revealed on a taped episode of the Netflix podcast, Present Company with Krista Smith. During the conversation, Murphy said that after he hosts SNL in December, “… and then next year in 2020 I’m going to go on the road and do some stand-up.” The remarks come about 25 minutes into the podcast.

Whether that touring will be related to a new Netflix deal was not addressed.

The return to stand-up may have been sparked by his re-immersion in that world thanks to Dolemite Is My Name. The film depicts fellow stand-up comedian Rudy Ray Moore and his quixotic goal to make a film about his pimp stage persona, Dolemite.