asterios kokkinos
geoffrey golden
rob asaro
adam daroff
eric larnick
jenni powell
rob morrisonthe muppets meet tony clifton — awkward… written by geoffrey on 10/10/06
here are a few things to get us started:
1. there was a miss piggy variety show special.
2. tony clifton was a guest.
3. he bombed.
if you’re not a muppet, it’s nearly impossible to bomb on the muppet show. i mean, doug henning killed with the muppet audience. doug fucking henning. and tony bombs? it’s like defying a law of gravity.
but here’s the really interesting thing — tony doesn’t just bomb, he gets the muppets to react in a way that only andy kaufman could get them to do successfully. andy brings out awkward silent group tension with the muppets. normally, in tense moments, some muppet will make a joke, or have an unusual fidget — anything to destroy the fiercest enemy of all muppets, which is stillness. but the moments in which the muppets react to tony are so quiet, weird, and intense, you’d think you were watching an adult swim cartoon in slow motion.
but you’re not. these are the muppets. this is what they’re good at. in the john cleese episode, the monty python humor rubs off on them. in the peter sellers episode, the show became more quiet and subtle. and here, in this ridiculous variety show, the muppets even adapted to kaufman’s crazily, purposefully unfunny clifton by upping the ante, and having the muppets react pretty much as we do. no fidget is necessary, because that’s what the people who watch it are doing.
filed under muppets, stand up
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Edddddddd Oct 11
I don’t know, I think according to the “Andy Kaufman Revealed” ABC special produced a few years ago to coincide with Bob Zmuda’s book, Andy had already passed the character on to Bob by this point. Get it right, bloggy!
geoffrey Oct 11
whoa, easy there, cowpoke! i went by imdb, who says it was kaufman. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296626/
also, it’s andy’s character, so either way he’s influencing the muppets, whether it’s in person or by proxy.
yee-haw!
asterios Oct 12
i love bob’s book. so filled with lies. “mr. x” my ass.
Edddddddd Oct 12
Though I guess I am taking the chance of believing Bob Zmuda, that’s what the special said. And you are right that the moments with the muppets are definitely much more Andy’s doings than anyone else.
Granholm Jan 12
gGood post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.