Jerry "The King" Lawler gave Andy "The Squid" Kauffman a Fill Open Palm Smash Mouth Slap that Shut his dumb stupid ass up. I always Respected Lawler for giving Kauffman the Double Pile Driver too. What a great day that was for Wrestling !!
@@jaysonb.6669 I just read about that. What an evening it turned out for him. I also read somewhere that talk of this episode went viral and put the Letterman show on the map.
@@martinocelotl8326nope, Letterman did NOT know a slap was coming or anything after that. The idea was for them to end the feud, as far as the show knew
This was such a great work! Kauffman and Lawler played this all beautifully. So far ahead of it’s time. Andy cut some really amazing promos. He should be a honorary WWe/F hall of famer
I remember this so well. I have lived just south of Memphis for 45 years. We moved here in 76 when I was 8. Quickly discovered Memphis wrestling on channel 5 with Lance and Dave. This Kaufman/Lawler "fued" was something I remember perfectly. Kaufman was so over thetop and nasty, i was just hoping Lawler would beat the shit out of him . That " fued" was wrestling entertainment GOLD!! Also if you are a classic wrestling fan check out clips of Channel 5 Wrestling out of Memphis with Lance Russell and Dave Brown. This is some of the best wrestling with two of the best hosts in the business, 1975-86,87 was when I was a fan. I started working and of course I worked Saturdays and didn't see much of good old channel 5 wrestling after that. I enjoy watching these clips on UA-cam. I guarantee I remember alot of them.
The Acting was to real, so it was real, they change it later on, and said it was fake, but i think it was real from the beinging! nobody can act that good, not even Hollywood!!
@@animalmother5287 just because u saw it on the film doesn't mine it was fake, It was probably real then later on they made up and started saying that it was fake.
@@petermartinez4625 It was real. Lawler even wrote in his book it wasn't planned and he just did it off the fly, he actually did slap Andy and Andy knew he had a blank cheque to respond.
No. Im glad he wasn't alive to see the change. No one deserves that Edit: sorry I misunderstood, I see you put between 80'-90' but I was thinking how they are today
Jay Davenport yea I agree. Today wrestling is a joke. For me, the last good generation for wrestling was the late 90s early 2000s era. With stone cold Steve Austin, and the rock, and Goldberg and so on. To me, that was the last good wrestling generation
I was a kid in the ruthless agression era and boy my life was centered around wrestling. And in another universe i see myself training and joining the business. Going to WWE shows in my hometown and seeing Jeff Hardy brought tears to my 9 yr old eyes. And ill never forget that tragic day i watch raw with my dad on my parents bed and seeing that empty arena and vince announcing what had happened in the benoit household.
Brilliant that Lawler did the slow spin so that his back was facing camera before the hit. This allowed him to make eye contact with Andy so that he understood the hit was about to come. They had discussed the possibility of doing this beforehand, but Lawler had been against it until just before the stunt went down. This moment of eye contact also got Andy ready to play it up, as it were, spinning out of his chair to the floor as though the strike to his face was more forcible than it was.
Absolutely hysterical. What a genius. Those two sure came up with some good entertainment. To this day people still believe it was a real feud. Pure genius.
No kidding Rich,. You don't see story lines like this today. Probably the best one in wrestling history if you have people today believing it's still a real feud after all this time.
Lettermann was a big fan / supporter of Kaufman . Lettermann didn't know that lawler and kaufman were going to do this. They ignored the script that the show's writers wanted them to do, after they agreed to follow it ! Watch the video on youtube (audio only) of Lawler telling the whole behind the scenes story of all of this, it's great
Letterman has some pretty fantastic segments though but yes this is among the best for sure... Farrah Fawcett Madonna Richard Simmons Joaquin Phoenix Drew Barrymore are all in the running
I watched this show live back then and I fell for it! Kaufman was brilliant and Lawler also played his part well....there will never be another Andy Kaufman.
Man, when I saw this on tv I truly thought it was real. Dave looked like he totally did not know what was going on and Lawler looked and acted like a suave bully and Andy looked very really enraged. It's hard to imagine nowadays but people just didn't swear like that on tv, even if it was bleeped out. People didn't do that back then. The next day at school everyone was talking about Andy Kaufman getting slapped by Jerry Lawler on Letterman. No-one said it was a put-on, we all believed it was real, even though we knew Kaufman was a crazy man, we still though this was something authentic. It was one of the most amazing things I'd seen on tv up until that time and probably since as well.
Excellent timing from absolutely everyone involved in this. The escalation, Letterman cutting to commercial, the music starting as the slap happens, it was just flawless.
I remember this show when it aired. I don't think i've ever seen a harder slap. I definitely remember the sound of that slap was a lot louder than presented here.
I know 7 year old comment, but I read apparently Letterman actually was unaware that the feud was staged, and he was indeed quite fearful after the slap.
it wasn't faked. Outliving Kaufman, Lawler was about the only one who knew if it was or wasn't, so he didn't care if Man On The Moon wanted to imply it was staged. Hollywood does this, implies situations weren't real, to elevate their celebrity image.
According to Jerry Lawler, Letterman didn't know. He and Kaufman decided at the last minute to start fighting again. In fact, Kaufman's outbursts were so convincing that Lawler thought he had genuinely made him mad!
@@citizenken7069 ::: Yo, Citizen ! Were there network/FCC fines for the “F” bombs, “MF’s”, dropped by Kaufman when he unleashed his tirade at Lawler ?. Just curious..
@@codeblue2532 The networks bleeped all the "F bombs" in the original broadcast. If Letterman knew about it in advance, you'd think there would have been some penalties. If he didn't know about it, then it's doubtful he could have been held responsible.
The best 10 minutes in television history and I was there watching it live on tape. Hypnotized. Andy, glad to hear you're still out there laffing at our petty, trivial existences.
Absolute magic that will never be recreated or bested because that period of time is over and is sadly never coming back. Thank you Jerry Lawler for being one of the best ever and thank you Andy Kaufman for GETTING IT.
Don't know if it's mention previously in comments, but at 13:16 Andy coughs a little. Jerry said Andy later apologized to him for coughing during his segment, but explained that he had been diagnosed with cancer recently...the beginning of the end...
I just commented about that very thing, he looked completely wrung out then when he coughed it reminded me of my father before he died, I guess I got my answer.
I remember this like it was last week. I was in my early 20's and while it was staged and fake, ONLY ANDY AND JERRY knew it was staged. Letterman, his crew, and NBC security truly thought this was a REAL altercation and it was epic.
Lawler said he even had doubts at one point. When Andy came out and started cussing at him, he thought he had really made him mad! He went looking for Andy after the show to apologize to him. He finally found him. He said when Andy saw him coming, he immediately broke into a wide grin and said, "Well, what'd you think?"
EDIT for the Dunning-Krugers: I'm not saying this was real. It was staged. The point is that it wasn't written down on paper and handed to them, kids. You don't know as much as you think you do. Modern wrestling, take note: this is how you create real emotion. No writers, NO SCRIPT, no wink and nod to the audience from the wrestlers ... everyone taking it very seriously even though most people knew wrestling was fixed. Just two talented people who actually knew how to improvise and work an audience getting an audience invested in what they were doing. That's how wrestling used to work. That's when it was great.
Man Kaufman actually did very well in the ring taking the suplex bump and then selling the elbow from the second rope. These guys were pretty smart when it came to creating publicity for both of them. I'm surprised that nobody else in wrestling has ever attempted a similar angle. RIP Andy.
The united States also look leases Guantanamo bay from Cuba. And they never cash theirs. Not saying Kaufman was a communist dictator. I just always going that interesting.
When Man on the Moon first came out, I thought Jim Carrey did an amazing job. But the more old Andy clips I watch, I find his impression a little too over the top and campy. I wonder if that was intentional to make Andy more likable. His “schtick” was believable because he played it straight. He did ridiculous things, but he did them in a way that made you believe he believed in what he was doing, so when he was being a troll or an asshole, you kinda had to believe he really was one.
he was method acting in the movie apparently to the point he came dressed in either character to the set. Im assuming he thought he had to add more to the character to make the movie more interesting.
@@sese6227 You three also saw that internet doco on the making of that movie right? I ask cause I saw it not long after watching the movie with my ex and I looked at Andy's work afterwards and loved his work and although I felt like Jim Carrey did overact in the movie I think that maybe people have taken their judgements about the quality of his acting in the film and shifted them onto his personality and behaviour on set which although was clearly uncalled for it's far from the worst things people have done to method act and Jim still clearly did a fairly wonderful job. Could someone have done better? Sure but I don't think we should get that question confused with 'Was Jim Carrey a total asshole during the filming?'. Feuds between actors and directors happen all the time and you have to wonder why a director would continue to have him in the film if he really was as horrible as he was portrayed in the Doco by someone who didn't actually work on set. If that is the case then didn't the director allow Jim Carrey to be that big of an asshole all because of money? Like you can say "Oh but he went into debt to film it" yea but you don't just happen to go into debt filming something overnight and if you do then you shouldn't be trusted to make films with that much money. It's like if Tommy Wiseau made 'The Room' but instead of playing a character he had his best mate from highschool play it and just let him get away with being as big of an asshole as possible. Then after the film comes out all the actors complain about it when it's not like they didn't get paid and couldn't walk out at any time. It wasn't like it was a low budget film, maybe it was just the perfect environment to bring out the worst in Jim Carrey but how much of backstage footage did we actually get to see and how much was trimmed down to create that depiction of what happened? We often forget to ask these things when we look to documentaries for answers. What I'm saying tho isn't really in defence of the actions he is accused of at all but that I've simply just wondered about this a lot over the past couple years and I went from jumping to the conclusion the documentary maker asserts to realising I don't actually have any idea if Jim Carrey was actually an asshole based on what I saw. A good documentary covers all sides to a story, a good movie sells a story, so I'm just asking what exactly did we all see when watching the documentary? A well-crafted movie or a well-told documentary?
I personally HATED Man on the Moon because Carrey not only overacted, he was WAY over the top and was never like the genius Andy. Andy had a subtle way of approaching being a troll where he partially garnered sympathy as in his foreign man act. Carrey acted like a blatant asshole which Andy never was.
@@hunterburk jim Carrey is an asshole. And he's not funny. Fire Marshall bill .... Made me laugh. Everything Jim Carrey does......is fire Marshall bill on loop.
Andy was two of a kind, and I miss him to this day. I remember the first moment I saw him on telly and I knew I had never seen this kind of comic genius ever before.
Wtf, this is my first time seeing this, I know it's all setup, and yet I can feel incredible tension with their argument. That's damned well done on their parts.
I love the story Lawler tells about the ambulance. Andy insisted on it and Jerry kept saying no it costs $300, so Andy told the ref he would pay for it
@@googoogjoob5174 $300 in 1975 was worth about $1520 today, so it's gone up, but not by as much as people think. In 1975 dollars, that would be an increase of $300 to $400.
Whether or not Dave knew it was staged he would’ve handled it the same way. That’s what’s really classic about it. And that’s why Dave is a class act.👍👍👍👍👍
I miss Andy.....we have lost too many comedians earlier than their time. His clips are still some of the most hilarious and brilliant ever written and performed since the 1st time I saw him 18 years ago
This, to me, was what really made pro wrestling mainstream in the 1980s, not what Vince McMahon claims "he did". The greatest work of kayfabe of all time. Andy Kaufman sacrificed his entire legit acting career to sell this story line, and that puts most of the so called "talent" in both comedy and pro wrestling to shame!!!
Mr Kaufman totally could have been a great wrestling character. People are always going to look back at this as one of the most important and classic television moments ever. !ndividuals are gonna look back at this comment and say "Man that C0mmenter 1 really knows what he's talking about"
Finally watched it. The infamous video, i just loved how it got such a reaction from the crowd. This is going into the favourites list. Thank you Jerry and Andy. And you sir for putting the video up.
The insult at 2:18 and the smirk from Andy at 2:25 really shows how much Andy enjoyed this level of commitment he had to provoking a reaction from audiences. Andy *loved* that line from Lawler, because it got an “ooooh” from the audience. Andy really was an entertainer. I think his whole goal in life was to provoke every kind of reaction from people. Laughter, confusion, joy, anger, sadness, sympathy, hatred, horror, embarrassment, I really believe he would have a specific, different reaction in mind that he wanted to extract from each performance. Sometimes great comedians can do drama very well - Williams, Carey, etc. Sometimes great actors can be funny. But rarely can one man provoke such a wide range of responses from the audience. He was the master.
I saw this original broadcast. I wasn't sure whether to believe it or not at the time, but I definitely thought it could be real. This was long before the days when everyone had a VCR or recorder to review it right away, and instead had to rely on remembering what they saw. It was talked about for quite some time afterwards, and may be the first episode of "David Letterman" to become an instant classic.
I was 17 when I saw this that night in 1982. Best thing about it is how Lawlor, Kaufman, and even Letterman presented it as being real. So, even though all watching suspected yeah it has gotta be fake, a put on, you could never be sure. Made everything much more fun to watch. Lawler was impressive. Quick wit A good entertainer.
@@lainefrajberg955 It looks like he really smacked him hard. It certainly does. lol Kaufman was probably shaken and hurt. Those 2 did a great job. The best thing wrestlers can do is make you have to guess whether or not what they are doing is real. If it is blatantly obvious it is not real, a lot of the fun watching is gone. The real good characters in pro wrestling act like what they say and do is absolutely real.
It's beyond reason that very few, if anyone outside of the 2 of them, even suspected this was all an act. Yet most people, myself included, completely bought it.
You can actually see The King slap his own hand and then straight after whip it away sharpish. This fued was more believable than any fued in Wrestling. Kauffman was an absolute genius.
I didn't watch David Letterman a hole lot growing up. 1982 i was 15 yrs old and a sophomore in high school i do remember watching this!. This was when watching TV was the Absolute Best. I miss the 1980's!!!
Andy was so far beyond his time people are only just now in the past few years starting to realize his genius. Not to mention The King Jerry Lawler ( this is still when most people thought wrestling was real ) This was one of if not the best played out feuds between a wrestler and anyone.
Lawler was the perfect foil for Kaufman. Articulate, believable, and able to stifle his laughter when it counted most.
He never broke. Neither of them did, but Lawler holding it together is SUPER impressive
Jerry "The King" Lawler gave Andy "The Squid" Kauffman a Fill Open Palm Smash Mouth Slap that Shut his dumb stupid ass up. I always Respected Lawler for giving Kauffman the Double Pile Driver too. What a great day that was for Wrestling !!
@@teevee5260 and you’re one of the people that still think it was real huh?
Lawler was at Andy’s funeral they where friends and worked great together Andy was happy as a clam here
@@The_Mimewar.....IDIOTS like Tee Vee are why "professional" wrestling ever succeeded.
Kaufman and Lawler were absolutely brilliant with this. Seemed so believable , yet they were friends
Kaufman does a better promo than 90 percent of the WWE today
Lawler's performance is unbelievable. Lines, delivery
Letterman's as well. They were all in on it.
@@jaysonb.6669 I just read about that. What an evening it turned out for him. I also read somewhere that talk of this episode went viral and put the Letterman show on the map.
viral didnt exist in 82 moron@@martinocelotl8326
@@martinocelotl8326nope, Letterman did NOT know a slap was coming or anything after that. The idea was for them to end the feud, as far as the show knew
This was such a great work! Kauffman and Lawler played this all beautifully. So far ahead of it’s time. Andy cut some really amazing promos. He should be a honorary WWe/F hall of famer
I thought it was legit for the longest time. Andy Kaufman is a genius.
I remember this so well. I have lived just south of Memphis for 45 years. We moved here in 76 when I was 8. Quickly discovered Memphis wrestling on channel 5 with Lance and Dave. This Kaufman/Lawler "fued" was something I remember perfectly. Kaufman was so over thetop and nasty, i was just hoping Lawler would beat the shit out of him . That " fued" was wrestling entertainment GOLD!! Also if you are a classic wrestling fan check out clips of Channel 5 Wrestling out of Memphis with Lance Russell and Dave Brown. This is some of the best wrestling with two of the best hosts in the business, 1975-86,87 was when I was a fan. I started working and of course I worked Saturdays and didn't see much of good old channel 5 wrestling after that. I enjoy watching these clips on UA-cam. I guarantee I remember alot of them.
Great? It'd didn't draw a thing after the initial angle. 😂
@@GODCONVOYPRIME You'd have to be pretty dumb to believe that. 😂
You have to give it to Lawler, he played that beautifully.
The Acting was to real, so it was real, they change it later on, and said it was fake, but i think it was real from the beinging! nobody can act that good, not even Hollywood!!
@@petermartinez4625 you're very wrong about that
@@animalmother5287 just because u saw it on the film doesn't mine it was fake, It was probably real then later on they made up and started saying that it was fake.
@@petermartinez4625 It was real. Lawler even wrote in his book it wasn't planned and he just did it off the fly, he actually did slap Andy and Andy knew he had a blank cheque to respond.
@@petermartinez4625 It's called ad-libbing
Jerry and Andy shouldve recieved Oscars for this performance.
Ineligible. Eligible for the Emmys.
Absolutely!
They should have received Noble prizes in Biology for this.
@@vonKarnasOk Should've been made into a doc so then it would've been eligible as movie
@McFlyHighNo. Jerry was in on this. He loved Andy and talked about it quite fondly of this entire exercise!
"I couldn't warm up to this guy if we were cremated together" lol Jerry was firing great lines here.
Hahahaha!! No doubt..
watch every night
Jerry always had the gift of gab.
I think that when andy was born, his dad wanted a boy and his mom wanted a girl... and they were both satisfied...
Masterful by the king lol
I'D say that was 1 of his best lines . Classic .
It's like the internet existed before the internet.
It did . it is its own being that we have just figured how to tap into .
It's a time machine!
It's like media doesn't change just because it's on a different platform.
As any good millennial knows, history starts when you wake up each morning.
It was called T.V. "T.V." stood for Television, one word. Weird, I know.
If only andy kaufman lived long enough to see how good guy vs bad guy wrestler evolved during the 80's and 90's. :(
No. Im glad he wasn't alive to see the change. No one deserves that
Edit: sorry I misunderstood, I see you put between 80'-90' but I was thinking how they are today
Jay Davenport yea I agree. Today wrestling is a joke. For me, the last good generation for wrestling was the late 90s early 2000s era. With stone cold Steve Austin, and the rock, and Goldberg and so on. To me, that was the last good wrestling generation
@@josh24441 I managed to watch some later 2000s wrestling before I got bored
I was a kid in the ruthless agression era and boy my life was centered around wrestling. And in another universe i see myself training and joining the business. Going to WWE shows in my hometown and seeing Jeff Hardy brought tears to my 9 yr old eyes. And ill never forget that tragic day i watch raw with my dad on my parents bed and seeing that empty arena and vince announcing what had happened in the benoit household.
It didn't evolve a bit in the 80s. WTF are you even talking about?
Brilliant that Lawler did the slow spin so that his back was facing camera before the hit. This allowed him to make eye contact with Andy so that he understood the hit was about to come. They had discussed the possibility of doing this beforehand, but Lawler had been against it until just before the stunt went down. This moment of eye contact also got Andy ready to play it up, as it were, spinning out of his chair to the floor as though the strike to his face was more forcible than it was.
Absolutely hysterical. What a genius. Those two sure came up with some good entertainment. To this day people still believe it was a real feud. Pure genius.
Kaufman was great, but so was Lawler.
No kidding Rich,. You don't see story lines like this today. Probably the best one in wrestling history if you have people today believing it's still a real feud after all this time.
Lettermann was a big fan / supporter of Kaufman . Lettermann didn't know that lawler and kaufman were going to do this. They ignored the script that the show's writers wanted them to do, after they agreed to follow it ! Watch the video on youtube (audio only) of Lawler telling the whole behind the scenes story of all of this, it's great
Haha so true. When I saw this as a kid I thought it was 100% real. Pure genius.
Everyone thought the feud was real, Kaufman pulled it off
This is the best Letterman segment ever!!! Thank you for providing this. Including the unedited audio.
your welcome...glad you enjoyed
@M Perkins got it off a dvd i had years ago that was a compilation of jerry lawler matches.
@P McGill not just knee deep
@@owenhartwwf6247 Not Just Knee Deep by Parliament Funkadelics. Great song. Thanks for pointing out the song because I completely missed it.
Letterman has some pretty fantastic segments though but yes this is among the best for sure...
Farrah Fawcett Madonna Richard Simmons Joaquin Phoenix Drew Barrymore are all in the running
This is probably over 30 years old at least and it's still as funny today as it ever was. Both played their parts so perfectly.
30 years old is the 90's mate
@@MrDiggertron5000 40 years it was 1982
David Letterman revealed that he too was in on these performance pieces.
The neck brace was hilarious! Shame he died so young. He was one of a kind. RIP Andy!
Andy was truly ahead of his time. This was a great act from 2 great actors - Jerry Lawler really loved Andy.
I watched this show live back then and I fell for it! Kaufman was brilliant and Lawler also played his part well....there will never be another Andy Kaufman.
After seeing Man on the Moon, and then hearing Jerry Lawler interviews about this, this was a brilliant performance by both Jerry and Andy.
The greatest ruse ever.
Of all time. Hands down.
Next to the federal reserve
Man, when I saw this on tv I truly thought it was real. Dave looked like he totally did not know what was going on and Lawler looked and acted like a suave bully and Andy looked very really enraged. It's hard to imagine nowadays but people just didn't swear like that on tv, even if it was bleeped out. People didn't do that back then. The next day at school everyone was talking about Andy Kaufman getting slapped by Jerry Lawler on Letterman. No-one said it was a put-on, we all believed it was real, even though we knew Kaufman was a crazy man, we still though this was something authentic. It was one of the most amazing things I'd seen on tv up until that time and probably since as well.
Andy Kaufman was the Ultimate Mind Fuck Comedian...Except No Substitute!
This was WAY ahead of its time - the Kaufman promos that Lawler showed were CLASSIC.
Excellent timing from absolutely everyone involved in this. The escalation, Letterman cutting to commercial, the music starting as the slap happens, it was just flawless.
And also the completely natural dialogue -- interrupting, talking over each other, nobody trying too hard, NO SCRIPT, no writers ... perfection.
"I couldn't warm up to this guy if we were cremated together" --THAT is funny
I remember this show when it aired. I don't think i've ever seen a harder slap. I definitely remember the sound of that slap was a lot louder than presented here.
I think it's great how piss-scared Letterman was during Kaufman's tirade.
I know 7 year old comment, but I read apparently Letterman actually was unaware that the feud was staged, and he was indeed quite fearful after the slap.
Kaufman was a marketing genius and knew exactly how to keep them audience guessing as to what was real or not
Good point
It’s so amazing that they were able to recreate this so accurately. Man on the Moon is one of my favorite movies and Kaufmann was before my time
This was done so well that I'm not 100% certain Dave knew everything that was going to happen.
it wasn't faked. Outliving Kaufman, Lawler was about the only one who knew if it was or wasn't, so he didn't care if Man On The Moon wanted to imply it was staged.
Hollywood does this, implies situations weren't real, to elevate their celebrity image.
According to Jerry Lawler, Letterman didn't know. He and Kaufman decided at the last minute to start fighting again. In fact, Kaufman's outbursts were so convincing that Lawler thought he had genuinely made him mad!
@@citizenken7069 ::: Yo, Citizen ! Were there network/FCC fines for the “F” bombs, “MF’s”, dropped by Kaufman when he unleashed his tirade at Lawler ?. Just curious..
@@codeblue2532 The networks bleeped all the "F bombs" in the original broadcast. If Letterman knew about it in advance, you'd think there would have been some penalties. If he didn't know about it, then it's doubtful he could have been held responsible.
@@citizenken7069 Why the hell would their be penalties? It wasn't live. 😂
This is one of my favorite feuds of Lawler
Andy really understood the psychology behind wrestling. Jerry was a perfect accomplice. It's entertaining decades later.
The ultimate heel lol
The best 10 minutes in television history and I was there watching it live on tape. Hypnotized. Andy, glad to hear you're still out there laffing at our petty, trivial existences.
Absolute magic that will never be recreated or bested because that period of time is over and is sadly never coming back. Thank you Jerry Lawler for being one of the best ever and thank you Andy Kaufman for GETTING IT.
Don't know if it's mention previously in comments, but at 13:16 Andy coughs a little. Jerry said Andy later apologized to him for coughing during his segment, but explained that he had been diagnosed with cancer recently...the beginning of the end...
I just commented about that very thing, he looked completely wrung out then when he coughed it reminded me of my father before he died, I guess I got my answer.
@@samuelwoods164 Saw it too.
I remember this like it was last week. I was in my early 20's and while it was staged and fake, ONLY ANDY AND JERRY knew it was staged. Letterman, his crew, and NBC security truly thought this was a REAL altercation and it was epic.
Lawler said he even had doubts at one point. When Andy came out and started cussing at him, he thought he had really made him mad! He went looking for Andy after the show to apologize to him. He finally found him. He said when Andy saw him coming, he immediately broke into a wide grin and said, "Well, what'd you think?"
Letterman could tell
Yeah I don’t know if Letterman was clued in but I think he definitely knew what was going on, especially since he knew Andy well.
Yeah not like the audience was laughing knowingly throughout at all
@@LosBerkos 👍
I love the fact that this is uncensored!
EDIT for the Dunning-Krugers: I'm not saying this was real. It was staged. The point is that it wasn't written down on paper and handed to them, kids. You don't know as much as you think you do.
Modern wrestling, take note: this is how you create real emotion. No writers, NO SCRIPT, no wink and nod to the audience from the wrestlers ... everyone taking it very seriously even though most people knew wrestling was fixed. Just two talented people who actually knew how to improvise and work an audience getting an audience invested in what they were doing. That's how wrestling used to work. That's when it was great.
Oh ffs...
It’s still real to me, gosh dammit! It’s still real to me!!!
Ok boomer
Kayfabe should've never been broken. Damn I miss it.
Didnt raw with nia and charlotte prove that today realness is bad tbh nothing can replicate this
Just brilliant. Andy was a comic genius.
As a kid watching this, I thought this was absolutely real
Man Kaufman actually did very well in the ring taking the suplex bump and then selling the elbow from the second rope. These guys were pretty smart when it came to creating publicity for both of them. I'm surprised that nobody else in wrestling has ever attempted a similar angle.
RIP Andy.
It would be tough to do with the immediate illusion-breaking comparison.
It's been done to death. You really don't know very much, do you? 😂
@@Rjensen2 I guess not. Like who did that angle and when?
I love how that old-school hip-hop just cued in right after the slap.
Bzaafied the Ferocious George Clinton later sampled by De La Soul
This never gets old. You can see in their faces that this was a work.
Andy looks like the bass player for Nirvana.
I told everyone that when Nirvana made it big back in the day lmao
Ur right!
I heard after Kaufman died, the people who went to clean up his house found that he NEVER cashed his check from wrestling.
True story
So he just got one check? Was it one of those novelty size Ed McMahon publishers clearing house checks that just said “for wrestling?”
@@MrRyan-wu4jx no Jerry Jarrett paid him every time he appeared and Andy never cashed any of them
The united States also look leases Guantanamo bay from Cuba. And they never cash theirs. Not saying Kaufman was a communist dictator. I just always going that interesting.
@@dilligaf1009 I’m aware of that. It’s just that the US writes the check out to a department that no longer officially exists in Castro’s Cuba as well
Man I wish that we still had people that would do this long joke reality style but no one could to do it like Andy.
Excellent performance by all three. Letterman played the straight man so well.
When Man on the Moon first came out, I thought Jim Carrey did an amazing job. But the more old Andy clips I watch, I find his impression a little too over the top and campy. I wonder if that was intentional to make Andy more likable. His “schtick” was believable because he played it straight. He did ridiculous things, but he did them in a way that made you believe he believed in what he was doing, so when he was being a troll or an asshole, you kinda had to believe he really was one.
he was method acting in the movie apparently to the point he came dressed in either character to the set. Im assuming he thought he had to add more to the character to make the movie more interesting.
@@fordprefect4728 he apparently also thought Lawler & Kaufman had real heat, bc he threw eggs & juice boxes at Jerry, on set. Really weird stuff.
@@sese6227 You three also saw that internet doco on the making of that movie right? I ask cause I saw it not long after watching the movie with my ex and I looked at Andy's work afterwards and loved his work and although I felt like Jim Carrey did overact in the movie I think that maybe people have taken their judgements about the quality of his acting in the film and shifted them onto his personality and behaviour on set which although was clearly uncalled for it's far from the worst things people have done to method act and Jim still clearly did a fairly wonderful job. Could someone have done better? Sure but I don't think we should get that question confused with 'Was Jim Carrey a total asshole during the filming?'. Feuds between actors and directors happen all the time and you have to wonder why a director would continue to have him in the film if he really was as horrible as he was portrayed in the Doco by someone who didn't actually work on set. If that is the case then didn't the director allow Jim Carrey to be that big of an asshole all because of money? Like you can say "Oh but he went into debt to film it" yea but you don't just happen to go into debt filming something overnight and if you do then you shouldn't be trusted to make films with that much money. It's like if Tommy Wiseau made 'The Room' but instead of playing a character he had his best mate from highschool play it and just let him get away with being as big of an asshole as possible. Then after the film comes out all the actors complain about it when it's not like they didn't get paid and couldn't walk out at any time. It wasn't like it was a low budget film, maybe it was just the perfect environment to bring out the worst in Jim Carrey but how much of backstage footage did we actually get to see and how much was trimmed down to create that depiction of what happened? We often forget to ask these things when we look to documentaries for answers.
What I'm saying tho isn't really in defence of the actions he is accused of at all but that I've simply just wondered about this a lot over the past couple years and I went from jumping to the conclusion the documentary maker asserts to realising I don't actually have any idea if Jim Carrey was actually an asshole based on what I saw. A good documentary covers all sides to a story, a good movie sells a story, so I'm just asking what exactly did we all see when watching the documentary? A well-crafted movie or a well-told documentary?
I personally HATED Man on the Moon because Carrey not only overacted, he was WAY over the top and was never like the genius Andy. Andy had a subtle way of approaching being a troll where he partially garnered sympathy as in his foreign man act. Carrey acted like a blatant asshole which Andy never was.
@@hunterburk jim Carrey is an asshole. And he's not funny. Fire Marshall bill .... Made me laugh. Everything Jim Carrey does......is fire Marshall bill on loop.
I remember seeing this the night it aired and I was shocked when Lawler smacked Andy down. Little did I know that I had been punked by them both .
Andy's Tennessee impression was funny asf lol
Andy was two of a kind, and I miss him to this day. I remember the first moment I saw him on telly and I knew I had never seen this kind of comic genius ever before.
4:01. One of the funniest things I've ever heard. Andy Kauffman doing a country accent. 😂😂😂😂😂
This was great, they did something nobody will ever do again. This should be on everywhere.Good ole days for wrestling. God bless you all.
When Lawler slapped Andy I thought that shit was real af
It was a real slap, andy told him to really slap him
Kaufman is an innovator and a genius. He CREATED the modern day heel in wrestling and the WWE owes him.
Ha! Watch Ox Baker in the Clevland riot, that was real heat! Ox has a scar in his heat to prove what a heel did way before this was taped.
Wtestling heels created way before ksufman. Aka buddy rogers etc etc
Wtf, this is my first time seeing this, I know it's all setup, and yet I can feel incredible tension with their argument. That's damned well done on their parts.
You must be very young, because this is one of the most legendary moments in wrestling history.
@@toddblack8029 ... I'm 40
@@messey12 Oh ok, well yeh this is one of the biggest well known "Feuds" in pro wrestling ever.
You should watch Andy Kaufman's wrestling matches against women! ... what precipitated this.. how he was degrading and humiliating them!
the blending of reality and entertainment
Cool they really were friends and Lawler hating Carey's guts was priceless.
Carey who?
@@danielmedina2078 Jim Carey
@@danielmedina2078 jim Carey played Andy Kaufman in a movie. Jerry said jim was a douchebag
This is how you incorporate celebrities into wrestling. If this had happened 25 years later WCW would have made Andy Kaufman champion.
Lawler holding back his laughter lol
I love the story Lawler tells about the ambulance. Andy insisted on it and Jerry kept saying no it costs $300, so Andy told the ref he would pay for it
Imagine what an ambulance ride cost now.
@glyn hodges marvelous
@@johnmclaughlin6908 about 2 Grand (ignoring the costs of immediate diagnostics and administered fluids etc...just the actual ride)
@@googoogjoob5174 $300 in 1975 was worth about $1520 today, so it's gone up, but not by as much as people think. In 1975 dollars, that would be an increase of $300 to $400.
His southerner impersonation was hilarious 😂
Why isn't Andy Kauffman in any of the Wrestling Hall of Fame's
ruben Martin He's on legends of wrestling 1 or 2 on the PS2 :)
Cause he’s not a wrestler he is a actor
@@kdgaming8356 Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@kdgaming8356 drew cary is in it
neo the one ? In what
I saw this live on TV the night it WENT DOWN love you Jerry
Whether or not Dave knew it was staged he would’ve handled it the same way. That’s what’s really classic about it. And that’s why Dave is a class act.👍👍👍👍👍
According to Lawler, Letterman didn't know about it. He and Kaufman did it spontaneously.
@@citizenken7069 thank you Dave was a Genius👍👍
Love how Andy was always pushing the boundaries of what the audience finds entertaining. Letterman looks genuinely scared. Brilliant.
I would not be surprised if Letterman was in on the joke.
@@dan_hitchman007he was
Kaufman was a comedic genius! I wouldn't be surprised if he is still alive!
Carl, he's gone forever.
He's Adam Schiff
@@rd9793 LOL they look similar .
Andy's greatest act would be convincing everyone that he's been dead for decades.
It's very possible that he's out here somewhere, walking among us.
What made it so great was that these two were in cahoots the whole time and no one knew.
I miss Andy.....we have lost too many comedians earlier than their time. His clips are still some of the most hilarious and brilliant ever written and performed since the 1st time I saw him 18 years ago
The greatest work of all time. Brilliant
This, to me, was what really made pro wrestling mainstream in the 1980s, not what Vince McMahon claims "he did". The greatest work of kayfabe of all time. Andy Kaufman sacrificed his entire legit acting career to sell this story line, and that puts most of the so called "talent" in both comedy and pro wrestling to shame!!!
This got adults not interested in wrestling actually paying attention & talking about it. It was actually mainstream news.
@@Slop_Dogg , to a degree, yes. However, it still had more benefit than people think.
Vince. Great promotion. Period. Steroids. Great entertainment
@@geoffreynutt845, nope. This topped everything Vince did till the Rock and Roll thing. Vince didn't have an original thought in his head hardly ever.
I'm assuming Kaufman knew he was dying by this point. It takes a toll on your body. Even Tom Cruise wouldn't do this to his body.
I saw this the night it was originally broadcast.Still makes me laugh .Lawler is a really good actor..Dave is the best and Andy shocked the world.
prob the best work in the history of wrestling and comedy
He apologizes to the crowd then resumes cussing I was lmao
That still cracks me after all these years
I saw this live. Great TV
I love how Dave maintains his composure
I heard that Letterman was actually unaware that the "feud" was fake, and was indeed scared after the slap.
Dave wanted to run away it was so real .
God this feud was a genius bit.
Mr Kaufman totally could have been a great wrestling character. People are always going to look back at this as one of the most important and classic television moments ever. !ndividuals are gonna look back at this comment and say "Man that C0mmenter 1 really knows what he's talking about"
Finally watched it. The infamous video, i just loved how it got such a reaction from the crowd. This is going into the favourites list. Thank you Jerry and Andy. And you sir for putting the video up.
The insult at 2:18 and the smirk from Andy at 2:25 really shows how much Andy enjoyed this level of commitment he had to provoking a reaction from audiences. Andy *loved* that line from Lawler, because it got an “ooooh” from the audience.
Andy really was an entertainer. I think his whole goal in life was to provoke every kind of reaction from people. Laughter, confusion, joy, anger, sadness, sympathy, hatred, horror, embarrassment, I really believe he would have a specific, different reaction in mind that he wanted to extract from each performance.
Sometimes great comedians can do drama very well - Williams, Carey, etc. Sometimes great actors can be funny. But rarely can one man provoke such a wide range of responses from the audience.
He was the master.
I like how Andy tried not to laugh at some of Lawlers jokes. 2:25
Andy probably wrote them
I saw this original broadcast. I wasn't sure whether to believe it or not at the time, but I definitely thought it could be real. This was long before the days when everyone had a VCR or recorder to review it right away, and instead had to rely on remembering what they saw. It was talked about for quite some time afterwards, and may be the first episode of "David Letterman" to become an instant classic.
I was 17 when I saw this that night in 1982. Best thing about it is how Lawlor, Kaufman, and even Letterman presented it as being real. So, even though all watching suspected yeah it has gotta be fake, a put on, you could never be sure. Made everything much more fun to watch. Lawler was impressive. Quick wit A good entertainer.
According to Jerry,the slap was REAL.EVEN if the performance,itself, was "scripted" as the boys like to say.Good entertainment.
@@lainefrajberg955 It looks like he really smacked him hard. It certainly does. lol Kaufman was probably shaken and hurt. Those 2 did a great job. The best thing wrestlers can do is make you have to guess whether or not what they are doing is real. If it is blatantly obvious it is not real, a lot of the fun watching is gone. The real good characters in pro wrestling act like what they say and do is absolutely real.
12:16. Propellor punches. "He says he does this hours at a time." Hilarious.
Knowing now what great buddies they were...so damn funny
"im not that kind of man".... "what kind of a man are you?"...... instant classic
Growing up in England, we missed most of this stuff at the time & only knew Andy via Taxi - but these Letterman appearances are terrific. :)
This is one of the greatest things ever
Jerry thought the world of him , we need a andy kaufman today.
To be fair, I was born and raised around Memphis and that IS how they talk.
One of the great put ons in TV history.
Jerry Lawler's wit here is absolutely on-point. 👌
He was the perfect wrestler for this stunt.
It's beyond reason that very few, if anyone outside of the 2 of them, even suspected this was all an act. Yet most people, myself included, completely bought it.
You can actually see The King slap his own hand and then straight after whip it away sharpish. This fued was more believable than any fued in Wrestling. Kauffman was an absolute genius.
Classic Dave. Only he and Johnny, really, had this talk show thing down so completely. They were the mold.
one of my favorites of all time, just fantastic !
I didn't watch David Letterman a hole lot growing up. 1982 i was 15 yrs old and a sophomore in high school i do remember watching this!. This was when watching TV was the Absolute Best. I miss the 1980's!!!
After Andy’s death Jerry mentioned that they were always very close friends.
aw shit, smarks cheered for the heel even back then.
That has nothing to do with it. Kaufman was from New York. Letterman is taped in NYC.
It was a joke...
Do we realize how timeless this bit is? Kaufman was playing today's Hollywood and its feelings towards Middle America. It was perfect comedy...
Andy was so far beyond his time people are only just now in the past few years starting to realize his genius. Not to mention The King Jerry Lawler ( this is still when most people thought wrestling was real ) This was one of if not the best played out feuds between a wrestler and anyone.