Eddie Murphy: Delirious

Eddie Murphy: Delirious is a stand-up comedy special recorded before a live audience at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. in August 1983. Performing material he had toured through New York and eighteen other American cities, the twenty-two-year-old Murphy works through stories and routines drawing on his childhood, the family barbecue, the ice cream man, sex, and show business, and includes vocal impressions of well-known entertainers. Released on HBO in October 1983, the special runs just under seventy minutes and presents the material without cuts or censorship. Murphy wrote and produced it himself, and James Argiro appears in a small sideline role. It was directed by Bruce Gowers, and it was the first film he directed, preceding the 2001 concert special Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration.

The special arrived as Murphy was becoming a major television star, and it places the concert stage alongside his screen work of the period. Its reputation rests on the performance itself and on the style of comedy it brought to a wide audience.

On IMDb it holds an 8.1 rating from roughly 19,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.6 from about 369 votes. A film critics' rating of 7.5 from six reviews sits between the two, indicating that critical and audience responses to the special are broadly similar.