Eddie Murphy Makes His Long-Expected Bill Cosby Joke During Award Speech (Video)

Eddie Murphy made a triumphant return to comedy last night during an awards ceremony held in his honor at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

After almost 30 years, the comedian proved he's still got it.

Murphy, who received the coveted Mark Twain Prize for American Humor -- an award given to humorists who impact America -- celebrated the victory by delivering a stand-up set, the first since his performance in 1987.

For the seven-minute comeback, Murphy revived his famous Bill Cosby impression -- a fitting choice as Cosby won the same award back in 2009 (before the rape allegations began to resurface).

Interestingly, Murphy had the opportunity to perform his Cosby impersonation during "Saturday Night Live's" 40th-anniversary special earlier this year, but elected not to for moral reasons.

Just last week, he defended his decision to skip the "SNL" performance, explaining,

There's nothing funny about it. If you get up there and you crack jokes about [Bill Cosby], you're just hurting people. You're hurting him. You're hurting his accusers.

I have no idea what made Murphy change his mind so quickly, but I'm glad he did because his performance was epic.

Check it out below.

Citations: Eddie Murphy impersonated Bill Cosby in his first stand-up set in 28 years (The Verge), The Real King of Comedy (The Washington Post)