Andy Kaufman

You may know him as the selective "Mighty Mouse" hero; Latka Gravas, a timid man with a foreign accent ("Tank you vedy much") who then turns into Elvis; or by his name, Andy Kaufman, for which he never wished the title of comedian.

Performance with "Mighty Mouse" theme on the series debut of Saturday Night Live:

click on it, you lemon.

The following videos are taken from "The Real Andy Kaufman,"  uploaded to YouTube by Joeyland. They can be found here:

and the link for this photo is this: http://pranksters.com/andy-kaufman/

Andy is often remembered for his ability to keep up an act for inordinate lengths of time. He surfaced his characters both in front of the camera and behind it–in diners, in dressing rooms, with his family.

Never wished to be called a comedian, preferring the term "song and dance man," Andy and his acts were called amateur, even off-putting. From the footage I've watched of him, though, what he was criticized for was exactly the point: do things close enough to everyday human experience as to get the audience to have an experience, feel a range of emotions–from joyful surprise to disgust. Do what a crowd cannot passively sink into.

sorry Selena, I could totally passively sink into this.

Here, he calls his family to stage, and has them perform sentimental traditions:

Okay here she is, okay very good

I love Andy's portrayal of this benign guy who just wants to show others what he sees in his family. But who says it's a portrayal?

Odd. Nothing I've ever been presented in an auditorium I paid to get into. But what's not fantastic about family traditions? A brother singing "La Bamba" at the end of every Thanksgiving meal?

Looking at his smile, I create in my mind this knowledge Andy must have had. His acts weren't the normal because they showed the normal, and put them on platforms that were supposed to only support the fantastical or extraordinary. But what is not extraordinary about the normal?

Andy is an incredible lesson in not taking too seriously what is supposed to be taken very seriously, and seeing what is not supposed to be seen.

His grandmother went on to tell a story about a Rabbi and a dog, and how the Rabbi thinks the dog oughta be a Rabbi.

A screen shot taken by accident that I like.

And what does the floating head, which I used to introduce you to this man, WANT TO BELIEVE?

click the link that is not embedded in the photo, but, rather, under it.

He said that the fascination was there since Andy was a little boy when his parents lied to him about his grandfather’s death, saying that he just went overseas. Zmuda mentioned that “If his parents could fake his grandfather’s not dying, Andy would just fake himself dying.”