I have watched every Andy Kaufman thing I can find, and many of them numerous times. It never gets old. It all still keeps me absolutely spellbound. What a tragedy that the world lost Andy so abruptly. May God rest his soul.
Andy Kaufman confounds me. How can someone who appears so sweet and gentle also be so good at trolling and love it so much? Most people who are sensitive feel guilty or ashamed if they troll or play with peoples' emotions in the way Andy did, and most "trolls" are tinted with some degree of malice. But I don't sense any malice in Andy Kaufman. He doesn't come off as cold at all, but he clearly LOVE awkwardness, uncomfortableness, and pranks of all kinds. What a strange man.
Andy Kaufman was a performer and he understood the psychological elements behind people being entertained. Andy's chief goal was to evoke emotion and thought from his audience. One such ingredient of entertainment is surprise. Andy never disappointed in this regard. He made wonderful memories for so many people who understood the punchline.
Must admit I did not understand much of what Andy did. The whole cringe humor thing did not work for me. However, taking is life’s work as a whole, he really was a unique entertainer, a true artist. He left us way too soon.
The brilliant thing is that he is teaching a deep truth here, emotive, touching on the loneliness and deepest needs of the human being, while he himself is a lonely character, but placing the audience in some sense in a double illusion, thinking he is trolling them, which he is, but at the same time touching the heart.
I love how he comes across as a kind of idiot savant / earnest fool. His style of comedy was just so gosh darn stratospheric that sometimes u couldn't see it at first. What a man.
@@arribaficationwineho32 Andy loved wrestling and said to multiple individuals before his death that the wrestling stunts was his crowning achievement in life. He also said if he could he’d given up on Hollywood and just been a full time wrestler. Any fan of Andy should understand just how important being in those wrestling matches was for him. It was his dream and fortunately he was was able to live it.
That's one thing Dave and Johnny had in common. They both liked to be (if not needed) in control. That's why Johnny shined when on TV and not in person. He was in control when on TV, but not when in the presence of people.
@@ApartmentKing66 letterman actually liked having andy on the show because hed never know what andy would do was the unpredictability is what he liked about it
@@chazeverett I don't think Dave is the control freak that they think he is. I think that he does indeed get irritated but doesn't mind it. At the same time, it's his show so he has to reel it in at times.
It's part of the act, Letterman is in on all of these acts. He's not genuinely pissed, he's playing the antagonist to elevate Kaufman's performance. It's what makes a good host. Every modern talkshow host does this. But these things are choreographed.
This is the sweet side of his performances. This reminded me of when he took his carnegie hall audience on buses to go out for milk & cookies. He was one of a kind. R.I.P.
Tell you the truth, i'm 38 now in 2021, I'm a little bit drunk right now, and my natural guard is a little bit down, and I have to say, if all people, ever, were as genuine as Andy Kaufman was, we'd have much less trouble around the world. He was a great human being, a great entertainer, and yet his only flaw is that he will be forever misunderstood by close-minded, and routine-minded, people. Unfortunately, that Is simply impossible to change. I'm thankful people like him have been around, and others like him will yet still exist around the world and will hopefully bring balance and understanding to those that need it. I was but a kid when he passed away, yet I miss him terribly. I hope you, on RU-vid, agree with the sentiment, and that you miss him and other people like him too. Let's try and have more Andys, and maybe more Robin Williams's, and others, for our, and for our future generations', sanity and entertainment 👍
Oh, Andy. There is something so profoundly sweet and Buddhist about this. If he knew he was dying it makes it even more beautiful. There really hasn't been anything like this since. Part of me wishes we had ten more Andy Kaufmans and another part of me knows that the impact would never be the same. God bless xx
That andy could highlight the love and beauty of everyday average folks. Not witty or gorgeous or rich and famous. Just his folks. Most of us don't shine on tv. But andy showed the light shining within us all. Dead age 36 of lung cancer. His light expired. Some flame preserved on y tube.
After watching these Letterman stints one after another, I've noticed Andy always comes in a little late after being announced. Just when you think he won't come out, he appears! Kaufman acts were always finely detailed. I wish I was in the audience and got a hug from Andy!
Yeah, I noticed that. He likes to make uncomfortable pauses. He does that when the host tries to shake his hand too. He always takes a few extra bows and leaves the host hangin for a few extra moments.
This is hilarious. It really speaks to the genius of Andy Kaufman. He really had everybody trained to expect something outlandish, and through the whole bit, we are still expecting it to get awkward, uncomfortable, or just plain insane at any moment. He tries to come off sounding so sincere and innocent, while at the same time I’m sitting here thinking “when is the other shoe going to drop? When is he going to do something crazy? Are those actors or really his parents?“ It’s like another commenter said, we are trying to figure him out the whole time, which is Andy Kaufman‘s genius. He always kept us guessing. I sincerely think he loved the fact that we couldn’t take him seriously during this bit.
My grandfather told me; They had a manual for everything except parenting. He was also a decorated WW2 veteran. This was in regards to my broken family, and his way of saying sorry.
My dad got 2 Victoria crosses from the same war.My granddad got 3 iron crosses.They were proper medals.My family fought on both sides,a bit like the bankers that made money off all the working classes killing eachother for the bankers.The year now is 2019,and still nothing has changed.Now the Russians and Chinese are the ones our kids have to die fighting against.
Andy was a genuinely sweet and kind person who was also one of the most original and daring performers ever. He often said that one of his main intentions was to see just how far he could push something. And he got a lot of criticism for what was, ultimately, some of the bravest comedy ever. He paved the way for many to come.
If I were to ever receive the hug from Andy Kaufman I probably would have cried in his arms because of how generous he is and how he can make you feel special when you're in a world of pain and he knows how to take that pain away and give you a little bit of happiness even if it's just for a short while it's still worth it but then at the same time that happiness continues because the love and humor never dies
@marcoortiz8046 Our local independent station (or at least they WERE independent back then) KPHO TV5 ran Barney Miller episodes every weeknight at 11. My dad recorded every single episode off the TV on a VCR and made sure to pause during the commercials (which would actually be some of the most interesting parts now). We had tapes upon tapes of that show and I'll forever associate it with my dad. Barney Miller ran right before Taxi and right after M.A.S.H. on that channel.
@@silverladderAZ GREAT story, thanks! Well bless your Dad. Born in 1968, starting at the age of say 7 I watched Barney Miller, Taxi, Soap, Sanford and Son, All in The Family, Maude (even then got tingles when her daughter Carol was on an episode lol), Good Times, even later, Benny Hill. My folks loved me, saw nothing wrong with it, and I came out fine, I thinks :)
What I absolutely love about Kaufman, even more than his reality blurring which is truly impressive that he can even pull it off at all is the undercurrent of subversion his comedy always has. He was a pure comedian. I'm 100% sure he would have died happily with a very regular income just to make an even grander joke. He was truly a genius far ahead of his time. He understood the medium so well.
Wow, authentic and staged at the same time, true and made up, sad and lovely, this is not comedy, it is performance at a very high level. I notice that while watching all this somehow strange stuff it is much more emotional than usual comedy...
I find him so adorable and innocent and showing his real self. Just that people find him funny in such situations. A sweet nice smile 🥰🥰. Can't get enough of you mate. You really touched many lives and even after years you continue doing so. Must be entertaining people up there.❤️😘😘
I know it has already been said. .. Andy was a genius. pure genius .. I love watching him... his facial expressions...he is acting like a small loving child here.. so funny..
Now that I'm in my 50's, I still can't tell when the joke/performance stops and ends. This guy had a genius view about the world. I still find him very entertaining.
Thank you Don, I thought I had seen every letterman appearance, so it was so exciting to see this one. This was great, my favourite part was when Andy hugged Dave, that was really nice to see.
His parents are actually very sweet, and his Mom is especially adorable. I know that part of this is humorous, and then a significant part of it is absolutely real. Maybe this presages his death (as another commenter suggested), but it would be nice if we were all given the opportunity to have this type of closer with ones loved ones and audience. It actually brought tears to my eyes a bit for a moment
A human mind is made of multiple people, according to the latest neuropsychology. I think Andy knew about this secret of human nature and rather than repress it, like most of us have, he fully embraced it. He was never really acting that much differently than his actual inner selves, This is why he seemed so natural to his parents, for instance. I think he just channeled loving little boy Andy, for instance, and they were used to it. And I think this is why Andy upset so many people who didn't get the humor. His acts were just a little too real, because in essence, they were. Andy was simply not inhibiting or censoring his social inappropriateness through the filter of the socially constructed self, but rather allowing his real inner selfs to be unleashed. Of course, he thought about the details. But I think mostly, he practiced scenarios in his mind in his spare time, to build up a mental database of human awkwardness, which allowed him to quickly and fluently improv on the spot, channeling his real selves. Brilliant.
I wonder if Andy Kaufman himself even knew precisely what was "acting" and what was "himself". We all put on an act all of the time in various social situations and even when we are alone at times. He blurred the line between art and reality and so I wonder how much the line was blurred in his own soul.
3:47 Most commonly men hug each other head to right shoulder. But Kaufman really does take this a loving-ful step further, by placing the heart to the heart. Sometimes strange actors can have us distance our common manner-fuls into meaning manner-fuls. RIP Andy & resurrect in the most mannerful meaningful place.
This is amazing I can’t describe the joy I have watching these old Andy Kaufman videos but it’s surreal. It’s sad knowing his life ended shortly after this.
You can tell these are his parents because he resembles them plus no one can act this out. They are geniune in all their responses and answers and the conversation is real. I remember this when it aired.
Oh so this was his actual parents, that's very sweet. All the way through I couldn't tell if they were actors of not because I couldn't see a resemblance but it's nice to know it's the real thing and how sweet and lovely hey to be hugging his mum and dad and telling them that he loves them.
Andy genius was that he always kept you guessing. He was the master of creating false truth with a touch of improvised anarchy. He behaved so gentle and innocent, endeared himself to each audience member and then pulled the rug from under them. Pure magic. Always on the edge, always taking things to the extreme.
Andy didn't want to rebel against his elders, as was the want of his generation, he wanted to impress them. After all, he was, and we are the impression of our parents. Truly one of the greatest American entertainers that ever lived, and died.
This guy could be so obscure in his humour... I'm sure he loved the irony of the fact that so many people believed that wrestling was real...there was always that element in his acts but what exactly was real and what wasn't real was usually hard to tell ...a unique talent.
I love how everything Andy did was gradually eating away at David. You can call Letterman is used to having control of every situation, so to let Andy spin the show out of control made him silently panic.
ChaseFace Yeah, letterman was a huge fan of Andys. The amount of times Andy has appeared on the show is a testament to that. Letterman gave him plenty of TV time to some bizarre things, like the time he begged the audience for money.
You're misreading the situation. Dave loved having Andy on the show. Dave was the boss. If he didn't feel comfortable with Andy he wouldn't have had him on so many times and wouldn't have given him the time he gave him.
Letterman was so uptight socially. That was part of his charm. When Andy approached him to hug him Letterman stood up and actually went to button his jacket. And then that raised eyebrow of his when Kaufman started hugging members of the crew, as if to say, "This is so weird." Part of this was him just going for laughs, but it was also the repressed Midwesterner in him always pointing out his view of his guests' foibles to us with his looks into the camera.
This is absolutely fantastic! He really loved his grandmother. Everyone should get the album Andy and Grandmother Sing. The vinyl unfortunately is out of print. But the cd is still available.
Andy's mom Janice died in 1989 at age 63, almost exactly 6 years after this appearance on Dave. His dad Stanley died in 2013 at age 90. He was in the costume jewelry business.
What he does with his eyes for comedic effect is second to none. Bill Hader has that same talent, he was a student of Andy...just my opinion. He’s one of a kind and started the phrase “the anti-joke. When he is being serious is when he’s the funniest and his nervous eye movement is a huge part of that.
A brilliant art-house performance on big-time commercial television. It reminded me of being in a theatre watching Shakespeare. The performance felt long, but in the end very satisfying.
I’ve never seen Andy so normal, but this is a character which just happens to have Andy’s normal voice. And at this time in the talk show arena maybe only Dave could handle it.