It’s hard having your comedic voice be heard when your brother (Eddie) happens to be a comedy legend, but that hasn’t stopped Charlie Murphy. In 2004, he burst onto the scene narrating “True Hollywood Stories” on Chappelle’s Show, segments where he described his (now famous) encounters with a coked-out Rick James and a basketball playing Prince. Soon after he tried his hand at standup, and he’s been on the circuit ever since. Before his Acid Trip Tour heads to the Neptune Theatre this Friday, January 11, we caught up with the comedian for a full Passing Through Q&A. The natural storyteller provided so much material that we thought we’d share some bonus excerpts.
On sketchy backstage environments:
“Early in my career I had to learn some lessons. Things you don’t do, rooms you don’t play. Never again will I be hired by a gangster. You know what that feels like? It was a real live Scarface. This cat came into my dressing room, carrying two big, like, Dirty Harry guns, 44 magnums? He had one on each side of his pants, chrome. Started spinning the barrel talking about how he’s gonna kill somebody because the money ain’t right. I’m like, Is this really happening right here?”
On hecklers:
“A good comic dispatches a heckler with his mouth. Point blank. If you’re a good comic, it’s just like a good pimp; he doesn’t beat his women—at all. He just talks to ’em. He got them doing something diabolical, but he just talks to ’em. Now I’m not trying to get you to do nothing diabolical; all I’m trying to do is get you to shut the fuck up. A whole lot easier, you know? I don’t get angry. I turn you into a seasoning. Because I know where I’m going with it; so when you try to jump on the train, you just get run over.”
Charlie Murphy’s Acid Trip Tour
Jan 11 at 8, Neptune Theatre, $29
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