Time For A Debate...ANDY KAUFMAN

[phillyflyers]

So last night I saw the movie Man on the Moon starring Jim Carrey for the first time. I thought his performance was unbelievable. Which got me thinking...

Andy Kaufman was a very divisive figure. Many thought he was an absolute genius. Many thought he flat out sucked.

When he was around doing his routine, I thought he was genius. So I'm curious. What's your opinion on Andy Kaufman?

Was he a genius or was he a fraud?

 

[djefferis]

Definitely not a fraud - I dare anyone to watch him in Taxi and suggest otherwise.

Comic genius - not in the traditional sense. Just because you make people laugh doesn’t make you a “comedian” and a hundred classic JJ Gold videos prove this.

He was funny and the eccentricity is what made him watchable and so entertaining. He simply had no “off button” - there was no gag gone too far for him. He found the straightest person in the room and simply did his thing until they broke and hilarity ensued.

Andy as Elvis is one of the absolute most recognizable characters - the wrestling bit was just an extension of him playing up his craziness and contrasting it against the stiff/serious acting straight.

 

[phillyflyers]

Definitely not a fraud - I dare anyone to watch him in Taxi and suggest otherwise.

Comic genius - not in the traditional sense. Just because you make people laugh doesn’t make you a “comedian” and a hundred classic JJ Gold videos prove this.

He was funny and the eccentricity is what made him watchable and so entertaining. He simply had no “off button” - there was no gag gone too far for him. He found the straightest person in the room and simply did his thing until they broke and hilarity ensued.

Andy as Elvis is one of the absolute most recognizable characters - the wrestling bit was just an extension of him playing up his craziness and contrasting it against the stiff/serious acting straight.

I agree with you. You had to get what he was trying to do. He wanted a reaction, ANY reaction good or bad. If you got up and walked out of the room on him, he was fine with that.

His problem was that he fukked with everyone so much that nobody knew what was real and what was an act. The Boy Who Cried Wolf taken to it's maximum extreme.

The sad part is, when everyone found out he had cancer and was going to die, everyone thought it was a joke and nobody believed it. Because that's the level of fukkery he took it to.

 

[djefferis]

So I learned something new today.

If you ever watched the TV show MASH - you’re likely familiar with the antics of Jamie Farr’s character Cpl Max Klinger and the things he tried to use to get sectioned 8’d out of the army. Just reading many of these came from real life actions that Andy Kaufman took to keep from serving in Korea - the dress wearing, the antics..all were straight from Andy’s playbook to get out of the service.

Never knew this until today.

 

[MinnesotaFats]

Some comedians are hard to get. Kaufman, Bishop & Bruce being 1A & 1B & 1C.