This is Andy's first appearance on Late Night, from February 17, 1982 (Late Night #11). The show re-aired three months later, on May 31, but never again since.
Like somebody famous said (a comic. Dana Carvey I think it was) . "When I'm on the talk shows I am never myself. If your are a comic you are "on" and just trying to "kill" for 5 minutes. That's what you do on talk shows. You're never yourself having a conversation". That's what Kaufmann did. It's not that deep or seamlessly genius. It's just his schtick, and he always does it. Duh.
He was obviously passionate about Elvis. This interview where he talks about that is probably the closest to the real Andy that we see in an interview.
@@Oceantreasures24 The book he was referring too was written by a fucking douche who did a nasty hit job on Elvis. A couple of years later he came back with another book. This time of John Lennon where he did the exactly same thing. He made Lennon look really bad. McCartney went out to Lennons defense and said almost the same thing about the author as Kaufman said here. That asshole really liked to smear people who was no longer alive to defend themselves. He was a wimp and a coward. I think Kaufman was 100% authentic here.
@@Sacrive33he died of lung cancer but there has been rumors that he faked his death as a grand hoax, the more I watch his material, the more the rumors make sense
A very nice older gentleman I knew through my line of work was, for a time, involved with entertainment booking at the Playboy mansion in the 70’s and 80’s and gave me several pieces of memorabilia from back in the day. Never got anything involving Andy except stories. He said when going to Andy’s dressing room he would often find other characters there instead like Tony Clifton, foreign man , and among others of course, Elvis. He had to deal with the persona Andy was portraying as if he was real and not a character. He said there was definitely something strange and mysterious going on there, but, Andy was one of the sweetest , nicest people in show biz.
Andy was so brilliant. You can tell he was sincere about Elvis' passing and when he defended Elvis. He was a great talent. It is a shame he passed the year I was born.
@@guynorth3277 wow what a scum bag hypocrite you are. If Trump cured cancer you would still hate him and everything about him, you know what that is? That's an ideologue. That's what you are little Timmy, an Ideologue.
This Andy is so great, because the passion seems to come from a real place, but there's still that twinkle in his eye making you wonder whether he agrees with what he's saying. The best part is him acting like the SNL staff said he would never work in this business again lolol.
Yeah, I watched SNL the night Andy said he disapproved of the book on Elvis, and also of the sketch. I always assumed that was just part of the script, too. And even after hearing this, I still find it hard to buy what he's saying here because this is Andy Kaufman and he was always trying to prank us.
Gall ery I saw that too. But I’m not sure...at the time, most people..including the people close to him, knew that he was joking. I’m wracking my brain trying to remember any other entertainer that did that..(. I’m not talking about wrestling or fighting) I mean stage and tv entertainers...He May have been the very first to try that.
Goldenflux Lorne Michaels and/or his staff for sure said that to Elvis Costello before ejecting him from the building following the Radio Radio incident. It’s not always so nice behind the scenes there.
Gall ery I saw that too ! Lord, lol now I’m going to feel all nostalgic. I’m trying to remember exactly how old I was 🤔 I know I couldn’t have been 15 yet, but I was old enough to love SNL and “ get “ the humor.
I read the comment about audiences laughing even when Andy appears to be serious. That's exactly how Kaufman wanted it, in my opinion. He always wanted the audience guessing, no matter what he was doing. He thrived on always keeping an audience off kilter. I highly doubt he was offended.
Oh indeed, he knew he was making his audience "take the piss" in a way, and quite well--he pranked the crowd brilliantly. I too was fooled when I first saw Andy's standup on TV waay back when, but then later it clicked as I got to see more of his acts--I was then a fan. Andy was a comedic legend. :)
I really love this guys spirit. He seemed so conflicted and convinced at the same time. There are not that many people like this rising up to fame these days. So serious and sincere. What drove this man to be this way? ,maybe madness. and genius maybe love of art and creativity
r2blank2 it is probably not even intentional, some funny people have a hard time being seen as serious.... Now you take Kaufman, who is one of the biggest bullshitters... and it is damn near impossible to see him as not joking.
He may have trolled and confused people and his audience, but the was all part of his performance. Andy as a person, not performing, really believed in being honest, telling the truth, and had true integrity.
Everything was part of his act. The way he constantly changed pace between nearly witty and serious to get a reaction out of people was trolling of the highest grade. Most people of course , as the years went by, did caught on to this.
It's because they're in on it. He's playing a character. The Jim Carry movie makes it seem like no one knew, but at the time a lot of people got Andy Kaufman and so they'd laugh when he was being 'serious' (he was really in character).
because his Character(s) finally got bigger than the person and people couldn't see him anymore. It's hard for people to understand but comedians aren't always performing.
Youve got that right. He LOVED wresting and you only see promos like that from wrestlers who love their job...Randy Macho Man Savage was another with mad promo skills you just dont see these days.
Everyone thought he was funny. "They don't do that kind of stuff." We know very well now thats exactly what they did to people. Actively try to ruin their career.
I was 4 when he died, but I didn't discover him till they reran Taxi on Nick at Nite in 94. I didn't even know he'd died till his E! True Hollywood Story came out in 98 which was about a yr before Man on the Moon starring Jim Carrey came out. But that's the great thing about YT is there are so many clips from things he's done that we can now enjoy.
I LOVE WHAT ANDY says here about that book ( * I have read).* on ELVIS ( who I love too , I am 54 and remember this when it was live !! )..ANDY was telling it like it is !! ( Howard Cosell)...The 70's and 80's were my youth and it was aLL THAT AND MORE in the east bay !!
Andy is the ultimate embodiment of irony being carried so far that you don't know if he is being serious or not, exemplifying the law known as Kepler's Law.
One of my favorites from the 70's and 80's. Not your average guy but what a genius, he left us way to early. Groovin' on Elvis Baby, Are you haven' fun?
Justin Kennedy I spoke with lynne Margulies his ex and she told me to watch the Tom cottle interview. She said Andy is fully himself and out of character. Same with his interview at Kutchers and dvd called the real Andy Kaufman
I was roommate and classmate with Andy Kaufman in Grahm Jr College in Boston, Massachusetts. The character Latka is based on me. I suggested him to use my character, and he admits that in his interview with Orson Welles 1982. Film maker Alex Braverman has interviewed me in his documentary, “ thank you very much “
