Trading Places is reminiscent of the kind of “classic” that turns up on TV at Christmastime, and it looks like a Christmas classic on a TV set that needs adjusting.
The African monarch Akeem learns he has a long-lost son in the United States and must return to America to meet this unexpected heir and build a relationship with his son.
Trading Places is one of the most emotionally satisfying and morally gratifying comedies of recent times. Eddie Murphy demonstrates the powers of invention that signal the arrival of a major comic actor, and possibly a great star.
Filmed at New York’s Felt Room, Eddie discusses Mr T, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor (doing faultless impressions of all), Johnny Carson’s costly divorce, relationships, gays, a home-made McDonalds burger that ruined his childhood etc.
Transcript of Eddie Murphy’s ‘Delirious’, stand-up comedy HBO special released August 30, 1983.