Word: humors
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
DIED. Andy Kaufman, 35, quirky comedian who antagonized as many audiences as he delighted with his bizarre brand of humor; of lung cancer (although he was never a smoker); in Los Angeles. From 1978 to 1983, Kaufman played the childlike mechanic Latka Gravas on television's Taxi, but he was more celebrated for his stand-up acts and concert appearances in which he wrestled women, impersonated Elvis Presley and sleazy nightclub crooners, and sang the tedious camp song One Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall almost all the way through. He seemed to relish putting audiences...
...only he could trust you. Grammar is irrelevant; sentences seem to have been delivered, not written: "At approximately 1:30 a.m. he saw the Silver Mark VI traveling south on John R at a high rate of speed with a black Buick like nailed to its tail." His humor is stag: "When the girls would say do-it-to-me, do-it-to-me, he would think, What do you think I'm doing?" or Vegas: "Listen, when I was a kid, the neighborhood I grew up in? It was so dirty...
...novels later, he arrived at his pared-down adrenal style. By now, he feels, he deserves the signed photograph of Hemingway that decorates his study. Says he: "I learned to write from For Whom the Bell Tolls." But, he concedes, "my attitude's different. I see humor everywhere. The fact is, I'm probably closer to Richard Pryor." The accuracy of his work comes from dogged research. Glitz, the novel in progress, is set in Atlantic City. Before he went there himself, Leonard's assistant, Detroit Film Writer Gregg Sutter, had collected interviews with dealers and policemen...
...self-confidence Sixteen Candles is also filled with the familiar cast of characters, however, Hughes explores the stereotypical "geek," "studly guy" and "awkward freshman" with little of the predictability that characterizes most films about adolescence. Hughes instead captures these awkward years with a rare blend of seriousness and humor...
...Yondo, a sometimes fatal initiation ritual combining physical abuse (e.g., flogging, mock burial) with ingeniously gruesome tests of stamina (e.g., crawling naked through a nest of termites). For his pains, Tombalbaye was assassinated within a year, and his people danced in the streets. Americans bear their burdens with better humor. They show no inclination to deal nearly so decisively with, say, the Hubert Humphrey test of presidential toughness. Humphrey once questioned whether Walter Mondale had the "fire in the belly" to run for President, a charge so serious that to meet it Mr. Mondale had to submit to a three...