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[teezzy]

Andy Kaufman was kinda like the GG Allin of comedians. His act is a lot better in theory than it is in practice. Things like reading The Great Gatsby in full on stage or just bringing out a mattress and sleeping instead of telling jokes is hilarious but actually going to see it live is anything but funny and would just anger me at wasting my money

 

[#Phonepunk#]

he could do a mean Elvis



dude almost has some Nic Cage vibez... er i guess the other way around

 

[Kreen101]

His act where, as "foreign man", he first impersonates a bunch of people awkwardly and incompetently, but then does a dead-on Elvis impersonation, simply to return to the foreign man persona and end with, "thank you very much", in his silly, high voice, is a wonderful tribute to the magic of acting and performance, and how one can morph into somebody else through just a few touches, and create a wonderful illusion. You're watching a metamorphosis in action -- and it's funny!

 

[Aesius]

he could do a mean Elvis

This is such a legendary bit, but it really needs the context of the full Foreign Man act, which can be seen in this longer clip:



Amazing how Kaufman absolutely NAILS a full-blown Elvis impression for essentially ONE laugh. And not just an impression, but a full performance. Two songs! Played completely straight, using Elvis's own words in his concerts.

Of course, that one laugh is what makes it legendary, and you can hear Carson practically fall out of his chair when Kaufman reverts back to the meek Foreign Man after absolutely crushing two Elvis songs in character.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Was going to coincidentally make another thread about Saturday Night Live, but I think I'll just post my thoughts here.

Yeah, Kaufman was a legend. In fact the entire SNL run from the 70's to 1998 (the death of Phil Hartman), is probably the greatest run of sketch comedy in history. I've never seen or experienced anything else like it and I don't know if we ever will again. I mean I used to stay up every Saturday night for SNL, it was the weekly highlight of TV viewing, and there were always at least a couple of of sketches that would make me laugh so hard I would cry.

Seems like SNL died along with good sitcoms, and mainstream TV in general.....but I'll never forget the legends.

I wonder what else happened around 1998 that killed the show

Oh

 

[Kev Kev]

i can understand why people think hes not funny, but i always find myself giggling, and often times that giggle turns into uncontrollable belly laughing. but not always. sometimes im kind of laughing inside, but shaking my head on the outside.

i dont know if i consider him a comedic genius. i dont know, maybe he is. but i really feel like he was just there at the right time, and realized how funny "the completely absurd" could be, and was just enough of a weirdo to fully buy in and troll the world. he strikes me as an individual who found it entertaining to manipulate people and toy with their minds, like a modern day internet troll. but just insanely ahead of his time.

shit, maybe he was a genius