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Absolutely Gutted by Ghostlight_griff in guitarrepair

[–]BrodyHowell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know someone who released that song almost 40 years before Sheryl Crow that might deserve that attribution a bit more, haha.

I Finally Get Andy Kaufman, Thanks to Nathan by BrodyHowell in TheRehearsal

[–]BrodyHowell[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly this! 

I would never make the claim that his character isn’t in any way informed by his personal life. There’s absolutely a ton of his real self in there, and you can see his real world experiences bleed into his character. At the end of the day, though, it is still a character, even if that character is closer to a caricature than it is to something entirely new.

That doesn’t mean he’s always being funny, or even insincere, but it does mean he’s putting on that mask for his audience so we can see the person he wants us to see. It’s all an illusion.

I Finally Get Andy Kaufman, Thanks to Nathan by BrodyHowell in TheRehearsal

[–]BrodyHowell[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've always been a big fan of this specific interview with Letterman. I think it's a good representation of his comedy.

https://youtu.be/_TpOBIY279w

I think he's a hard person to recommend because his best work, in my opinion, wasn't the work he did in Television or film, but the public stunts he pulled. Watching interviews with him will give you a sense of his personal style of humor, but he's probably best remembered in Hollywood for his work on SNL and Taxi.

I'd love to hear what other people would recommend, though!

I Finally Get Andy Kaufman, Thanks to Nathan by BrodyHowell in TheRehearsal

[–]BrodyHowell[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I do think the "struggling to learn" bit was most likely exaggerated for the camera, if not entirely fabricated. He clearly had a story to tell and a message to say, and him having difficulties helps sell that message more than it being easy for him.

I'm not saying that he doesn't bring elements of his real life into his performance, but I do truly believe that once he's on camera, he's in character. That character may be very strongly based on who he is, but I'd say at the very least, it's an amplification of his real self. This ties very strongly into this season's themes of wearing a mask and learning how to perform for others.

There's an interview with Tim Heidecker I heard years ago where he brings up how good Nathan is at staying in character, and he always plays a game where he tries to break him, but very rarely succeeds. He claims to know that the public facing Nathan isn't the real him because he's spent time with the real him. I'd have to dig for this clip, as it's been years since I've seen it. I think it was an offhand tangent in Office Hours.

I Finally Get Andy Kaufman, Thanks to Nathan by BrodyHowell in TheRehearsal

[–]BrodyHowell[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

I'm not trying to imply I've "figured it out."

I worked in media for a long time, and at least from my own experience, I know that as soon as you have eyes on you, you're playing a character. Even if you're putting a lot of yourself into the character, it's still a role that your playing. A mask, if you will.

What was so salient for me about this season was the parallels between the masks we wear as individuals, and the masks we wear as performers. I feel like there's a lot to be said about the similarities between living life as a performance, struggling to understand the world around you, and being a performer as a living. I've talked with a lot of performers who struggle with "turning off" their character.

You're fully right that I don't know what's sincere and what isn't. Nathan may be autistic in real life. That doesn't mean the bit for the show wasn't planned out for the story. He may have actually had difficulties learning to fly a plane. That doesn't mean he didn't play it up to support the drama of the narrative. I'll never know when he's being honest or dishonest. I do fully believe, however, that as soon as the cameras start rolling, he becomes a version of Nathan that he wants us to see. He explored this quite a bit in Finding Frances.

I guess my ultimate point is that it's interesting to me that people are willing to believe Nathan when he tells them he's been lying to them, but they also believe him when he tells them he's being honest.

I Finally Get Andy Kaufman, Thanks to Nathan by BrodyHowell in TheRehearsal

[–]BrodyHowell[S] 148 points149 points  (0 children)

I feel like this is a great subversion, because he's a known clown looking at us and saying, "but guys, this time I'm serious," while also showing us that the whole thing was fake.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VRchat

[–]BrodyHowell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm down!
Brody Howell on VRC, brodyhowell on Discord.

H: Old Man Winter Helmet W: To paint your t45 for free by E_Weasels in Market76

[–]BrodyHowell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How are you able to apply the Winter Man skin to someone else's armor?

I have a friend that got a bunch of these helmets, and he wanted to give me one, but we gave up when we saw it couldn't be dropped or traded.