What exactly is Kaufman's appeal? I do admit to ignorance on him. I think I watched a standup performance of his years ago, and it was basically anti-comedy with musical bits. I've dismissed him ever since. Was it that he was avant-garde for the time? Should I go watch Taxi/Man on the Moon? What is quintessential Kaufman?
I'd say Man on the Moon is a pretty good highlight of Kauffman. He was a comedian that was essentially about the next big joke. Lots of influence on modern comedy. Obviously comedy has been taken farther and in other directions as well since his time. I also recommend the Netflix docu, Jim & Andy which focuses on Jim Carey's time method acting as Andy Kauffman on Man on the Moon. It has more reveals about Kauffman and some of the people from Kaufman's life were very involved.
For sure, his legacy is lost without historical context. He's less a comedian with good bits and more a character that continually confounds. Now he seems like every other weirdo, but back in the day he was a revolution.
Check out Lenny Bruce too to round out your comedy history.
Calling Kaufman a comedian is a bit misleading - he's far more of a performance artist whose favoured delivery vehicle was that of a prank, put-on, or practical joke. In particular, his stint in the professional wrestling arena and his feud with Jerry Lawler was so well-put on that most people thought it was legit.
Not really though. Look at his SNL bits. Like the Mighty Mouse one. Really he was just trying to push people in any way possible. Not just the crowd but the people involved in the show, everyone was his audience, from fellow actors, to stage hands and producers.
My favourite bit is the deconstruction of the 'standard' comedy routine of the day where he does the entire body language and tone of a set (including audience interaction), but speaks Latka gibberish (from around 11:30)
I don't think that's it exactly. It's very hard to put a finger on. He was often baby-faced as in this interview, but he was a vicious prankster under the hood.
He once surprised an audience by refusing to do any act other than reading aloud The Great Gatsby. After seven minutes (!), the last 4 of which saw him being heckled relentlessly, he asked the audience if they wanted him to play a record instead (presumably many thought he was going to do his Mighty Mouse - one of his most famous routines), and of course they cheered. However, he had already had a vinyl pressed of him reading the The Great Gatsby - picking up right where he had left off.
He continued to read the entire novel as the auditorium emptied over the course of the next 2 hours. He was already a mega star at this point, and finished reading the novel to an almost empty house.
edit: Actually, I'm not sure that this clip is from the same event at which he read the entire novel; this one might be where he just did the first 8 minutes of it on SNL (which is also insane).
second edit: You know, now I'm questioning whether he ever did read the entire book to an audience - I have found a website which claims he didn't, but that his publicist just spread a rumor that he did in order to put the audience on edge before the SNL thing. Perhaps I'm confusing it with the depiction in Man on the Moon, in which he does.
> Should I go watch Taxi/Man on the Moon?
Oh yeah. Man on the Moon is a great film; some of Jim Carrey's best work.
> What is quintessential Kaufman?
In my opinion, Tony Clifton. Absolute brilliance.
He was a terrible lounge singer who went to "meet the audience" during his set. He picked on a single person and horribly abused them - throwing their dinner away, pouring water on their head, making fun of their ethnicity, etc, until the audience was enraged.
However, this single person was always a plant - often his brother or his long time writing partner, Bob Zmuda.
Also, his commitment to character was extreme: by all accounts, Andy never, ever smoked cigarettes or drank alcohol (though he did say that cannabis and LSD had been influences on his thinking).
However, as Tony Clifton, he actually drank and smoked to excess. It's bizarre to see. I can't think of another performer who actually changed something so crucial about his diet just for the purposes of being in character.
It's difficult to tell if Andy is showing deference to Orson because of personal admiration, or is it that he is the type of person who will control any room that he is in. In many cases Andy was that dominant personality, which is why this interview is a fascinating intersection of show business talent.
I would have like to have heard the Ron Glass interview as well. I'm more familiar with him from Firefly and don't know much about what he was like early in his career.
