News / TV

Eddie Murphy Headlined The Feeding America Comedy Festival Telethon With A Little Richard Tribute

Sunday night’s Feeding America Comedy Festival, broadcast by NBC and brought to you by Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group and Funny or Die, included a little bit of everything over the course of two hours.

If you missed the telecast, you can watch it online via NBC, or Hulu.

And please by all means donate to Feeding America!

But back to the comedy proceedings, presided over by Allen with co-hosts Tiffany Haddish, Kenan Thompson and Billy Crystal, with appeals from Chris Rock and Kevin Hart, and all sorts of quarantine comedy antics by a bunch of your favorite funny people.

Adam Sandler and Wayne Brady debuted pandemic songs. Tim Meadows as “The Ladies Man” took questions from his fellow SNL alums. Russell Peters tried telling jokes from his driveway to his neighbor Howie Mandel across the street, while Jeff Ross walked his dog and roasted both of them. Billy Crystal portrayed Dr. Anthony Fauci. Sebastian Maniscalco, Tiffany Haddish and Jim Gaffigan all contributed cooking videos. Jamie Kennedy took to his roof with a megaphone. Caroline Rhea and Melissa Joan Hart reunited over Zoom for a Sabrina the Teenage Witch sketch. Andrew Dice Clay performed in his garage to a laugh track.

But saving the best for last, Eddie Murphy starred in a short film as a new character, Murray Murray, a soul music legend who, of all things, counted Little Richard as an influence. Little Richard died over the weekend.

This wasn’t the first time Murphy paid tribute to Little Richard, of course. Remember this 1981 SNL sketch, in which he combined Little Richard with Richard Simmons, and got the 30 Rock audience on its feet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Ki-K4zMnk

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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