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Randy Hodgins and Steve McLellan’s lifelong love of comedy was kindled when they met more than 40 years ago in graduate school in Seattle. While managing family and professional work responsibilities, they hosted a one hour comedy radio program on Saturday mornings for 10 years on a small radio station in Olympia, WA and also co-authored two books on northwest popular culture – Seattle on Film (1995) and Wet and Wired (2000). Stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic with hundreds of comedy albums, cassettes and CD’s gathering dust on their shelves, they launched Laugh Tracks Legends of Comedy in May 2020, a weekly mini-program featuring a different comedy icon, with biographical bits and a nice slice of the comedy that made them famous. From standup stars, to stellar sketch teams, to novelty music maestros -- they are all part of our Legends.
Episodes
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Meet Andy Kaufman whose performance-art style comedy had the power to amuse, mystify, and (sometimes) offend during a short but brilliant run in the 1970s and 80s. A master of oddball characters, Andy first gained national fame with a groundbreaking spot on SNL in 1975, then in 1978 he took on the role of Latka the foreign mechanic on the smash TV sitcom Taxi. But fans who bought a ticket for his live show found themselves in a spectacle of edgy crowd work including a long-running bit in which Andy would wrestle female audience members for the "Intergender Wrestling Championship of the World." Was it all a put on? With Andy, who ever knew exactly where the line was drawn? As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!
Want more Andy?
Andy's breakout tv role was as Latka, a foreign mechanic, on Taxi. To take advantage of his range of characters, writers gave Latka multiple personality syndrome. But they all came from Latka, whose indecipherable accent was a staple at office water coolers during the show's run. https://youtu.be/NRKxPrFXbO0?si=ov1HyZXabHbyMfk_
Anyone who watched SNL in its early years remembers groundbreaking sketches and appearances and Andy's 1975 spot sure qualifies! https://youtu.be/Yxp23Gkvn9g?si=k-0shn_WLRLR4OJq
Andy had a thing for pro wrestling, eventually sparking a feud with Jerry "The King" Lawler that landed in David Letterman's lap in 1982. Was it all a fake? Andy never broke character! https://youtu.be/FL9PGJslS6A?si=Xxjc_YVHni8bxoGD
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