Andy Kaufman (Creator) - TV Tropes. Andrew Geoffrey . Born and raised in Great Neck, Long Island, Andy was something of a gadfly. As he began to stake out a career as a professional entertainer in the early 1. Some were simple routines he conceived as a child, others were.. One signature routine worked as follows: When Andy appeared on stage he was already in character as . But then came the last impression, .
Revealing that his suit was a disguised Elvis outfit, the resultant serious, extremely accurate impression was enough to bring the audience to their feet. To their applause, the Foreign Man reverted back to his . Reportedly, Elvis Presley himself thought Kaufman's was the best he had seen.)Andy's big break into the mainstream came as a special guest on the first Saturday Night Live in 1.
Andy Kaufman, Actor: Taxi. Referred to by some as a dadaistic comedian, Andy Kaufman took comedy and performance art to the edges of irrationality and blurred the dividing line between reality and imagination. Andy Kaufman: Algemene informatie: Volledige naam: Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman: Geboren: 17 januari 1949: Overleden: : Land Verenigde Staten: Werk: Beroep: Entertainer Acteur (en) IMDb-profiel. Andy Kaufman; Informaci Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed fifteen films over a career spanning more than five decades. He has been described as a 'maverick' and an 'iconoclast.
Mighty Mouse theme song and doing little other than standing there nervously until each appearance of the line . Over the years Andy made many guest appearances on SNL, usually adapting his stage material, ranging from further Foreign Man exploits to a .
A page for describing Creator: Andy Kaufman. Andrew Geoffrey 'Andy' Kaufman (January 17, 1949 — May 16, 1984?) was perhaps the most eccentric performer While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself as such. Biography.com presents the life of comedian Andy Kaufman, who appeared on the first episode of Saturday Night Live and starred on the sitcom Taxi. In 1980, legendary comedian Andy Kaufman and his writing partner, Bob Zmuda, wrote a script for a film called “The Tony Clifton Story,” based on a character of Kaufman’s. On Page 124, there is a block of.
The unifying thread of these acts was total commitment to his chosen character, no matter what reaction he got, so long as a reaction was evoked. This commitment often extended to his offstage behavior as well. In 1. 97. 8, Andy embarked upon his biggest mainstream success, the ensemble sitcom Taxi, where his Foreign Man character had been developed into the mechanic Latka Gravas. The following year he sold out Carnegie Hall for a one- night- only performance, but his work was becoming more experimental and controversial since his signature routines had lost their surprise value. In his stage act he challenged women to wrestle him, virtually always pinning them and proclaiming himself .
He in fact played the Heel so well — professional wrestling was one of his great lifelong passions because of Kayfabe — that audiences believed he actually was a sexist pig (in truth, it was one heck of a way for him to break the ice with women). His alter ego Tony Clifton, a repellent Lounge Lizard who had to be treated as a separate entity from Andy, caused almost as much trouble.
Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman, meglio noto come Andy Kaufman (New York, 17 gennaio 1949 – West Hollywood, 16 maggio 1984), .
He arranged with the producers of Fridays, another sketch comedy show, to completely derail it the night he hosted in February 1. In a sketch about a double- dating couple sneaking off to the bathroom to get high on marijuana, Kaufman stopped the sketch by saying, . After Michael Richards takes the cue cards and throws them on the table, Kaufman hurls a glass of water in Richards' face.
One of the stagehands tells Kaufman to back off and do the sketch, but Kaufman punches the stagehand in the face and the entire sketch degrades into a fight that turned out to be an elaborate pranknote the movie Man on the Moon has this moment, with Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman, former SNL cast member Norm Mac. Donald as Michael Richards, Caroline Rhea as Melanie Chartoff, and Mary- Lynn Rajskub as Maryedith Burrell. Kaufman's attempts to break into film boiled down to one word: Heartbeeps. Over 1. 98. 1- 8. Memphis, Tennessee furthering his wrestling career via a lengthy feud with Jerry Lawler that culminated in a brutal match where Lawler appeared to break the taunting Kaufman's neck with repeated pile drivers.
The feud gained national attention in '8. Late Night With David Letterman, ostensibly to make up. To the shock of many, including Dave, Jerry smacked Andy (wearing a neck brace at the time) out of his chair; Andy responded with a barrage of obscenities. This would now be called a Worked Shoot, as only Kaufman and Lawler knew what was going to happen, but most viewers had little, if any, idea of the concept then. Many fans and wrestlers of that era and otherwise feel that Kaufman missed his true calling and that he always should've been involved in professional wrestling because of how innately he understood the business.
By the end of '8. Andy was so unpopular that a viewer vote banished him from SNL. He continued to make Letterman appearances, wrestle, and so forth until he was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer at the end of '8. Because so much of Andy's career was based on tricking his audiences — and he had considered faking his death, to the point where his best friend Bob Zmuda mentioned he was almost obsessed with the idea — many people did not think he was actually dying.
He continued to perform while battling the disease, shocking fans with a gaunt appearance. Despite everything from radiation therapy to healing crystals and . Having always claimed that if he faked his death he would return 2. The Reveal of the ultimate Kaufman prank. Sadly, he has yet to resurface, but some still insist He's Just Hiding. Andy Kaufman's life and work, Taxi excepted, is still argued about.
Haters think he was self- indulgent and perhaps insane. Lovers think he was as close as comedy will come to Dada.
Though he claimed not to be a comedian (he usually referred to himself as a . The song became the title for a 1.
Bio. Pic of Andy's career in which he was played by Jim Carrey, another admirer (with R. E. M. However, his sainthood has yet to be confirmed by the Catholic Church. Affectionate Parody: Some of his spoofs of children's entertainment. All Part of the Show: The eternal question he asked of his audiences was whether what he was doing at any given moment was this. Alter Ego Acting: Virtually every appearance he made.
Anti- Humor: A significant portion of his work is this. As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Foreign Man's language. Audience Participation Song: Many, ranging from the self- penned . As Lorne Michaels later said in an interview: . While his early death undoubtedly added to his legend — especially among fellow comics — unlike many performers whose lives were cut short his reputation didn't go up appreciably with the general public after his death. His work was just too divisive for that. To compare a comic or comedic work to what Kaufman did is not so much to call it brilliant as Love It or Hate It: Tom Green, Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, etc.
Don't Explain the Joke: He strongly adhered to this trope. Elvis Impersonator: One of the first!
It was typically set up by an . For the 2. 0th anniversary of his death in 2. Bob Zmuda staged his . It's been acknowledged that while Kaufman was a vegan, he would eat meat when he was Tony Clifton because that character was not a vegan. Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight/Depraved Kids' Show Host: His kiddie show host persona turned out to be bossy and contemptuous of his audience . Eventually, he handed the role off to colleague Bob Zmuda but let people believe it was him under the costume and makeup. Since Andy's death, Bob and other performers have reprised the role on occasion.
Impersonation Paradox: His take on Elvis (though Elvis himself loved it). Incurable Cough of Death: He had been afflicted with a cough since the mid- 1. Kayfabe: Andy's fascination with this was just one reason he loved wrestling, and he applied it to the rest of his work as well.
Lounge Lizard: Tony Clifton. Non- Specifically Foreign: . In fact, some of his gags could last months and there are people who sincerely believe that his death is the longest gag of them all. When transforming into Elvis, he would comb his hair with three different combs as . At the end, via Double Vision, Foreign Man confronts Andy and points out that .
This was also key to Andy's Heel persona, especially when he took it to Memphis and constantly bragged about his Hollywood stardom and superiority to the . The real Andy did have a lot of quirks and demands that could make him difficult to work with, particularly where Taxi was concerned (oh, the hijinks when Tony Clifton was supposed to be the guest star one week in lieu of Andy), but how much of this was ego and how much was just his eccentric nature is hard to fathom.
Stand- Up Comedy. Stay in the Kitchen: As a wrestler, he egged women to fight him by claiming they were a weaker and dumber gender that was fit only to do this. Stealth Parody: Tony Clifton, but played to create a genuine Hatedom more than a Misaimed Fandom. Subverted Kids Show: Several of his stage routines and specials invoked this trope, most famously his 1.
ABC special.. which wasn't aired for two years because the network was scared by how strange (if benignly so) it was: the host continually vacillating between Excited Kids' Show Host and Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight, the screen dissolving into static at one point, the sincere interview with Howdy Doody, etc. Take That: My Breakfast With Blassie, his indie film lampooning another indie film, My Dinner with Andre, which Andy viewed as achingly pretentious. Take That, Audience!: Tony Clifton would berate and even outright verbally abuse his audience at the slightest provocation. The Trickster. Troll: As noted, several of his acts hinged simply on pissing off his audience. Basically, if you didn't understand what he was doing, the joke was on you. Trolling Creator: Practically his entire shtick.
When you don't care how people react to your work, it's that much easier to invoke this trope.. Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Tony Clifton; not only is he a Jerk Ass, but he was created on the premise that (as expressed in Man on the Moon) .