Did you find Andy Kaufman funny?

Sheridan81

Surreal, kooky, original, a pioneering artist of dadaist comedy perhaps, but funny?

Not for me Clive.

He was ok in Taxi, an underrated sitcom, to be fair.

talla10

Didn't ever see him perform or pay attention to him.

The movie with Jim Carrey was good 'Man on the Moon.'

if you belieeeeeeve

Grayditch

Not for me Clive.

A lot of the time yes. Humour was only a part of the performance, for me.

Not for me Clive.

A mercurial genius who pushed the boundaries of conventional humour by toying with his audience. Going on stage with the intention of bombing and then affecting a breakdown to the rhythm of a bongo drum, there will never be another like him:

Quantum Erasure

prefer his more serious roles, loved him in the truman show

Neames

Quantum Erasure wrote: »

prefer his more serious roles, loved him in the truman show

That was Jim Carrey not Andy.

gigantic09

Neames wrote: »

That was Jim Carrey not Andy.

I thought it was Tony Clifton?. Some of his performances on the late show were brilliant, such as with wrestler Gerry Lawlor and the tíme hé had a breakdown and was asking the audience for some spare change. Can appreciate how he was like marmite tho and not everyone's cup of tea.

Necro

I found Jerry Lawler beating the tar out of him funny, does that count?

sydthebeat

Not for me Clive.

An artist.

Sometimes it was a hit and a miss, sometimes it was pure meta gold.

He needed an editor

Birneybau

More like performance art really.

ILoveYourVibes

Hilarious.

I think for other people might be more ...mind opening tho.

I just thought it was so funny tho.

Sacha Baron Cohen is the same kind of humour.

whisky_galore

He was good, but he was no Jim Carey.

El_Duderino 09

[Deleted User] wrote: »

A mercurial genius who pushed the boundaries of conventional humour by toying with his audience. Going on stage with the intention of bombing and then affecting a breakdown to the rhythm of a bongo drum, there will never be another like him:

I wouldn't mind if there was never anotjer like him. That clip was dyre. What were the people laughing at? If I saw that act in an amateur drama theatre, I'd say it was about the right level of funny//thoughtful.

Each to their own and all that and to me, that clip was just self indulgent nonsense.

Beechwoodspark

A self indulgent twit

Hangdogroad

He had a great non comedy cameo in a movie called God Told Me To, as a cop who flips out and goes on a shooting rampage during the New York Paddy's Day parade.

El_Duderino 09

Necro wrote: »

I found Jerry Lawler beating the tar out of him funny, does that count?

That's about as funny as any bit between any two wrestlers on WWE any week. Was the funny part doing it on Letterman instead of WWE?

ILoveYourVibes

Necro wrote: »

I found Jerry Lawler beating the tar out of him funny, does that count?

Well....i don't mean to say you are slow ....but that WAS the joke ..so yes. I mean you do realize ...he didn't actually beat up the guy right?

I think andy kaufman is one of the few people to understand WWF

El_Duderino 09

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Well....i don't mean to say you are slow ....but that WAS the joke ..so yes. I mean you do realize ...he didn't actually beat up the guy right?

I think andy kaufman is one of the few people to understand WWF

People who actually watch wrestling surely also understand it. I've got to imagine it was straight wrestling soap opera for people who think they're too smart for wrestling.

Was it even parody? It looked exactly like the real thing but presented to a different audience.

EmmetSpiceland

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

People who actually watch wrestling surely also understand it. I've got to imagine it was straight wrestling soap opera for people who think they're too smart for wrestling.

Was it even parody? It looked exactly like the real thing but presented to a different audience.

Wrestling wasn’t as “big” at the time. Most people wouldn’t have seen that sort of “interaction” that would have been fairly standard viewing for those of us who grew up with WWF/WWE.

It was way ahead of its time. The fact that Kaufman and Lawler were actual quite friendly and both thought it was funny, and good for wrestling, makes it, for me, even funnier.

Aongus Von Bismarck

A name I hadn’t heard of in years. No is the answer.

Reminded me of sharing an apartment with a chap when I was in Trinity. He was always desperate to show how ‘out there’ he was by going on about how much he loved unfunny comedians like Kaufman, Bill Hicks, Stewart Lee etc. The comedy equivalent of the jazz bore.

This culminated in an absolutely disastrous attempt at stand-up comedy at an open mike night upstairs in Chaplins bar.

The funniest part of the entire thing is that he now works as a damage assessor for an insurance firm.

frosty123

No never found him remotely funny...but I loved Taxi

ILoveYourVibes

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

People who actually watch wrestling surely also understand it. I've got to imagine it was straight wrestling soap opera for people who think they're too smart for wrestling.

Was it even parody? It looked exactly like the real thing but presented to a different audience.

It wasn't parody at all. It was real deal. But turned back to bite the audience.
It was to bait the wwf audience.

Your Face

Some of his stuff was funny and he did push a different type of humour. He wasn't really a trial-blazer though.
Usually with acts like this it's the rim-sniffing fans that put people off.

ILoveYourVibes

Your Face wrote: »

Some of his stuff was funny and he did push a different type of humour. He wasn't really a trial-blazer though.
Usually with acts like this it's the rim-sniffing fans that put people off.

I don't think he wanted fans.

Plumbthedepths

I would never have known who he was except for the brilliant REM song.
Not for me humour wise.

ILoveYourVibes

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

I would never have known who he was except for the brilliant REM song.
Not for me humour wise.

Not sure it was about him ..was it?

Jim Carrey made him famous tho..i get that.

Plumbthedepths

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Not sure it was about him ..was it?

Jim Carrey made him famous tho..i get that.

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/rem/man-on-the-moon

ILoveYourVibes

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/rem/man-on-the-moon

Oh wow ...i never knew. Cool!

Rick_

I didn't find Andy particularly funny, but Man On The Moon is a great film with a great soundtrack.

Gregor Samsa

He was one of those things that are big in the US, but aren’t of interest to anyone else. Like Saturday Night Live, Kiss, The Grateful Dead, baloney sandwiches, corn dogs and cooties.

El_Duderino 09

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Wrestling wasn’t as “big” at the time. Most people wouldn’t have seen that sort of “interaction” that would have been fairly standard viewing for those of us who grew up with WWF/WWE.

It was way ahead of its time. The fact that Kaufman and Lawler were actual quite friendly and both thought it was funny, and good for wrestling, makes it, for me, even funnier.

Yeah ok. It was wrestling theatre on a talkshow stage. The Mexicans have been doing this for years. They live as their wrestling characters.

Look, I'm happy for you if you enjoyed it. It might have been innovative at the time but it doesn't stand the test of time, that's for sure.

El_Duderino 09

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

It wasn't parody at all. It was real deal. But turned back to bite the audience.
It was to bait the wwf audience.

OK. It's usually called trolling. If you're into that kind of thing might also like Katie Hopkins.

Blindboy did his most recent podcast on kayfabe in wrestling. The one with Jerry Lalor would be kayfabe. The one where he addresses the people of the South is trolling. But was any of it funny?

Is it innovative because he invented trolling? Or because he did kayfabe on Letterman?

Maybe you just had to be there in the 60s or whenever he was around. Seems like anything passed for funny back then.

ILoveYourVibes

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

OK. It's usually called trolling. If you're into that kind of thing might also like Katie Hopkins.

A white woman giving out about muslims doesnt take guts...a jewish guy giving **** to the south ...that takes some balls.:D

He got death threats.

El_Duderino 09

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

A white woman giving out about muslims doesnt take guts...a jewish guy giving **** to the south ...that takes some balls.:D

He got death threats.

Ah, if you're down to measuring the quality of trolling in guts and death threats. It's fine if you want to measure things by level of death threats but I'd imagine Katie Hopkins gets her fair share.

But now you're talking about guts. Miles away from being chucklous, let alone being actually funny. I suppose it depends on how funny you find trolling. Hard to imagine that stuff was so innovative but I'll take your word for it.

Rubberchikken

God no. Very unfunny in fact.

ILoveYourVibes

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Ah, if you're down to measuring the quality of trolling in guts and death threats. It's fine if you want to measure things by level of death threats but I'd imagine Katie Hopkins gets her fair share.

But now you're talking about guts. Miles away from being chucklous, let alone being actually funny. I suppose it depends on how funny you find trolling. Hard to imagine that stuff was so innovative but I'll take your word for it.

Who?

El_Duderino 09

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Who?

Who, what?

Wibbs

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

He was one of those things that are big in the US, but aren’t of interest to anyone else. Like Saturday Night Live, Kiss, The Grateful Dead, baloney sandwiches, corn dogs and cooties.

This pretty much for me. While American comedy is (English speaking)world known and often renowned, as is much of their media output in general, there are some things that for some reason really don't translate out of the place. The above being a good list. I mean Saturday Night Live is huge over there and has been the springboard for some real comic geniuses and some great shows and flics, but the show itself is apparently practically unwatchable outside of America though they have in the past put feelers out to sell it overseas to a resounding "ah no, ye're grand like". Kaufman for me would be similar. Worked in Taxi as a character, but otherwise I'd find him unwatchable. But hey, humour is very subjective.