# Man on the Moon - Andy Kaufman **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353 "2012-01-04T06:32:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/21 "2012-01-04T17:40:18Z")
[Gatsby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL3Dp6Oh3Fw). If you don’t find it hilarious I do not understand your mind. Which is not a criticism. I’m just saying, if you don’t get it, I don’t get you. I am curious to know what comedians (or other performers) could count as precursors or influences on Kaufman’s style as exhibited in this clip. Comedy (and performance in general) always plays with audience expectations. But what precursors are there to this fairly explicitly adversarial play? I don’t know much Brecht but from what I’ve heard about him I wonder if his plays ever do this kind of thing? ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/22 "2012-01-04T18:08:32Z")
Kaufman was the one thing I find unforgivable in anyone who puts themselves before the public. Tedious. Once you knew his schtick the best you could ever do was wait through his “act” until the real performers came back on. That said, he was an OK actor and when he could be convinced to stay in character he could be as funny as the script. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/23 "2012-01-04T18:13:25Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > [Gatsby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL3Dp6Oh3Fw). > > If you don’t find it hilarious I do not understand your mind. Which is not a criticism. I’m just saying, if you don’t get it, I don’t get you. > > I am curious to know what comedians (or other performers) could count as precursors or influences on Kaufman’s style as exhibited in this clip. Comedy (and performance in general) always plays with audience expectations. But what precursors are there to this fairly explicitly adversarial play? I don’t know much Brecht but from what I’ve heard about him I wonder if his plays ever do this kind of thing? Then you don’t understand mine. I find it tedious and uninteresting. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/24 "2012-01-04T18:16:01Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > [Gatsby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL3Dp6Oh3Fw). > > If you don’t find it hilarious I do not understand your mind. Which is not a criticism. I’m just saying, if you don’t get it, I don’t get you. > > I am curious to know what comedians (or other performers) could count as precursors or influences on Kaufman’s style as exhibited in this clip. Comedy (and performance in general) always plays with audience expectations. But what precursors are there to this fairly explicitly adversarial play? I don’t know much Brecht but from what I’ve heard about him I wonder if his plays ever do this kind of thing? It’s mildly funny to read a brief a account of it. To be an unsuspecting part of it would be infuriating. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/25 "2012-01-04T18:30:38Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I don’t classify Andy Kaufman as a comedian but a performance artist and to discuss him as a comic would be similar to discussing Marina Abramovic as a nude model. > > Were some of his routines funny - yes but take his groundbreaking routine as an example. In it, “Foreign Man” impersonates Elvis Presley. It is hysterically funny but why? He gives us Foreign Man to laugh at (not with) and his impersonation are cringingly bad. He is a figure to mock and I’m sure when developing his character, some heckler shouted, “You suck!” to which FM bowed and replied, “Thank you veery much.”. Then he goes into Elvis as a big “Fuck You!” to the audience (reportedly it was Elvis’ favorite impersonation) but then comes back as completely UNself-aware Foreign Man to finish up. It’s not comedy but it is a funny-as-hell routine and at the end, no one is sure if the joke is on Kaufman or the audience. I think I saw that routine on a summer variety show Andy Williams had in 1975 or 1976. It was obviously memorable to me and also very funny. How is it not comedy? I thought comedy was any entertainment whose purpose is laughter. Wasn’t that his purpose? Whether it was his purpose or not, that was the result. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/26 "2012-01-04T18:39:39Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > It’s mildly funny to read a brief a account of it. To be an unsuspecting part of it would be infuriating. I find it funny as shit, but I’m also a big fan of absurdism and that sort of thing, so perhaps I’m more predisposed to this kind of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/27 "2012-01-04T18:40:58Z")
I like absurdism. I don’t like being some entertainer’s chump. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/28 "2012-01-04T18:45:10Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I like absurdism. I don’t like being some entertainer’s chump. Then I don’t know how to describe it. Maybe closer to John Cage’s _4’33"_? I generally dislike conceptual performance art pieces, but both Kaufman and Cage work for me, for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/29 "2012-01-04T18:53:49Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Then I don’t know how to describe it. Maybe closer to John Cage’s _4’33"_? I generally dislike conceptual performance art pieces, but both Kaufman and Cage work for me, for whatever reason. 4’33 gave the audiences something that was somewhat novel - the sound of a “silent” auditorium. It was art that the audience was able to enjoy, even if they didn’t realize at the time that they were supposed to be enjoying it. Gatsby is funny when you read about it, but if you had to sit through 20 minutes of it, at _some_ point you’re doing to stop laughing. You can’t laugh for 20 minutes straight at one joke. So what happens then? You either sit there smugly for 20 minutes, smelling the rosiness of your own farts, or you stand up and leave, and walk out on a creative genius. Or you do what I do when Family Guy busts out the old “I hurt my knee and I’m going to sit here going ‘ahh’ for 3 minutes” gag: get frustrated and annoyed. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/30 "2012-01-04T18:57:59Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > It’s mildly funny to read a brief a account of it. To be an unsuspecting part of it would be infuriating. This. When I saw it as part of the movie, I thought it was pretty clever and original… until you realize that he did that one bit for an entire show. If you paid money to see that performance, my guess is you’d want your money back pronto. Either that or you’d want to punch his lights out. The vast majority of people go to see people perform on stage to be entertained. The only one entertained by the Gatsby bit was Kaufman, and he did it to be a prick, pure and simple. He didn’t break out the Gatsby act until the audience pissed him off by begging for Latka, or something other than what he was doing on stage. Gatsby was the audience’s “punishment”. The concept is original.. and maybe 5 minutes of it would be funny as part of a larger act. But to do it because you are irritated? That’s being an abrasive asshole, and nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/31 "2012-01-04T19:03:11Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Gatsby was the audience’s “punishment”. The concept is original.. and maybe 5 minutes of it would be funny as part of a larger act. But to do it because you are irritated? That’s being an abrasive asshole, and nothing more. Hmm… Like I said, I’m not that intimate with his oeuvre. I thought the Gatsby bit went on for 5 minutes or so. The whole act, though? I have to admit, that would probably cross the line into “annoying” and “pretentious” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/32 "2012-01-04T19:09:58Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > It’s mildly funny to read a brief a account of it. To be an unsuspecting part of it would be infuriating. Yeah, I see what you mean. I get some chuckles out of reading the summaries in this thread, but to be stuck watching the bits played out for seven or eight minutes… that would get boring and/or annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/33 "2012-01-04T19:17:01Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > 4’33 gave the audiences something that was somewhat novel - the sound of a “silent” auditorium. It was art that the audience was able to enjoy, even if they didn’t realize at the time that they were supposed to be enjoying it. > > Gatsby is funny when you read about it, but if you had to sit through 20 minutes of it, at _some_ point you’re doing to stop laughing. You can’t laugh for 20 minutes straight at one joke. So what happens then? You either sit there smugly for 20 minutes, smelling the rosiness of your own farts, or you stand up and leave, and walk out on a creative genius. Or you do what I do when Family Guy busts out the old “I hurt my knee and I’m going to sit here going ‘ahh’ for 3 minutes” gag: get frustrated and annoyed. When did he do it for twenty minutes? Is that performance recorded? In the clip I linked to, the performance is about seven minutes long, and it is punctuated by asides which (perhaps counterintuitively given the nature of the joke) keep things moving. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/34 "2012-01-04T19:26:22Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > When did he do it for twenty minutes? Is that performance recorded? > > In the clip I linked to, the performance is about seven minutes long, and it is punctuated by asides which (perhaps counterintuitively given the nature of the joke) keep things moving. The movie gives the impression that he continues to read until the theater is nearly empty. Ignore the Russian dub and see for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/embed/0ofhW0XF9WM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque The movie starts out with a full theater and around 1:50 you see it nearly empty, with the remaining brave souls struggling to stay awake. If that happens in 8 minutes, that’s the worst audience ever. I don’t know how many of his performances actually went that way, but that’s the impression the movie gives. I’m too young to have seen Andy Kaufman live. I’ll admit that the version you linked to appears to actually be set up as a TV friendly comedy piece, so apparently he was able to play nice when the situation called for it. eta: Actually, according to the movie, he reads the _entire book_ on stage. That’s gotta take several hours, I’d think. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/35 "2012-01-04T20:26:23Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Actually, according to the movie, he reads the _entire book_ on stage. That’s gotta take several hours, I’d think. Fuckin’ hilarious, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/36 "2012-01-04T20:38:07Z")
For some people, humor consists only of jokes, told as jokes, with a standard punchline. For others humor can be very nuanced and ironic. Everybody has their own tastes, and Andy definitely wasn’t targeting common tastes in humor. I found most of his stuff hilarious. Some things just didn’t go over for me. But the lengths he would travel to dig humor out of unlikely sources provided his greatest acclamation, when he died a tragic death (assuming dying young is always tragic), many did not believe he was actually dead, that it was another bizarre gag. He may have one upped Twain there. The reports of his death were not exaggerated. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/37 "2012-01-04T20:58:58Z")
I respect how committed he was to what he was doing, but I don’t find his stuff particularly entertaining or brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/38 "2012-01-04T21:06:29Z")
A major case of “The emperor has no clothes”. I never understood his cult. He was essentially a circus geek with a bigger paycheck; if he were alive today he’d probably be going on the talk show circuit advocating that women be banned from professions or ugly people be sterilized or something equally incendiary just to get attention. If making people uncomfortable is talent then Andy Dick is long overdue for a MacArthur Grant. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/39 "2012-01-04T21:14:28Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > eta: Actually, according to the movie, he reads the _entire book_ on stage. That’s gotta take several hours, I’d think. I’d like to see if this can be confirmed from another source. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/40 "2012-01-04T21:27:22Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I’d like to see if this can be confirmed from another source. > [@](#): > > Budd Friedman had let Andy do the bit on nights the club was slow, but only just before closing time. When he wanted to clear the place out he’d send Andy on stage, The Great Gatsby in hand. People would laugh for about fifteen minutes, but after that, exactly to plan, it became a deadly bore (with apologies to F. Scott Fitzgerald) and the place would empty almost as fast as if you’d yelled “Fire.” > > Lorne Michaels wisely never agreed to let Andy do the full routine, given that the show’s sponsors wouldn’t appreciate Andy “clearing the house.” I came up with a way to keep the bit to five minutes and make it funny, thus making the transition from an experiment to test the tolerance of an audience to a part of his act that worked for all and was actually funny from start to finish. Andy went along with the alteration. > **[Andy Kaufman Revealed!](https://books.google.com/books?id=BqAz08xkYkMC&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=andy%2Bkaufman%2Bread%2Bthe%2Bentire%2Bgreat%2Bgatsby&source=bl&ots=AyTPh8X_h2&sig=oaMJm0l4wDvuAQ1eYRX0TF40-uw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SsIET4WLGaHH0AGhqIWxAg&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=andy%20kaufman%20read%20the%20entire%20great%20gatsby&f=false)** > > Best known for his sweet-natured character Latka on Taxi, Andy Kaufman was the most influential comic of the generation that produced David Letterman, John Belushi, and Robin Williams. A regular on the early days of Saturday Night Live (where he... I suspect the movie depiction of the events is heavily exaggerated, given the description here, but what’s evident is that the bit was born as a way to annoy the audience for upwards of 15 minutes, and only later became the SNL-friendly comedy routine that you linked to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353.md?page=3)