Amazingly, Elvis himself was rumored to have several tapes of Andy Kaufman's performances. Elvis long considered Andy's impersonation one of his absolute favorites of all time! While Kaufman is indeed a comedian, when you listen to his performance it becomes clear that he actually has quite a voice
I saw Andy Kauffman at The Improv in Manhattan in the mid 1970s when he was just starting out. He was so courageous in front of audiences. He came on stage with a stepladder, stood on the lowest rung and started to read The Great Gatsby. He risked the audience getting angry and bored, which for most comedians is their worst fear. The audience started talking and complaining and Andy jumped off the ladder, tore his outer clothes off and did the most phenomenal Elvis ever. The audience went wild ! He was so good and he died way too young.
Simple music can make you sing simple hug can make you feel better simple things can make you happy, i hope my simple Hello brings smile to your face!....
I too saw Andy Kaufman before he was famous at a club in Brooklyn, probably 1972 or 73, I was living in Brooklyn Heights and working in Manhattan, I left New York in July of 74, got married and moved to Milwaukee. Anyway I remember thinking he was really good, as did the people I was with, my finance (now exhusband) and a few of his friends.
Exactly! That is why the beginning of this clip sucks ass!! Anyone familiar with the bit knows what I’m talking about. Comedy is about setting up expectations and crushing them. In this, Andy was an undisputed master!!
They start cheering for Andy. By the end they're cheering for Elvis. You can hear the way the crowd is cheering change from comedian to rockstar. Fucking wild.
I love how at the end of this brilliant impersonation of Elvis that he goes back to his comedian voice to say 'thank you very much'.. So friggin' hilarious!
Andy simultaneously doing 5% Latka, 95% Elvis. It's astounding attention to detail and astonishing concentration while still having awareness of the band and audience. Holy crap.
"I am not a comic, I have never told a joke. The comedian's promise is that he will go out there and make you laugh with him. My only promise is that I will try to entertain you as best I can." - Andy Kaufman
Simple music can make you sing simple hug can make you feel better simple things can make you happy, i hope my simple Hello brings smile to your face!....
Ironically, that is the most cliched (unoriginal) line in all of RU-vid. Just replace the idol with whomever your random fanatic thinks is the best at whatever.
@@generalyellor8188 - So why don't YOU give it a shot & try to write something TRULY original? Mind you, some historians will tell you that you can never write something truly original and some would even say that the ancient Greeks wrote and said everything worth saying & writing about over 2,000 years ago.
Funny, I find him supremely annoying. Admittedly, I know him only through clips and tried to watch "Man On the Moon," but could only bear about 30 minutes of it. The Tony Clifton character made me turn it off. I do not comprehend how people who worked with him tolerated him.
Andy Kaufman and I were born on the same day January 17,1949. We are now 74 and I wish he was still here. Such a funny man who gave people a lot of laughs. Rest in peace, Andy.
@@hawkeyemaga3110 , nope... CRS and SK are Elvis impersonators. curiousnomad nailed it when he(?) said Andy was a "performance artist." It's not the same thing at all.
*NO...that 'Title' goes to Kurt Russell who was so uncanny as Elvis that Priscilla had to walk away more than once while Kurt was doing vocals on songs or even speaking* __________ *People were stunned by how good he was without really even trying all that hard and Kurt himself said "I channeled everything I knew and what people who were close to him for years like 'Red' West who told me "When he wasn't being 'Elvis' for the public he was just like any other Southern boy who loved gadgets and toys and was just as fascinated by movie-stars and entertainers like Sinatra and Dean Martin as anyone else...he was always insecure over his education and read books constantly on anything everything he thought might help him become more sophisticated so people wouldn't think he was stupid...but one thing you have to remember is he was a 'good guy' at heart and always gave the best show he could for fans and never forgot 'where he came from' and if you were his friend he never forgot it no matter if it was years since he'd talked to you, he would spend money like water to 'fix you back-up' with whatever you needed and that's the truth of him"*
@@gerrynightingale9045 Well on the voice alone, I would rate them pretty much equal. The thing with Kurt was that he also looked a lot like Elvis, so much so that he spooked Priscilla whenever she saw him.
I had the pleasure of a very brief encounter with Elvis Presley in 1965. He was a genuine gentleman. He took the time to say hello to me outside his home in Memphis.
I saw Elvis when I was 15, at a small theater in Miami. I wore my first pair of high heels. He was just getting started, not much older than I was. It would be impossible for people now to understand how revoluntary he was.
Lynn, my mom used to listen to Elvis all the time. She was absolutely devastated when he passed away. I was way too young to comprehend why.. So heartbreaking. If he only had gotten the help he needed, but I know back then there was a stigma attached to asking for help, and rehab wasn't as available like today.
I remember seeing this when it originally aired in 1977. Was never an Andy Kaufman fan but I remember being shocked at what a great impression of Elvis he did that night. This was the first time I saw him do Elvis and it was great.
This originally aired on March 3rd, 1977. Elvis died on August 16th, 1977...around five months after this. Elvis was alive when this aired, saw the performance and complimented Kaufman on his impersonation.
Sorry for being 45 years late (6-22) but I had no idea the Elvis talent & passing away so young (me 61). Everybody reading this I'm sure is one of my lost family member. Lots of health to you.
Pure genius....he wasn't understood. He was always thinking ahead. His spirit is still around because he wasn't ready to die. Tragic death of one of the few Master comedians.
He was an avid Carson viewer and thought Andy’s bit was hilarious. To this day I’ve not seen a performer mimic his mannerisms so distinctly. Remember there was no home video to study them repeatedly yet. And there were no complete concerts albums released that included so much of his idle on stage patter. There’s lots now, and he’ got the corny jokes verbatim. People probably assumed he just made them up. But Kaufman attended many Las Vegas shows to get him down. I imagine him practicing in the mirror each day then going back to see what to change.
@@brianstorm5488 yeah the 'Gatorade' thing LOL ... also I heard Elvis in an audio show say something like 'you gotta aid your gator' ... Elvis was actually quite funny
Without a doubt the best Elvis impression by a mile,there are loads of good ones but Andy effortlessly captures the rich unique tone of his voice.Amazing.
OMG, I never got see this. I had heard about how great Andy Kaufman was portraying Elvis. They were right! He was great! How we miss both of these great entainters!! This was great!! If you just hear this, it sounds just like Elvis singing. What a great impersonation of Elvis, Andy did.🎶🥰👏👏💔😇🕊🙏❤
@@EdwinRodriguez-vk3rt wasn't Andy K great. I wish these chnls, like Attena TV and the like would show the Taxi series, reruns. I loved the opening music. Great show, so many great actors, who played even greater Characters. It's sad, Andy Kaufman left us way to soon. 😢❤🙏🕊😇🎶👏
The Elvis bit was preceded by Andy's Foreign Man doing really crappy impersonations of people you never heard of like his Aunt. "Take of your shoes! Sit down and eat your dinner!" Thank you very much. Made the Elvis bit all the more amazing! A genius.
This clip omits the set-up at the beginning of the performance, which does bookend the impersonation proper - and makes it both funnier and smarter. Initially, it's Andy Kaufman as the Foreign Man doing (bad) impressions of then-popular TV characters and personalities. He then goes into the Elvis routine, which is spot-on and contrasts with the earlier amateur impressions (making it all the funnier). So, in essence, it's not only an Elvis Presley impersonation; more importantly, it's Andy Kaufman as the Foreign Man as The Elvis Presley. So, the full performance is important to see as it infuses the gag with multiple dimensions - which is why Andy Kaufman was so brilliant.
Not only was Andy a true comedic GENIUS, decades ahead of his time....Andy was a huge Elvis fan, and his impression is absolutely spot on. Elvis really enjoyed Andy's impression, and said it was his favorite and the best impression of all !!! Thank you.....thank you very much 🎸
There's a Thousand hours of his life in those 6 mins, year in year out practising in his bedroom just him and a mirror ! Years ahead of his time . and as for the show Taxi He was The only Actor ever, to Not rehearse . He memorised his lines once, and in the history of the show Never once did he make a Mistake. R.I.P.Andy Kaufman. 🌹
This impression is brilliant. Just brilliant. Never be another Andy. Just like there will never be another Elvis. I wish this showed the whole clip with the purposefully bad impressions - because the magic of the transformation is appreciated so much more after that…. Miss you Andy 😢❤
I saw Andy do this at the Continental Baths around this time. What is not prefaced here is his tooling around on the guitar about as ineptly as possible trying to do Elvis with a heavy Spanish accent and failing miserably. After one song, he dropped into full Elvis mode and dazzled us for an hour. No one had ever seen him and he was, and probably remains, one of the best Elvis impressionists of all time.
Watching this convinced me that Andy was so full of life as his rock n' rollin' of Elvis' swivel hips proved. His vocal impersonation was so right on as well. No doubt, with the talent he showed on the Carson show, he could have entertained many more audiences if only he had lived longer. So unfortunate he was taken from us way too soon.
I think Elvis appreciated the farce factor. The really good impersonators didn't really surface until the KIng was dead. Elvis never really saw the good ones.
Andy Kaufman was truly one of a kind. I remember this show when it aired originally. He went on to have a great but too short career. Gone way too soon. RIP Andy, you are missed.
I was always a big fan of both Elvis and Andy. His physical mannerisms in his impression were good but his vocals left much to be desired. I believe it was because there were so few people back then doing Elvis impressions that he went over big. Andy was great at creating his Latka character voice, but that was it. What made him funny was what he did with that character. But in respect to impressions, other than the surprise factor he was rather mediocre.
Back in the fall of 1979 my boyfriend and I were out in New Mexico and we caught Andy's special one hour comedy special (I think it was on ABC). Every skit was hilarious. One of the best comedy hours ever produced.
Andy Kaufman was a genius. Unfortunately, this clip sells him short. The genius of this bit is that he starts with several minutes doing terrible impressions as his little foreign man character. The transformation into a powerful, talented Elvis was a huge joke on the audience.
I fell for the joke. I kept saying, "who is this guy and who let him on TV???" And my sister said, "just keep watching." Then he transformed himself into Elvis before my eyes, and did the brilliant impersonation. Never forgot it.
Thanks for the memory! I had forgotten how brilliant Andy Kaufman's impression of Elvis was. And that shy "Thank you vedy much" at the end always got the giggles out of me.
Simple music can make you sing simple hug can make you feel better simple things can make you happy, i hope my simple Hello brings smile to your face!....
