This comedian, actor, and musician rose to fame through his appearances on major TV shows before starring in hit movie after hit movie. Murphy is known for his many creative talents–could his handedness have something to do with that?
Eddie Murphy is not left-handed. He primarily uses his right hand, though it has been alleged that he may be ambidextrous. In either case, Murphy is not predominantly left-handed.
Read on to learn about the proof showing his preference for his right hand, why he’s rumored to be ambidextrous, and the alleged greater creativity of people who naturally prefer their left hand.
Murphy’s Right-Handed Preference
One of the biggest indicators that Murphy is right-handed is his natural inclination to use his right hand first. Whether he’s signing autographs, gesturing, or doing something else, he uses his right hand first.
Murphy is also a musician who plays the piano and the guitar, shown in posts like this one. All of the guitars he plays are right-handed guitars, which are far more popular on the market.
Most left-handed people do choose to learn how to play a right-handed guitar, even if they have extra difficulty picking up the basics, because there are simply more options for right-handed guitars. Learning to play the left-handed guitar means they can only play the less commonly found guitars.
This fact leads many people to believe that Murphy might have become ambidextrous to learn guitar, playing right-handed as most people do. “If you hear one of my songs and the guitar sounds raggedy, you know that’s me,” Murphy joked in an interview from 2015. “Nah, I’m no Jimi Hendrix, but I ain’t no slouch.”
More suspicion arose after his first solo movie, Beverly Hills Cop, came out. In the movie, his character, Detective Axel Foley, shoots with both his right and his left hand, leading people to further accept the theory that he is ambidextrous.
Of course, his natural hand preference must be taken into account, and while Murphy may have taught himself to be ambidextrous, there is no solid proof of it other than fan speculation. He most commonly uses his right hand for things like signing autographs, which is a key indicator that he is primarily, if not completely, right-handed.
Watch the YouTube video below to see Murphy automatically sign autographs for his fans with his right hand after filming an episode of The Late Show with David Letterman.
Lefties vs. Righties
Murphy is known for his creativity in his performances, entertaining audiences like only he knows how. His comedic and acting talent, paired with his aptitude for singing and playing music, make him one of the most artistic and expressive people in Hollywood.
While left-handed people are commonly thought of as being more creative than their right-handed counterparts–most likely because they make up just ten percent of the world’s population–this theory has little basis in reality.
Lefties and righties tend to spend the same amount of time doing artistic activities, but there was one interesting discovery. People with a strong preference for one hand–who either use their left hand for everything or their right hand for everything–spent more time on artistic activities than others who didn’t have as strong a preference for one side.
Murphy–ambidextrous or not–is extremely creative in all that he does, be it acting, comedy, or music. “I don’t know a creative person who can just do one thing,” he said, referring to his talents for music on top of entertaining.
He credits his ability to make different types of music to his impressions and imitations.
“I have a real versatile voice. I do so many different things with my voice all the time. I’m always doing some weird [stuff] with my voice, so I guess I’ve got pretty strong vocal cords.” “I can go in any direction and grab anybody’s vibe,”
Eddie Murphy