What's real? What's not? That's what I do in my act, test how other people deal with reality.
Interpretation
The quote questions the nature of reality and how individuals perceive it in various contexts.
In this quote, Andy Kaufman highlights the blurred lines between reality and illusion, emphasizing his exploration into how different people respond to what is considered real. His act revolves around challenging conventional perceptions and prompting audiences to reflect on their own understanding of reality, making them question the authenticity of their experiences.
In practice
In a discussion on art and performance, one might use this quote to illustrate how artists challenge perceptions of reality.
While all the other kids were out playing ball and stuff, I used to stay in my room and imagine that there was a camera in the wall. And I used to really believe that I was putting on a television show and that it was going out to somewhere in the world.
Without reflecting that this is the only moment in which you can study character," said the count; "on the steps of the scaffold death tears off the mask that has been worn through life, and the real visage is disclosed.
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
When we respect everybody around us, we are in peace with everybody around us.
Truth is what your contemporaries let you get away with.
Gradually, ... the aspect of science as knowledge is being thrust into the background by the aspect of science as the power of manipulating nature. It is because science gives us the power of manipulating nature that it has more social importance than art. Science as the pursuit of truth is the equal, but not the superior, of art. Science as a technique, though it may have little intrinsic value, has a practical importance to which art cannot aspire.
Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue.
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