1. Black Faces in Early Hollywood
(Raw).
While the monkey/lion joke may itself have been fabricated, the essence of the segment showed audiences the root of Eddie Murphy's raunchiness. Raw itself broke Scarface's record of the most "f__cks" in a feature film, with a whopping 223 "fucks." The small 3 odd minute segment detailed above that preceded the stand-up ironically summed up who Eddie Murphy was from a child: raw. There were no boundaries to him. He said what he wanted to say even if people didn't laugh, but luckily for him what he said, no matter how raunchy, was obviously well received. You wouldn't think someone so outspoken and bold would just drop off the stand-up world, but yet, even 28 years after Raw, Eddie Murphy maintains his decision to do so. But why did Eddie Murphy leave stand-up, and what does the reason say about artists as a whole? .
February 15, 2015 was not only Saturday Night Live's 40th anniversary but also the first time we got a hint of why Eddie chose to leave stand-up. The event was star-studded, with the likes of Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Paul McCartney and Tina Fey among the colossal list of celebrities to give a monologue or perform in a sketch that were there to pay tribute to SNL. Because Chris Rock had been such an outspoken pupil and admirer of Eddie Murphy, everyone knew that when he came onstage to give a monologue, a tribute to Eddie would most likely be next. Confirming everyone's suspicion Rock began: How do I start to talk about Eddie Murphycomedy wasn't a job, a job involved lifting things and wearing a uniform. Comedy wasn't work.and then I saw Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live and it changed everythingI wanted the thing I "lifted" to be a mic, I wanted the uniform I wore to be leatherin 1981 nobody knew if Saturday Night Live was going to lastbut Eddie saved SNL. If Saturday Night Live hadn't hired Eddie, then this show would have lasted half as long as Baywatch.