Editing Tony Clifton (section)

==Origin==
Kaufman would sometimes claim that Tony Clifton was a real lounge singer whom Kaufman encountered<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mullen |first1=Michael |last2=EDT |date=July 6, 2012 |title=Andy Kaufman is dead, but Tony Clifton still wants your applause |url=https://ew.com/article/2012/07/06/andy-kaufman-tony-clifton-comedy-store/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=EW.com |language=en}}</ref> at the International Hotel in Las Vegas in 1969.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2012-12-16 |title=Tony Clifton lives! At least, he does at midnight at the Wranglers game - Las Vegas Weekly |url=https://lasvegasweekly.com/blogs/kats-report/2012/dec/16/tony-clifton-lives-least-he-does-midnight-wrangler/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=lasvegasweekly.com}}</ref> He said he was waiting for [[Elvis Presley]] to arrive so he could meet him.<ref>{{cite book|last=Zehme|first=Bill|title=Lost In The Funhouse: The Life And Mind Of Andy Kaufman|year=1999|publisher=4th Estate| location=London|pages=108}}</ref> Kaufman may have seen Clifton as the antithesis of the sweet, gentle "Foreign Man" character he was best known for (which was later adapted into [[Latka Gravas]], Kaufman's character on ''[[Taxi (TV series)|Taxi]]'').<ref>{{Cite web |title=On the Road with Tony Clifton |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/on-the-road-with-tony-clifton/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=Vice.com |date=16 May 2013 |language=en}}</ref>

Clifton would often attempt to improvise comical lyrics that were [[anti-humor|intentionally unfunny]] before giving up entirely without seeming to care. Clifton also tended to randomly insult patrons, passing off the abuse as the "comedy" portion of his act.<ref name=":0" /> Adding to Clifton's annoying and unappealing presence was his tendency to rhyme various words at random in the middle of conversations. Clifton was often introduced as having "sold more records than Elvis and [[The Beatles]] combined."

For a brief time, it was unclear to some whether Clifton was a real person. News programs interviewed Clifton as Kaufman's opening act, but the interviews invariably would turn ugly whenever Kaufman's name came up. Clifton claimed Kaufman was using his name "to go places." Promoters who thought they had caught on to the joke would hire Clifton because he was cheaper than booking Kaufman. However, Kaufman had the last laugh, enlisting his brother Michael or his showbiz partner [[Bob Zmuda]] to play the role,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blanco |first=Jodee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGqCDwAAQBAJ&dq=tony+clifton+origin&pg=PT202 |title=The Complete Guide to Book Publicity: Second Edition |date=2004-05-01 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-58115-996-7 |language=en}}</ref> with Kaufman making unannounced appearances on stage during Clifton's act.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keller |first=Florian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ww6UFWJ03WQC&dq=tony+clifton+origin&pg=PA84 |title=Andy Kaufman: Wrestling With the American Dream |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-0739-0 |pages=80–85 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Rodney Dangerfield]] was a big fan of Andy Kaufman, and he hired Clifton to open for him for three shows at San Francisco’s [[Fillmore West|Warfield Theater]]. After a disastrous first show, where Clifton took the stage with [[Tony Bennett]]'s famous "[[I Left My Heart in San Francisco]]" and was summarily booed, he reappeared on the second night in [[riot gear]] amid a shower of rotten vegetables and other detritus.

Tony Clifton still makes occasional appearances, most notably in the days leading up to May 16, 2004, the twentieth anniversary of Kaufman's death. It was announced on May 16, 2008, that [[Comic Relief]], in recognition of the 24th anniversary of Andy Kaufman's death, would present "The Return of Tony Clifton", with his "Katrina Kiss My Ass Orchestra". The national tour kicked off on June 27, 2008, at the [[Georgia Theatre]] in [[Athens, Georgia]], to benefit Gulf Coast musicians, dancers, and singers affected by [[Hurricane Katrina]]. Clifton fronted the Katrina Orchestra along with the Cliftonettes. On August 15 they were at Chicago's [[Chopin Theatre]].<ref name="AVClub">{{cite news |url= http://www.avclub.com/content/blog/tony_clifton_is_alive_and_well_and|title=Tony Clifton is Alive and Well and Kicking Ass in Chicago|last=Rabin|first=Nathan|date=2008-08-18|work=[[The A.V. Club]] |publisher= The Onion|access-date=2008-08-19}}</ref> In May 2011, they were featured headliners as part of the annual Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama.<ref name="Hangout Music Festival 2011">{{cite news|title=Tony Clifton|website=Hangout Music Festival|url=http://hangoutmusicfest.com/tony-clifton/| access-date=2011-04-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427162239/http://hangoutmusicfest.com/tony-clifton/|archive-date=April 27, 2011}}</ref> Later that month he began hosting the ''Tony Clifton Revue'' at [[The Comedy Store]] in Los Angeles. He was interviewed on May 31, 2012, at the 284th episode  of [[Marc Maron]]'s podcast ''[[WTF with Marc Maron]]''.<ref>{{cite podcast|url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_284_-_craig_finn_tony_clifton |title= Episode 284 - Craig Finn / Tony Clifton |publisher= Marc Maron| work= WTF with Marc Maron |host= Maron, Marc |date=May 31, 2012 |time=6:30 |access-date=May 31, 2012 }}</ref>