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Entertainment Technology

Andy Kaufman and Redd Foxx To Tour As Holograms 53

Posted by timothy from the surely-miss-monroe-was-cremated dept.
HughPickens.com writes: Dave Itzkoff writes in the NYT that years after their deaths Andy Kaufman and Redd Foxx will be united in a most unlikely way as Hologram USA, a technology company that specializes in visual recreations of celebrities, will present shows with hologramic likenesses of Andy Kaufman and Redd Foxx across the country. "They're comedy icons. Both of them influenced so many comedians after them," says Alki David adding that the company is "working with other estates of famous funny guys and funny girls, these just happened to be amenable estates who see the vision." David says that the hologram shows featuring these comedians would include some of their best-known material — say, Andy Kaufman lip-syncing the "Mighty Mouse" theme on the debut episode of "Saturday Night Live" — as well as narrative segments that dramatize biographical details. The shows will have residencies in multiple locations in tourist-oriented cities across the country and will play several times a day for the first year and then eventually be put on a rotation with other acts. As for the future, "there are an awful lot of dead celebrities," concludes David. "There are an awful lot of dead people with a lot of followers. The fresher the memory, the bigger the star."
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Andy Kaufman and Redd Foxx To Tour As Holograms

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  • Besides the technology being imperfect (Score:4, Insightful)

    by guruevi ( 827432 ) on Friday October 23, 2015 @06:02PM (#50790989)

    The other reason people might not like this:
    a) The Uncanny Valley
    b) It's basically a replay of a video recording, not the real people, why pay out of the nose for a glorified YouTube vide.
    c) It is always done the same, they are robots. There is no human interaction or improv. What makes comedians good is not a repetitive set of jokes you can see on Netflix, it is the improv with the attendees, with the set, with the people behind scene. I once went to a comedian who did an entire 10min improv bit with the translator for the hearing impaired, another one did a bit on his hotel and the town's name.

    • It is always done the same, they are robots. There is no human interaction or improv.

      Sure. And since these people are dead, a hologram is the best we're going to get from them. Nobody is trying to replace Louis CK.

      I would absolutely pay a few bucks to see a Redd Foxx routine.

    • Comedy doesn't work that way anymore (Score:4, Interesting)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Friday October 23, 2015 @08:38PM (#50791637)
      comedians don't really improve or try out material. I forget who but someone pointed out that there's too much risk of somebody with a camera recording them bombing one night and it killing their careers. It's why comedy is getting so stale. There's no vaudeville or stand up circuit for them to take risks with. There's nowhere for them to weed out the c and b material from the a stuff.

      • comedians don't really improve or try out material.

        Besides hearing interviews with comedians recently where they talk about trying out new material, I don't see how it would be possible for comedians to not "improve or try out material". If they're coming out with new material, they have to try it out somewhere.

      • That’s nonsense. Sure, they’re not working out new material while shooting an HBO special or on a big arena tour, but they absolutely do so at comedy clubs. Even hugely successful ones will make unannounced surprise appearances at the local Laugh Pocket to stay sharp. If you think there’s no standup circuit you just haven’t been looking.

    • Meh, Kaufman is easy .. just have it stand there awkwardly staring at the audience for 20 minutes.

      And then a bunch of hipsters will rave about how cutting edge it was. Everyone else will want their damned money back.

      Just like in real life.

    • The other reason people might not like this:
      a) The Uncanny Valley
      b) It's basically a replay of a video recording, not the real people, why pay out of the nose for a glorified YouTube vide.
      c) It is always done the same, they are robots. There is no human interaction or improv. What makes comedians good is not a repetitive set of jokes you can see on Netflix, it is the improv with the attendees, with the set, with the people behind scene. I once went to a comedian who did an entire 10min improv bit with the translator for the hearing impaired, another one did a bit on his hotel and the town's name.

      d) With "Andy Kaufman and Redd Foxx To Tour As Holograms", this Rule 34 thing is really getting out of hand.

  • Oh for fuck sake! (Score:5, Informative)

    by mark-t ( 151149 ) <markt AT nerdflat DOT com> on Friday October 23, 2015 @06:12PM (#50791037) Journal
    I realize I'm probably preaching to the choir by commenting here, but the nytimes page linked to had no comment section, or else I would have said something there. But I really wish that people, and especially the media, would stop referring to this sort of thing as a hologram. It's called "pepper's ghost", it's a well-known illusion, and is not anything remotely like a hologram.

  • Can people PLEASE... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by vashfish ( 974328 ) on Friday October 23, 2015 @06:13PM (#50791041)
    ...stop calling these things "holograms"?

  • Pepper's Ghost (Score:4, Informative)

    by mbone ( 558574 ) on Friday October 23, 2015 @06:15PM (#50791051)

    The chances of these "holograms" being actual holograms is down there with the House Benghazi Committee actually accomplishing anything.

    These will be Pepper's Ghost illusions [wikipedia.org], not holograms. Pepper's Ghost done well can be very effective, but the physics is rather different.

    • These will be Pepper's Ghost illusions [wikipedia.org], not holograms..

      Actually, these aren't even Pepper's Ghost. Pepper's Ghost is a convincing 3D illusion.

      These things are just 2D videos projected onto a transparent screen.

      • This trick is similar to pepper's ghost, in that a half-silvered mirror is used.

        But in this case, the mirror isn't reflecting a 3D object. It's just reflecting a 2D movie.

  • i love them! they are both great comedians!!!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbIII ( 701233 )
      The movie about Kaufman mostly boiled down to pathetic ethnic jokes done by someone (who should not be named since he was probably not responsible for such a bomb) awkwardly pretending to be him so that put me off. Was there ever anything put together with clips of Kaufman himself?
  • A bull and his son are standing on a hill, looking out over the herd. The son says "Hey pa! Lets run down there and fuck a cow!". The bull says "Son. Why don't we walk down there and fuck all the cows"

  • Frank did it first (Score:3)

    by mbone ( 558574 ) on Friday October 23, 2015 @06:24PM (#50791087)

    The Sinatra estate had Frank Sinatra [bbc.co.uk] on stage starting in 2006, using archival footage rescued by Keith Robinson (Frank was a pack-rat, and saved all of his movie and TV rushes, so there is lots of material). They are bringing the Frank Sinatra stage show [sinatraonstage.com] back to London, so you can see it too if you want. (This has a live orchestra to give it some interactivity.)

  • these just happened to be amenable estates who see the vision.

    Is that e euphemism for "heirs that want to suck more money out of the estate"?

  • So they should be able to sell plenty of seats.
  • I hope one day to be famous enough that my kids and grandkids can whore out my image for decades or centuries after my death. Mmm an eternity of corporate whoring. What could be better?

  • I never found Andy Kaufman to be very funny. I watched a fair bit of his stuff, I kept waiting for the funny part....I'm still waiting. Meh. Plus he seemed to be a genuine asshole in real life, not a big turn on for me.

    Red Foxx, also eh. He definitely had a few funny moments but overall I was never all that impressed by him.

    "Different strokes for different folks" I guess.

  • If they're gonna bring a comedian back as a hologram, it really ought to be Rudy Ray Moore.

    https://youtu.be/Voxp3ckwJZ0 [youtu.be] [NSFW]

  • What is it with disputed dead celebrities and holograms? First Tupac and now this. Maybe it's really him?

  • They're not holograms, and this has been discussed before and here.
    Slashdot is supposed to be a tech site.
    For actual article to be so misinformed about such a basic technology as holography (that has been around for over a half century) is saddening.

  • Read: Holograms to tour as Andy Kaufman and Redd Foxx.

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