Customer Reviews

I'm From Hollywood / My Breakfast With Blassie

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Andy Kaufmann was known as the comedian's comedian, and for good reason. He found humor in the strangest places, and many stand up comedians claim that he showed them a kind of comedy that they didn't know was possible.

Andy pushes the boundries of what is acceptable, in the name of humor, maybe more strongly here than anywhere ever seen. This is anti-Seinfeld stuff. Seinfeld describes commonplace things in an uncommon way to make familiar situations seem strange and funny, giving you a chuckle - standard standup. In this film, Andy taunts an audience of thousands in a Tennessee ampitheater, after telling them that they are stupid, and unclean. He plays a character - an arrogant "hollywood" guy, who has some need to prove his physical superiority by beating up women. In doing this, he makes himself into a kind of ridiculous villian, and the audience swells with hatred for him. Example of his extravances: he struts around the ring wearing a GIANT crown and velvet cape, claiming to be the "King of Tennessee". Right before getting pummled by the "hero", Jerry Lawler. Andy, wearing long underwear under his boxer shorts, spends most of the match trying to escape Jerry by running and hiding (in the ring).

This character would be easily dismissed if the insults were not so real, and painful, and I think this is what makes the comedy so biting... it comes very close to pain. The very satisfying thing about Andy is that, though you might have to wait a long time for the punchline, it always comes, and it is all the laugh is all the stronger for having to wait so long!

This is the kind of DVD that you have to get to hand off to friends.

While we gaze in glory upon the USA Network and even UPN as today's pro wrestling heroes parade around in their oiled-down, eyebrow raising glory, it's hard to believe that nearly two decades ago one of the biggest flaps in the sport was an introverted Jewish boy from Great Neck, Long Island. What's harder to believe is that, once again, we were the joke.

While Andy's put-ons and antics were well known from the beginning of his career, even the seasoned comedy pros and those closest to him thought Andy had pretty much lost it by the time he climbed into the ring with Jerry Lawler. When you watch this DVD, you will be amazed as even Robin Williams proffers that perhaps Andy had finally slipped that thin, vague line he seemed to tread.

This is a well produced DVD. The songs, cheesy as they may be, can be almost catchy at times. The interviews are first class, and the production, while obviously low-budget, is surprisingly well done. On the bonus side, you also get "My Breakfast With Blassie," which you really must see to believe.

This DVD is only for those who hold Andy in a special place in their hearts, not those whith only scant familiarity. If you're new to Andy, buy "Man on the Moon" and couple it with Bob Zmuda's book. If Andy has already found a niche in your heart, by all means, order this today.

This is a hilarious history of Andy Kaufman's career as a wrestler. The reactions of the people in the audience alone are worth the price of the video. This was shown a while ago on Comedy Central, but this tapes is a longer version. A must for Andy Kaufman fans. Watch him explain soap to wrestling fans!

Although "I'm from Hollywood" gets top billing, this DVD is actually made up of two movies: "I'm from Hollywood," which chronicles Kaufman's pro-wrestling career (a career which saw him defeat numerous women and ended when, for the for the first time, he fought someone of his own gender); and "My Breakfast with Blassie," a hilarious spoof of the movie "My Dinner with Andre."

"I'm from Hollywood" is a collage of scenes of Andy Kaufman's involvement in pro-wrestling, taken from television. Kaufman plays a "bad guy" wrestler who taunts the viewing audience about how he is a famous Hollywood star who can beat up any woman who dares challenge him in the ring. He goes to redneck country and insults the viewers, telling them that he is going to teach them about new things, like soap. After he finally meets a male (Jerry Lawlor) in the ring, he ends up in traction.

"My Breakfast with Blassie" is a parody of "My Dinner with Andre," a film that consisted almost entirely of two people having an intellectually stimulating conversation during dinner at an upscale restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side. So here, Kaufman made a film about former wrestler/wrestling manager Freddie Blassie and himself having an anti-intellectual conversation during breakfast at a downscale Los Angeles pancake house. We see Kaufman and Blassie conversing about how they don't like shaking peoples' hands because "you never know where their hands could've been - They could have just wiped themselves and their finger could have gone through the toilet paper." In another scene, Blassie rubs the pregnant Thai waitress' belly for good luck, and then, after she walks away, comments, "That's another one we'll be feeding on welfare."

These two films are highly recommended. They're a real gas!

I must have seen this a thousand times on Comedy Central before I finally decided to buy it, but it sure was worth it!

This documentry is great for two reasons. First, you get to see this comedic genius at his absolute best (in my opinion) running wild on the wrestling scene in Memphis. Who knows what ever drove him to get into pro wrestling, but he sure was great while it lasted. Second, you get to see some classic Memphis wrestling clips from a time, which if you're any kind of collector, you know are very scarce. This is absolutely billiant - something I could watch a thousand more times. I'm a huge fan of Andy kaufman and classic pro wrestling both, so for me this is the ultimate package.

However, as I've read in other reviews, I would have to agree that you really have to be a huge fan to enjoy this. I would recommend Man on the Moon to anyone not familiar with his work beyond Taxi.

A lot of Kaufman fans may not realize this, but Andy was a died-in-the-wool wrestling fan. Before Taxi brought him fame he would spend time at matches and hanging out with wrestlers (Roddy Piper relays an interesting story in in autobiography). But most of all, as a performance artist, Andy UNDERSTOOD wresting. He understood how to work an audience. Using the techniques he'd been honing in his stage shows, he finally got to be a bad guy wrestler in the feud documented on this mockumentary. In one interview shown on this film, Andy cleverly insults the entire southern U.S. population with comments specifically directed to Lawler. Why would he do this you may ask? Simple- To get all of Memphis to come down to the arena, BUY A TICKET, and see Andy get whats coming to him.
The interviews on this mockumentary are wonderful to watch. One has to wonder if his taxi co-stars were in on the gag, but Robin Williams does this wonderful interview segment where he talks about Andy's wrestling habits as a close friend would show concerns about ones substance abuse habit - pretty funny to watch.

This film is pretty entertaining. Even if you aren't a wrestling fan,its a good way to get introduced to Andy's antics. The film also has some clips of andy's other classic performance bits.

Wrestlers and promoters, If you wanna "put rear ends in seats", then study Andy and Jerry's work in this film. Its a shame Andy didn't live through the wrestling boom that happened shortly after his death. I can only imagine what he might have been able to cook up in the WWF.

This video is simply one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Andy Kaufman was a truly original comedian (though he hated being labeled a comedian). I wish we had more like him today, instead of all the talentless comics with their packaged, scripted routines that anyone who can memorize a script or read a cue card can pull off (can you say Jay Leno?).

By the way, I simply don't understand how any person of reasonable intelligence could watch this video and believe that the feud between Kaufman and Jerry Lawler was "real." While it is true that the two cooked up some pretty realistic-looking happenings in the course of the saga (e.g., Andy lying in a hospital bed after Lawler's administering a piledriver, and Lawler's giving Andy a very real slap on the infamous Letterman episode), it is obvious that the whole thing was just a very carefully planned gag. The events that occurred after the Letterman episode show that there was no true animosity between Kaufman and Lawler. The "feud" lasted for quite a long time after the Letterman episode. Andy had several other wrestling matches with Lawler, in which his antics got progressively sillier, and he made a guest appearance on "The Jerry Lawler Show" in which he made silly threats to sue Lawler for defamation. Most conclusively, Jerry Lawler appears as himself in the biographical movie of Kaufman's life, "Man on the Moon." The movie reveals that the whole thing was a joke.

It's a shame that so many people just did not appreciate Andy's humor. But, I don't think Andy minded a bit.

Andy Kaufman, the world's most dedicated, misunderstood, and honest comedic artist, is shown here at his best: wrestling, his favorite fetish and one of his best jokes on the audience. I would implore anyone interested in Kaufman or curious about his life and work to check out this chronicle of his bizarre bouts and skirmishes on the Letterman show with professional wrestler Jerry Lawler and to avoid the recent movie Man on the Moon, in which Jim Carrey and Milos Forman will doubtlessly insult the genius' memory by Hollywoodizing his story. This is the real Kaufman, and although Bob Zmuda only recently revealed the complete, complex joke (that Lawler was in on the gag), nothing is lost in this live parody on people and reality.

This is the perfect movie for a comedy fan, wrestling fan, Andy Kauffman fan, Jerry Lawler fan, or even a "Taxi" fan! This video documents Kauffman's short-lived wrestling career, starting with the "Inter-gender championship". This is a great video.

This documentary of the late comedian / performance artist Andy Kaufman's pro-wrestling career is, quite simply, the most hilarious and disturbing 60 minutes of video I've ever seen. Despite what you know or what you think you know of his life and art, nothing will prepare you for this excellent, in-depth look into Kaufman's feud with pro-wrestler Jerry Lawler during the early 1980s.

Pushing audience-baiting to a level exceeded only by punk rock icons Iggy Pop and G.G. Allin, Kaufman goes out of his way to personify the ultimate "wrestling villain," instructing Southern wrestling fans with instructions on how to use a bar of soap and shouting "I'm a star!" at people who don't show him the proper respect.

Revealing any more anecdotes would be a grave disservice. Buy this video immediately! END