# 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:** 3
**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, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/41 "2012-01-04T22:10:02Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > [Andy Kaufman Revealed!: Best Friend Tells All - Bob Zmuda - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=BqAz08xkYkMC&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=andy+kaufman+read+the+entire+great+gatsby&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) > > 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. Thanky. I’d’ve stayed. 😉 ---
**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, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/42 "2012-01-04T22:38:35Z")
The most amazing thing about Kaufman was that people kept paying him to perform. After he pissed off more than a few managers and promoters with his stunts and was generally considered the most difficult co-star possibly on _Taxi_ you’d think that word would have gotten around. ---
**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, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/43 "2012-01-04T22:38:38Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Thanky. > > I’d’ve stayed. 😉 Not if your significant other wanted to go. You wouldn’t trade sex for Kaufman’s Gatsby bit, would you? ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/44 "2012-01-04T23:06:16Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Couldn’t stand the guy. I never saw the film, because I couldn’t see the point. I know what he was doing, but derived absolutely no joy from it, and after a while whenever he came on, I’d switch the channel. Heis bits of conceptual comedy sound great in abstract ot told in recollection, but actually sitting through the performance was an exercise in tediousness with no payoff. > > “All comedy is cruelty?” A grossly inadequate and misleading summary, on a par with saying “Magic is lying to the audience”. If you based a magic act on that bare premise you’d get thrown off the stage, and rightly so, no matter now purely you stayed to the philosophy. The same with comedy. If Don Rickles insults you, it’s funny. When Michael Richards insulted people onstage, it wasn’t. It’s got nothing to do with “safe” or “challenging”. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/45 "2012-01-04T23:41:44Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The most amazing thing about Kaufman was that people kept paying him to perform. After he pissed off more than a few managers and promoters with his stunts and was generally considered the most difficult co-star possibly on _Taxi_ you’d think that word would have gotten around. Wow, a difficult performer? Yeah, it’s astounding to think he continued to pick up work. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/46 "2012-01-04T23:48:16Z")
I dunno if any of you watch WWE Wrestling, but Monday night after several months of “mysterious” videos about 01/02/2012, Chris Jericho returned to the ring in a entrance almost visually identical to his last return to wrestling about 8 years ago. He ran around the ring and outside the ring patting people’s hands, encouraging them to cheer, picking up the microphone like he was going to speak, and then going back to begging for the cheers. It went on so long it was painful and some people were starting to boo while most people were just confused. Then he walked to the back without saying anything at all. And I thought…_Andy Kaufman_. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/47 "2012-01-05T00:01:29Z")
I liked Andy Kauman’s performance in _Taxi_, and his stand-up and funny conversations with talk chow hosts. I didn’t really understand the bizarre performance art aspect of his comedy. As I kid, I’d barely heard of the wrestling shtick. When I saw _Man On The Moon_, I felt that I knew Kaufman even less than I had before. Not only did I get the Gatsby skit, the fact that he hated his role on _Taxi_, the whole wrestling story, but that he spoofed everyone, all the time. To the point that his brothers and sisters searched for a conspiracy in his death “Look, the Doctor’s wearing tennis shoes, this must be a joke.” The movie leads one to believe that Kaufman was never honest with anyone. That’s illogical. He couldn’t have lived his life like that. But the movie was also a joke. That’s when I realized, I’d watched a funny autobiography – but I now knew nothing more than when I started. The plan all along. ---
**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 5, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/48 "2012-01-05T00:34:16Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > eta: Actually, according to the movie, he reads the _entire book_ on stage. That’s gotta take several hours, I’d think. > [@Leaffan](#): > > Fuckin’ hilarious, isn’t it? It’s hellbinding. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/49 "2012-01-05T01:55:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > “All comedy is cruelty?” A grossly inadequate and misleading summary, on a par with saying “Magic is lying to the audience”. Yeah. “All comedy is cruelty” is bullshit. Someone read Stranger in a Strange Land in high school. It’s a poor defense of Kaufman. And I like Kaufman. > [@Scumpup](#): > > It’s mildly funny to read a brief a account of it. To be an unsuspecting part of it would be infuriating. Now this is a reaction I don’t get at all. And it’s one that makes me appreciate Kaufman. Bored? Sure. Disappointed? Yeah. Understanding what he’s going for but still finding it facile (or whatever)? Absolutely. Ready to walk out? I wouldn’t blame you. But to allow yourself to be, well, trolled so well that your “infuriated”? I’m finding that amusing. Especially if you kind of have an inkling that he might be deliberately trying to trigger that and you let him play you like that? Really, infuriating? > [@steronz](#): > > 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. Yeah. I think it’s a great 3 minute gag. Would get old real quick after that. Might circle back to funny if he actually did the whole book. But then, you’d have sit through a reading of the book, one I don’t really like. Not sure it would be worth it for me. More conceptually funny than actually funny. At least for me. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/50 "2012-01-05T02:20:12Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > Now this is a reaction I don’t get at all. And it’s one that makes me appreciate Kaufman. Bored? Sure. Disappointed? Yeah. Understanding what he’s going for but still finding it facile (or whatever)? Absolutely. Ready to walk out? I wouldn’t blame you. But to allow yourself to be, well, trolled so well that your “infuriated”? I’m finding that amusing. Especially if you kind of have an inkling that he might be deliberately trying to trigger that and you let him play you like that? Really, infuriating? Is it that you don’t know what the word “unsuspecting” means or that you were so joyously anticipating making a smug, condescending reply that you skipped over it? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/51 "2012-01-05T03:25:45Z")
Some people like to tell really long shaggy dog stories. Some people like to hear them. I suspect that if I heard Gordon Freeman or Eddie Izzard telling one I’d be entertained. But most of the time when I realize someone is in the middle of a shaggy dog story (live or posted on the Internet) I have a strong yet containable urge to hit them in the throat with a bag of nickels. People’s preferences regarding the teller and the experience of hearing and participating in these tales differs wildly. Andy Kaufman illuminates this. ---
**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 5, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/52 "2012-01-05T04:14:52Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > hit them in the throat with a bag of nickels. Now THAT’S comedy! ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/53 "2012-01-05T11:34:53Z")
I’m another who’s too young to have been aware of Andy Kaufman when he was alive, and I admit what I do know about him is mainly through the movie. But it seems to me he was a sort of meta-comedian. “Wouldn’t it be funny if a comedian just came out and did _X_” Yeah, it kind of is, looking back on it, but I can see how it would mainly be annoying at the time. P.S. Pretty sure Gordon Freeman won’t be telling any shaggy dog stories any time soon. Brilliant scientist though… ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/54 "2012-01-05T13:50:22Z")
I saw some of the wrestling stuff as it happened on live TV. Didn’t care for it, or Kaufman. Memphis was pretty much the only place he could have done that crap, but then the Memphis promotion has a long history of doing really strange things. One time, they brought in Adam West as Batman to cut a promo on Jerry Lawler, who was a heel at the time… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/55 "2012-01-05T15:54:51Z")
He could be brilliant when he stuck to meta-comedy. But his schtick became “how unfunny can I be and still get away with it?” Because I got the impression, rightly or wrongly, that he was doing it out of hostility to his audience. I can see the comic possibilities in being a heel professional wrestler, in terms of meta-comedy and playing off the audience expectations. But reading _Gatsby_ in its entirety just to see how often you can do it and still get hired? That’s not comedy; it’s contempt. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/56 "2012-01-05T17:17:15Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I can see the comic possibilities in being a heel professional wrestler, in terms of meta-comedy and playing off the audience expectations. But reading _Gatsby_ in its entirety just to see how often you can do it and still get hired? That’s not comedy; it’s contempt. It’s also not what he did. He performed it for 15-20 minutes at the end of the night, in an attemp to get everyone to go home. The manager basically wanted people to leave so he could close up. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/57 "2012-01-05T17:55:08Z")
The problem here is trying to define Kaufman as a “comedian,” “comic,” “humorist” or something similar. I don’t think he was. I think he was a performer whose real intent was to get a reaction from the audience. Laughter, hostility, contempt, confusion – I’m pretty much convinced he didn’t care what kind of response he got. A lot of the early stuff, like Foreign Man Elvis and the Mighty Mouse sing-along got laughs, so he got labeled a comedian. A more accurate label might have been “provocateur.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/58 "2012-01-05T18:05:15Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > A more accurate label might have been “provocateur.” “Performance artist.” Provocateur sounds like some kind of political agitator. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/59 "2012-01-05T18:22:35Z")
_[Pour épater le bourgeois](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89pater_la_bourgeoisie)_ is the phrase that springs to mind. Some comedy is the audience laughing at the comedian. Some is the comedian getting the audience to laugh at itself. Some is the comedian laughing at the audience. The last is hard to sustain, because people don’t like to pay to be laughed at. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353/60 "2012-01-05T18:48:37Z")
Andy was a master musician, and the audience was his instrument. I think everything he did was to get a specific reaction at a specific time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-on-the-moon-andy-kaufman/608353.md?page=4)