Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Andy Kaufman and Redd Foxx To Tour As Holograms

Posted by timothy on 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."

2 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Besides the technology being imperfect by guruevi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  2. Can people PLEASE... by vashfish · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...stop calling these things "holograms"?