How do you feel about Andy Kaufman?

He was never my thing although he was talented.
There’s probably entire forums dedicated to Andy Kaufman. If there’s any sort of Andy Kaufman online subculture, they’ll have something.

He was performance art and at times quite funny, but one of those brilliant artists who was so much on the cutting edge that the whole picture was still fuzzy when he was stepping beyond the line. But his real contribution was those who came after him and drew inspiration. He was a kind of “Bob Dylan” of the comedy world.

Like @The_Compassionate_Heretic his shtick wasn’t really my cup of tea, but he was a fascinating character. I was at Target a couple of weeks ago and saw a WWE action figure of him. I found it rather odd.

Andy was incredible. He was so good, I am still convinced he faked his death.
SNL has the first 4 or 5 seasons available. I think he did Oklahoma on the show once, but it was cut for West Coast audiences.

@SuperMouse You should have picked it up. It’s probably a collectable.

@filmfann
Yes, I liked him best in skits

@filmfann that didn’t occur to me until I just did a search to see if I could link with this post! I could have more than doubled my money right out of the gate. I think I’ll take a trip to Target tomorrow!

@filmfann
LOL every time i read your answers it’s Butter’s voice I hear!

“Andy Kaufman in a wrestling match/ Yeah yeah yeah yeah.”

I always thought he was wierd and just a little bit creepy.

i think he’s pretty funny. though i know him more for his character on taxi than anything else. it’s easier to catch reruns of that as a kid in the 90s than his actual stand-up stuff.

I didn’t know anything of him other than Latka on Taxi until I saw Man on the Moon I became very interested then and did a lot of reading about him. He was a very interesting person, and quite funny, in my opinion.

Certainly a man to be remembered. My brothers and I use to wrestle in the family room, and we always picked on my younger brother who played Andy..He did a mean mimic that makes me laugh to this day. I enjoyed his eccentricity and uniqueness, a true original who has left his mark. One of Carrey’s better roles too..

Fucking brilliant.

I second bizarre and rather creepy.

I liked him at first, thinking his strangeness had a certain appeal. He was great on Taxi, but when i heard about how he was in real life, I thought, “What a jerk!”

Loved Latka, kind of hated Andy.

Mott the Hoople and the Game of Life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Monopoly, twenty one, checkers, and chess. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Let’s play Twister, let’s play Risk. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
See you in heaven if you make the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

Moses went walking with the staff of wood. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Newton got beaned by the apple good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are you having fun?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

Here’s a little agit for the never-believer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Here’s a little ghost for the offering. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Here’s a truck stop instead of Saint Peter’s. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Andy Kaufman’s gone wrestling (wrestling bears). Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there’s nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

@breedmitch @whatthefluther Thanks a lot- now it is stuck in my head for the day.

I am so glad you asked this question, because it made me think of Andy Kaufman and I like him so much that it was quite fun to remember his crazy antics.

In a way, he was the first modern troll. He trolled his audiences in what I would say is a similar way done by the best of today’s trolls. Of course, Andy’s trolling was far less damaging and once you realize the joke you could reflect on it and yourself, whereas today’s trolls do it more for the lulz.

One of my favourite performances was Foreign Man. It was great to watch the audience become amused, then confused or irate, then humbled and happy when Andy showed who he really was.

Some people have quoted Andy as saying that he believed his Funhouse special was his masterpiece, and I believe that as well. Andy’s Funhouse is a great special to watch for new and old Kaufman fans alike, it touches on many of his established skits and routines but presents them in a bit of a new way, and includes a bit of new stuff as well.

Tony Clifton… holy shit did Andy have balls! Creating a drunken womanizing swearing opening act that he himself played many times (his friends played him too). That’s just so epic and awesome, I can’t even begin to describe it. I would say it’s similar in style to Borat but much more subtle and realistic and punchy. And of course, tens of years beforehand.

His feud with Jerry Lawler was also amusing to watch and is itself quite symbolic or representative of the wrestling entertainment world today. But again, it is another ride for the audience, Andy controls them with his words and actions into believing what he wants them to believe, even though it’s not real at all.

At times, many of Andy’s pieces feel as if the audience is his puppet, the audience is integral to the joke, but they are not being made fun of directly and they gain something in return. This is evident in his Great Gatsby reading piece. The way he sets up the record player at the beginning is just so perfect, he knows the audience will want it, and in fact that’s the key to the entire joke, the icing on the cake. The pain Andy creates in getting to that point is agonizingly long and tedious, yet it is that delay itself that makes listening to the record so much funnier. And of course the perfect match up really is the flourish on the signature.

I regret that I was not alive to see Andy in person, however I am super happy that most of his antics were documented and caught on tape, which is freely available through YouTube. Those videos let me feel like I am really a part of the audience along for the ride, and I feel that way when I show his videos to people watching for the first time.

As for his death, the hopeful part of me really does hope it’s a long prank, as Andy would never show up for his 30th deathday party if he knew one was planned. And his method of dying was quite unusual for a man of his demeanor. At the same time, the realist in me knows that he is likely dead. However he lives on in our memories, and through the wonders of Jim Carey (who shares the same birthday as Kaufman, and brought Andy’s legacy back alive for another generation to enjoy).

@dynamicduo
The only problem was he was completely abusive to his audience and disrespectful at times. Watching him fall apart was entertaining with the wrestling and such but an entertainer is paid to work and amuse an audience. The greats from the past- Groucho Marx, Dangerfield, George Karlin etc. never failed to keep in mind that they were getting paid to do a job.
As an idea reading the entire Great Gatsby to your audience as a gag sounds brilliant in theory but having paid to see jokes and then have to listen to the ENTIRE READING of a book is just a big Fuck You to your fans. He probably had deep psychological issues as do many great artists.

@Dog…This one is for tomorrow then:

I’ve watched the stars fall silent from your eyes
All the sights that I have seen
I can’t believe that I believed I wished
That you could see
There’s a new planet in the solar system
There is nothing up my sleeve

I’m pushing an elephant up the stairs
I’m tossing up punch lines that were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground

In all this talk of time
Talk is fine
But I don’t want to stay around
Why can’t we pantomime, just close our eyes
And sleep sweet dreams
Me and you with wings on our feet

I’m pushing an elephant up the stairs
I’m tossing up punch lines that were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground

I’m breaking through
I’m bending spoons
I’m keeping flowers in full bloom
I’m looking for answers from the great beyond

I want the hummingbirds, the dancing bears
Sweetest dreams of you
I Look into the stars
I Look into the moon

I’m pushing an elephant up the stairs
I’m tossing up punch lines that were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground

I’m breaking through
I’m bending spoons
I’m keeping flowers in full bloom
I’m looking for answers from the great beyond

I’m breaking through
I’m bending spoons
I’m keeping flowers in full bloom
I’m looking for answers from the great
Answers from the great, answers

I’m breaking through
I’m bending spoons
I’m keeping flowers in full bloom
I’m looking for answers from the great beyond

I’m breaking through
I’m bending spoons
I’m keeping flowers in full bloom
I’m looking for answers from the great
Answers from the great, answers

I’m breaking through
I’m bending spoons
I’m keeping flowers in full bloom
I’m looking for answers from the great beyond

@SeventhSense But he didn’t read the entire book at all. And people would be free to leave regardless. Andy was never abusive to his audience, I admit he wasn’t fair, but he certainly wasn’t paid to entertain audiences, if anything I get the feeling he did it to entertain himself and his thoughts about people. “Completely abusive” is taking a chainsaw to people’s faces. Andy manipulated the audience, and I would bet that that’s why a good part of his future audiences showed up.

@dynamicduo
he certainly wasn’t paid to entertain audiences.
People paid to see him to be annoyed?
Completely abusive” is taking a chainsaw to people’s faces.
No that’s psychotic

If you were a fan, buying a ticket, you knew what you were in for.

maybe not exactly what you were in for…

@Blondesjon
I’d be pissed

that’s what makes it funny

Maybe the audience bought tickets to see other audience members antagonized. In that sense the cognoscenti were entertained, although the unaware were not.

I always felt that way about Don Rickles, too. He abused specific members of the audience in order to entertain the majority (although I never found him to be particularly funny).

@Blondesjon
So I suppose his audience would have to consist of masochists and there are a fair number of those around.

@SeventhSense – Perhaps masochists and some voyeuristic sadists.

You watched Andy, amazed at how genuine he was. He was sweet and lovable, and as manipulating as anyone could be. Just when he got everyone to love him, he made everyone hate him. With that done, he found Christ, and sang hymns. Then he turned again, and made you hate him more. He was gifted. And, yes, I really still believe he faked his death.

@Darwin
voyeuristic sadists
That’s no way to talk about blondesjon :)

Yes, people would have paid to see his antics. Regular people.

Keep in mind that one of Andy’s big breaks into pop culture was on Taxi playing the Latka Graves/Foreign Man character. Some people who saw him would think he was only Latka. I imagine this would have irritated Andy, who was not one character but an actor playing a character, who might also be annoyed or perplexed at people’s assumptions. Thus Andy would have, and did, use those assumptions to his benefit, teaching the audience a lesson as well as entertaining those smart enough to realize the true purpose of the joke. (Andy expressed his discontent with Taxi many times, and only stuck it out because he was promised his Andy’s Funhouse special in return).

Consisting of masochists? Of course not, well not completely. Containing people who appreciate new and unique forms of art? Of course. It’s like today’s comedy duo Tim and Eric, have you ever seen them? Their comedy forms are on the extreme of absurdism at times, awkward, strange, uncomfortable and confusing. It polarizes more people than Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which is a similar investigation into comedy. All of these things share a common attribute, they are a product of their creator’s mind where the creator wanted to experiment with what exactly comedy is. Does comedy have to be funny? Can it be at other people’s expense? How far can this be taken? Andy does this excellently with Tony Clifton.

Those people who attended one of Andy’s shows without knowing who he was, well they were taken for a ride, that’s certainly true. But then they would have known and not gone again, or chosen to go again specifically for that reason. Back during his times we did not have the pervasive level of communication we do now, thus it took a bit longer for the world to figure out that Andy Kaufman was a weird comedy act (compare this to how fast we knew about Sasha Baron Cohen’s characters, including his upcoming Bruno movie).

@dynamicduo @Blondesjon
GAs, because i agree.
i TOTALLY would’ve gone to an andy kaufman show, just to see what would’ve happened. the people who were pissed off at him for some of the things he did really didn’t deserve to get anything out of it, anyway. i think that if andy threw wine in my face or something, i would be 110% satisfied with that night/my life. unfortunately, dude is dead, so i don’t think that’ll happen anytime soon.

@timeand_distance
I can get wine thrown in your face for free..of course you have to bring the wine. :)

not the same. you wouldn’t be throwing wine in my face for the sole purpose of seeing what my reaction would be. and youre not andy kaufman, so. no.

guess you’re just one of those people who doesn’t get it and probably won’t.

No I get it. He was a bright guy with an interesting mind and comedic sense who was sometimes funny but more often thought provoking to timid people who were impressed by his boldness.

i dont see it like that. i think he was just curious about human behavior.

@timeand_distance
Did you actually laugh? I mean really laugh or was it like an observation like that’s so clever?

“They say, ‘Oh wow, Andy Kaufman, he’s a really funny guy.’ But I’m not trying to be funny. I just want to play with their heads.”

I hope that’s a good enough answer for you.
This could go on all night, and I’d rather it not. You don’t like Andy, I do. What would you like me to realize that you’re trying to get across?

I have a feeling that this is just an issue of taste.

Yes apparently but what’s the point of a discussion otherwise. But you made my point. He was more clever than funny.

Not a comedian but a great stage guy. I agree with alot of the other answers. If I had been alive when he was, I would have loved to seen him. By the way, the Great Gatsby is a great book.