JSngry Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/2009/06...guest-andy.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 They played some of this Dating Game video on a PBS comedy special that aired last week. No ifs ands or buts, Andy Kaufman was a friggin' genius. They said if he thought something was funny, he didn't care a lick if he was the only person in the world who thought it was. I don't know if anyone remembers the very first Saturday Night Live when Kaufman did his Mighty Mouse skit. Only he could pull that off. Interestingly enough, Billy Crystal was supposed to be on that first show too, but he was essentially bumped by Kaufman because in order for both of them to be on, Crystal was asked to shorten his bit from five to two minutes. Rather than do that, he walked off the set. BTW, Crystal and Kaufman were great friends. Thanks for sharing this. Anyone who hasn't scrummed around this website is missing out on a lot of interesting and entertaining stuff. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat5 Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 (edited) "I don't know if anyone remembers the very first Saturday Night Live when Kaufman did his Mighty Mouse skit." Sure do. I still think it's great. Just think if he, Robin Williams, and Tim Conway had done some sketches. Edited July 1, 2009 by flat5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Funny stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 He was brilliant. Certainly one of my all time favorites. I see Sacha Baron Cohen as Kaufman's heir, in many ways... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 I see Sacha Baron Cohen as Kaufman's heir, in many ways... Except for perhaps the most critical - audience sympathy. YMMV, as the man says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 I'm still laughing after 10 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stryker Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOT7heJgVcc...feature=related Another famous Dating Game alumni and comedian ... only time I've seen him without gray hair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 I see Sacha Baron Cohen as Kaufman's heir, in many ways... Except for perhaps the most critical - audience sympathy. YMMV, as the man says. Kaufman certainly didn't care about gaining audience sympathy when he was reading them "The Great Gatsby," wrestling women, or performing as Tony Clifton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Yeah, but he didn't set himself up as "superior" to them either. Or when he di, as w/Clifton & the whole female-wrestling thing, there was an assumption that we would "get" that it was really Kaufman (or in the case of Clifton, we would eventually realize that it was Kaufman), and in so doing, laugh along and with, rather than at, the focus of the comedy being the joke itself and not the victim. Of course, the genius of Kaufman, imo, and what made him the Trane of Comedy (some of that last stuff is to comedy what Interstellar Space is to music, again, imo) is that he understood the concept/setup/dynamic of perp/victim/audience at least as well as anybody ever has, and that whole eventually became his premise. The joke became the joke, if you know what I mean (and I'm sure you do). It was very "conceptual", too much so for many people, but... Borat/Cohen is just too simple in comparison, and, as we've discussed before, basically "crude" in concept and execution. To continue the musical analogies, if Kaufman was Trane (or Ayler, although I like the Trane analogy), then Cohen is, say, Peter Brotzman - you get the same superfical charge, but without nearly as many (if any!) layers of nuance and implication. Again, this is all my opinion. I learned a long time ago that arguing comedy can get nastier than arguing religion, and sometimes even faster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedwork Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Again, this is all my opinion. I learned a long time ago that arguing comedy can get nastier than arguing religion, and sometimes even faster! yup. i got this quote from sarah silverman - who i believe to be a truly gifted comedian (don't know if she got the quote from somewhere else): "Deconstruction is the enemy of comedy." i think that's essentially sound. once you start trying to explain to someone why something is funny, even to yourself, forget it. it's over. not that i think it's a waste of time - just that laughing, and comedy in general, is very instinctual. you may be able to explain what the joke is to someone, and they might even understand it after you explain it. but if they didn't laugh the first time, i'll bet they won't laugh after an explanation. it reminds me of a woman i used to live with. we would watch tv or movies every once in a while. i would laugh, but she never would. she would occasionally say, "That's funny," but not actually laugh out loud. i always found that kinda sad. imagine going through life knowing something is funny (or at least funny to you) but never actually physically laugh. bummer. anyway, kaufman = brilliant. fucking unbelievable man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOT7heJgVcc...feature=related Another famous Dating Game alumni and comedian ... only time I've seen him without gray hair. wow that was neato! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOT7heJgVcc...feature=related Another famous Dating Game alumni and comedian ... only time I've seen him without gray hair. wow that was neato! There was another DG episode w/Martin where the batcellorette was the kid sister of an old childhood friend of his. They had been buddies a long time back. She picked Martin, and according to some book for sale on amazon,. they did the do. This clip used to be on youTube but has since been pulled, if you'll pardon the expression... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 A huge fan of Kaufman, here. I recall seeing many of his television appearances during the '70s. It seemed to me as though he was punching a hole right through the TV screen... that's how fresh and audacious he was at the time! Steve Martin had a similar, however diluted, effect around the same era: they were both showbiz aficionados, pure products of the medium, arising to critique it from within. And they weren't alone. Blame it on Harvey Kurtzman... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Damn you, Harvey Kurtzman!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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