Will Eddie Murphy tell his first live joke in 28 years on Sunday? Not likely

When you sit with Eddie Murphy for three hours, just talking, you end up with plenty of great material that doesn't make it into your profile. So here's some from the comic icon, set to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday.

• Asked about Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld, who both continue to perform standup long after either needed the money:

I'm not a comic. I've done standup. I'm not a comic. I wouldn't say I'm not a comic. I'm a comic. But that's just part of me. How I see myself. I can't say I'm not a comic because I come from that and that's in me but I wouldn't define myself as a guitar player either. I can play guitar and piano and write. If I would say anything, everything is an extension of my writing. Everything starts with my ideas. But Seinfeld and Jay Leno, those guys are straight up, old school comics. I've done stuff with acting. Those guys just do standup.

• On heroes (for years, Murphy admired Elvis Presley):

I liked Elvis Presley movies when I was a kid. He was really cool in those movies. And I liked Elvis' voice. I still like Elvis records. Then you get older. You go, wow. He's on the toilet. Foil on the windows. He died on the toilet with foil on the windows?

The only person that remained my hero from my childhood was Muhammed Ali. He's the only hero I had from my childhood all the way through to right now. I can still get filled up looking at his picture. He's my hero forever. Most people, you get older, you meet your hero and say, my hero's just a man. Just a person.

• The different between an impression and capturing someone's "essence":

My best example to show you is when Jamie (Foxx) is doing Ray Charles. Now Jamie is a mimic. He can do incredible impressions. He's not doing an impression of Ray Charles. He's capturing everything about Ray. Anybody can do impressions. He's capturing all this little tiny stuff. He captures the essence of the person. When Denzel (Washington) does Malcom X ... Denzel looks nothing like Malcolm X.

There's a scene in "Malcolm X" when he's on the airplane coming back from Mecca and the camera's right here and he looks out the window. And he is Malcolm X for a nanosecond. Right in front of your (expletive) eyes. He's not saying anything but right there he's so physically turned into him. There's a scene in "Ray Charles." There's two people on the steps talking and Jamie's just bent over like that and they're having a conversation and the same thing happened. Stopped being Jamie Foxx and just nailed it. An impression will throw people off. Only the real special (expletive) can do it. Angela Bassett when she did Tina Turner. (Jim) Carrey was brilliant (as Andy Kaufman). The closest person I've seen do Elvis is Kurt Russell. Watch Kurt Russell's Elvis.

• On why Murphy took a break from making movies:

It got for me, with movies, that the process was unpleasant. Just the whole from beginning to end. Everything. From the very beginning of the idea up to the press junket. There are just certain things that are part of that process. If you make a movie, there's always going to be some arguing, always some kind of stuff when you're making a movie. I can deal with it anytime but you have to take a break from it. I had been making movies since I was 20 years old. It just got to where I'm on the set and I'm miserable. And if you're miserable on the set and making comedies, it's just not good.

• How miserable?

Miserable meaning, if I was a little boy, I would be crying. I don't want to be here. It had nothing to do with the people I was with. Or the actors. I just needed a break from the process.

• For years, Murphy has been contemplating a return to the stage. Any return would include comedy - and music. He plays guitar and piano and has been recording songs for years:

If I ever get back on the stage again, that's what I envision myself doing. I couldn't imagine myself just going on stage and just doing standup. Just going out and telling stuff. If I ever got on stage again, I'm doing everything. You know when you go see a band and the band is playing all their hot (stuff), all the hits, and then they say, 'now we'd like to slow it down and play some the new tracks.' And the whole audience sits down.

I would start out and probably do like a half-hour of music. Then the band'll leave. Then I'd do like an hour standup. And then the band would come back and we'd end it on a big musical number.

• Any chance Murphy will do any jokes or songs at the Twain Award event? He says no:

I'll just say thank you. If I'm being honored and they're showing clips of my movies and people are telling stories about me all night, I think they're going to be Eddie'd out by the time I go up there. They'll appreciate a quick exit.