Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman (1949–1984) was an American entertainer who defied categorization—part comedian, part performance artist, part provocateur.
He rejected conventional comedy in favor of elaborate persona work and audience confrontation, playing characters like the abrasive lounge singer Tony Clifton and the obnoxious intergender wrestling champion.
His commitment to blurring reality and fiction was so complete that some fans doubted his death from lung cancer was real.
He pulled an Andy Kaufman suggests an elaborate put-on or hoax.
- entertainerOne who amuses others
- alter egoA secondary persona
- routinesEstablished sequences of actions
- satireMockery exposing vice
- performerOne who entertains audiences
actor · Jim Carrey · absurdism · improv · Saturday Night Live · comedian · showman · performance art · provocative · Mighty Mouse · eccentric · stand-up · innovator · experimental theater · impersonator · polarizing · pioneer · iconoclastic
- comedianscomedian, stand-up, comic, stand-up comic, standup comic
- Jewish comedyBorscht Belt, Jerry Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Larry David
Andy KaufmanBob Hope
Long-lived American comedian
Jay Leno · Jerry Seinfeld · Rodney Dangerfield · Kevin Hart · Jeff Foxworthy
Andy KaufmanMr. Rogers
Beloved PBS children's host
crowd-pleaser · Johnny Carson · Dolly Parton · people-pleaser · Oprah Winfrey
Andy KaufmanEllen DeGeneres
Jerry Seinfeld · open book · what-you-see-is-what-you-get · authentic self