![]() The whole thing creates this perfect absurdity. It is such a subtle movement, it passed almost without notice when Kaufman performed this bit in front of a hip, late-night audience on the series premier of Saturday Night Live. The second verse is longer than the first, so Kaufman begins to get ready to repeat the chorus, then catches himself and quickly covers, looking down in embarrassment for his perceived timing misstep. The first refrain comes right away, a rare moment of mercy on the audience. The premise – standing in still silence while playing a record of the theme song to the 1950’s children’s cartoon “ Mighty Mouse,” lip synching only the refrain – is by its nature so limiting the success of the bit depends entirely upon the subtly of the performer. One of his earliest and simplest bits utilizing Foreign Man remains perhaps his most endearing. ![]() Incidentally, this was the very same reason Chico Marx developed his Italian immigrant persona the difference being one went tough to blend in while the other went soft, to be seen as different and therefore pitiable. Kaufman first developed the character, or so he claims, to ward off toughs on the streets of New York City. Foreign Man was a naïve, soft-spoken immigrant from the fictional island of Caspiar. Kaufman first gained notoriety with his “Foreign Man” character, which later served as the basis for the Latka Gravas character on the sitcom Taxi. Sometimes he let that moment pass altogether, allowing the palpable awkwardness to become the joke itself. Kaufman’s years toiling in the comedy clubs honed his instincts to perfection, allowing him to gauge just when an audience had had enough and required a payoff for their patience. But there comes a tipping point any time a performer intentionally manipulates an audience. A few boos or walk-outs were almost necessary for the bits to work. ![]() His entire oeuvre was based on trying the audiences’ collective patience. Music and comedy are both utterly dependent on timing and setup, and Kaufman understood both devices instinctively. Whether he was accompanying himself with his guitar or bongos, or playing a record on stage from a portable turntable, music permeated almost every bit. (Or performance artist, if you will, although Kaufman preferred the term “song and dance man.”)įrom the very beginning, music played a key role in Andy Kaufman’s act and work. Its genius lies in its relentless deception and refusal to be categorized.īy his own admission, Andy Kaufman was not a comedian. It was so convincing people reportedly committed suicide in the face of the news that little green men from Mars were overtaking the planet.į For Fake is not really a documentary or a narrative nor is it really fact or fiction. The broadcast was presented as a live news report detailing an alien invasion in New Jersey. Welles reminds us that he himself burst into the public consciousness via a hoax – his 1938 radio adaptation of War of the Worlds. The 1973 Orson Welles film F For Fake strings together several stories, including controversial author Clifford Irving’s biography of noted art forger Elmyr de Hory (whose works were a hoax) as well as his “authorized” biography of the reclusive Howard Hughes (itself a hoax). ![]() I’m afraid the pompous word for that is “art.” – Orson Welles What we professional liars hope to serve is truth.
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