Eddie Murphy Might Return to Stand-Up, Says Paul Reiser—As Long As No One Records Him on Their Phones

In between takes of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F —the fourth movie in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, which began streaming on Netflix on Wednesday—Eddie Murphy casually mentioned to his co-star, Paul Reiser, that he might return to stand-up comedy.

“He [said] something casual—and he’s talked about this before— ‘I think about going back,'” Reiser recalled in a recent Zoom interview with Decider . “I said, ‘Please do it!'”

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Reiser reprises his role as Jeffrey in the new film, a character he hasn’t played since the 1987 release of Beverly Hill Cop II . In 2024, Jeffrey has graduated from being Axel Foley’s (Murphy) goofy, cop buddy in Detroit, to being his no-nonsense captain, frequently berating Axel for refusing to play by the rules. Judge Reinhold and John Ashton are also back as Rosewood and Taggart, who help Axel and his estranged daughter (Taylour Paige) uncover a conspiracy of corruption. Reiser and Murphy only have a few scenes together in the new movie, but it was enough time for Reiser to catch up with his old colleague, whom he first met in the New York City comedy scene back in the ’70s, when Murphy was a teenager.

“We were all working in the city, in the comic strip, and we would hear about this kid out on Long Island, which was like another world,” Reiser told Decider. “Everybody from the island would say, ‘You gotta see this kid. He’s so funny. He’s 16.’ I remember thinking, ‘How funny is anybody at 16? You can’t be that funny, you’re 16!’ And then the first time he went up, I remember being floored.”

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Reiser, who recently re-entered the stand-up scene himself after a long break, said that he and Murphy were reminiscing about the old days at the comedy clubs. That’s when Murphy casually mentioned he might go back to stand-up—but said that he was concerned about the possibility of being recorded, because “everyone’s got a phone and a camera.”

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Said Reiser in response, “That’s a solvable problem. You can take people’s phones!”

“Certainly in the comedy community, they’d love to see what Eddie does,” Reiser said. “Go up and do 90 minutes at this point in your life. He’s only gotten better.”

This isn’t the first time Murphy has floated the idea of going back to stand-up. The comedian, now 63, has been publicly saying he has a new act in the works since for over a year now. Maybe now that his Beverly Hills Cop 4 duties are wrapped, he’ll make good on that promise.

For Reiser, he’s excited to see what this version of Murphy could bring to the stage. “It’s a different Eddie. There’s a different take that you have in your 20s, when you’re cocky and want to show the world how great you are. He’s been great for 40 years. He doesn’t need to point it out. We know it. He knows it. He’s gentler. He’s got less to prove and more to share. As a standup, I’m really eager to see what he would do.”

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