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Eddie Murphy delays stand-up return as he feels 2020 doesn't 'need any comedic commentary'

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 12: Eddie Murphy accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award onstage during the 25th Annual Critics' Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 12, 2020 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Eddie Murphy accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award onstage during the 25th Annual Critics' Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 12, 2020 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Eddie Murphy has revealed his plans for a much-anticipated return to stand-up comedy have been postponed as he feels the current political climate is no laughing matter.

2020 has been a trying time across the globe, with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and civil and political unrest in the US following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.

The issues have left the comedy legend feeling like the current climate does not require “any comedic commentary”.

Read more: Eddie Murphy returns to Saturday Night Live and brings Gumby, Buckwheat and Bill Cosby with him

Speaking backstage at the Creative Emmys, he said: “These are really serious times, no times for joking.

“I don’t know right now if there should be any comedic commentary. We’re still right in the middle of everything.

“In a year or so, we’ll need comedic commentary and some laughs, but now we’re right in this.”

American comedian Eddie Murphy performs onstage at Madison Square Garden during his 'Raw Tour,' New York, New York, October 13, 1987. (Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)
Eddie Murphy performs onstage at Madison Square Garden during his 'Raw Tour,' New York, New York, October 13, 1987. (Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)

He added: “As soon as it’s clear to go back out there, that was the plan, that is the plan.”

The 2020 Emmy Awards, which took place virtually on Saturday (19 September), saw the 59-year-old achieve his first ever Emmy win for last year’s triumphant return to long-running comedy series Saturday Night Live.

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Accepting the award, Murphy said: “Thank you to everybody at the Emmys. Thank you so much for giving me an Emmy, I don’t have an Emmy. This is 40 years since I started Saturday Night Live. This is my first Emmy, so thank you so much.

“I want to thank Lorne Michaels for putting this whole thing together and making this happen. And I want to thank the cast and the writers and the crew at SNL.

“This was a very very special thing for me to come back and have the show turn out the way it did. I’m still floating from it. And thank you to everybody for giving me an Emmy.”