In the late 70s, the comedy scene was taken by storm by Jewish comedian Andy Kaufman, whose act was to be as deliberately, abrasively antagonistic as the limits of societal temperament would allow. From his ‘foreign man’ character – a horrid regurgitation of eastern European stereotypes – to the chain smoking alter-ego Tony Clifton, he found humour in the tiny space between something being awkward before then turning into confrontation. Premiering at Venice in 2023 is Alex Braverman’s expertly simple documentary Thank You Very Much (produced by the Safdie brothers’ production company Elara Pictures), which sets out to remind audiences of Kaufman’s frivolities and takes on the task of trying to explain the headspace that the is-he-isn’t-he-dead anti-comedian was in throughout his short but everlasting career before his supposed untimely death.
This review was posted on September 2nd 2023. Full review linked below.
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