Charlie's no Eddie

Eddie Murphy's controversial and uproarious humor apparently doesn't run in the family as his brother Charlie Murphy revealed Friday night at the Center for the Arts in front of an unimpressed UB audience.

"It seemed that everyone laughed because he was Charlie Murphy and because of his street credibility, not because he was funny," said James Morton, a sophomore philosophy major who attended the comic's performance.

Judging by cell phone usage and early departures from the show, Morton's sentiment was that of many attendees Friday.

"I've had a bizarre day man," Murphy opened. "I woke up this morning knowing I had to come here, rushing to get ready. I walked past the TV. Maury Povich was on."

Surprisingly, some audience members found this funny, evidenced by the scattered chuckles of the crowd.

He went on with the punch line, "I was listening to sound bites of the woman saying, 'I'm 30,000 percent sure it's his baby, Maury.' "

Murphy followed up with some racially controversial material.

"I think the Arabs are gettin' a little angry right now," he said, making light of his airport security Arab jokes. "I want you to know from me, don't be angry, cause I'm not really talkin' about you. I'm talkin' about your f****** cousin."

His jokes were predictable and foolish, but not comedic. He aimed for sick humor like his brother Eddie but missed the mark.

Regardless, Murphy said he'd finally gained some notoriety. When he walks down the street, people jump out of the woodwork and yell "Charlie Murphy!"

"Let's not forget my name was 'Eddie Murphy's brother' for 16 years. I'm not mad now that people finally got it right," he said.

Murphy also corrected rumors that he would wake up in the middle of the night screaming about Rick James being in the room. However, he did not allude to the memorable skit from "Chappelle's Show," in which Chappelle, playing Rick James, slaps Murphy, exclaiming, "I'm Rick James, b****!"

Murphy also joked about the Michael Jackson trial.

"Let's say you've never seen Michael Jackson before," he said, "And tonight I walk up here with a poster of his face and asked, 'Any y'all seen him before? You'd say, 'Damn, who the f*** is that man?' and I say 'Hey, by the way, the guy in this poster is accused of fondling little boy's assh*** and sucking d***.' Everyone in this room would say, 'He do look capable.' "

The opening act was Smokey, a Harlem native and winner of the Bud Light "Comedian of the Year" competition in 2000. Smokey has been seen on BET's "Comic View" and "Showtime at the Apollo."

Smokey opened with jokes about recreational drug use.

"I was so high last night, I was sitting on the TV, watching the couch," he said.

He continued with racial humor that exceeded Murphy in both hilarity and tact.

"You can do s*** around white people you can't do around black people, like drop money," he said. "They will chase you down and give you your money back."

The crowd went crazy with laughter and Smokey threw in a few jokes about Hispanics.

"Spanish people will season a rock and make it taste good," he said.

He went on to extend the humor to other cultures.

"African people can tolerate s*** we can't tolerate," he said. "Like flies."

Smokey's method, delivering a joke and hurrying to the punch line before the crowd tired, created an atmosphere of continuous laughter. Murphy, however, told long, drawn-out stories that lost their effect by the time he reached the joke's conclusion.

"I thought the opener was definitely better than Charlie Murphy," said one attendee.

"Smokey was definitely better than Murphy," said Shane Marcella, a freshman finance major.

Murphy has a long way to go before he can fill his brother's shoes or hold his own without the support of the "Chappelle's Show" cast.