Crystal Clear News, Views and Reviews

Media Credit: courtesy of Andrew Goldenberg "Goldentusk" AKA Andrew Goldenberg as Indiana Jones in the seventh of his classic-film tribute videos

Media Credit: courtesy of Andrew Goldenberg "Goldentusk" AKA Andrew Goldenberg as Batman in the fifth of his classic-film tribute videos

Media Credit: courtesy of Andrew Goldenberg The "real" face of Andrew Goldenberg, AKA Goldentusk

Media Credit: courtesy of Andrew Goldenberg Andrew Goldenberg stars in Dr Pepper Berries and Cream commercial

LOS ANGELES --May 12, 2008

YouTube viewers have discovered comic "gold" in the posted efforts of one bright filmmaker and performer.
The energetic young man in a mid-2006 national TV commercial seems adept at everything. The premise is that Dr Pepper's new Berries and Cream soda is so delicious that once you put it to your lips "you can't let it go," so he must hold the soda can to his mouth in one hand while conducting his everyday tasks with the other. With one arm he shaves, swims, does pushups and plays drums. He seems an expert strummer, flipping the drumstick -- although this energetic actor said that never before in his life had he played drums.

"What you see is me just trying to have fun and play," he said. "I'm not the most athletic guy and they had me swimming, playing football, running, rowing, [doing] one-armed pushups; it was a physically exhausting shoot, but unforgettably amazing."

This was the first national commercial for professional comic Andrew Goldenberg, who has been a member of various improv and sketch comedy troupes ( such as The11th Hour, The Yacht Club, and The Kid's Table ). In a typical performance night, they take turns with other comedy troupes in a rotation: each group presents two or three pieces per night. Like other current comedy troupes, multi-media elements are included in the performances; each show features an original short film, edited by Goldenberg.

Whereas the shows feature short films starring the troupe, Goldenberg has stretched his wings as an auteur with a number of films directed, written, edited and produced by himself, which he has posted on YouTube. Goldenberg performs in these spoofs of music videos, using the title music from such favorite films as Superman, Back to the Future and Jaws. He often portrays multiple characters of the film, singing lyrics which he composed himself.

"I learned at an early age that you have to be proficient in many different areas, and the more you are, the easier it is to have one creative vision," Goldenberg said. "On projects, the original creativity is sometimes scattered by different ideas from varying viewpoints. So I write and sing the lyrics, I light the green screen, shoot the footage, and then edit it all together; it's a pretty demanding effort, but very satisfying upon completion. I learned editing mostly on my own time, staying at TV production classes in high school and college --hours after everyone else had gone home-- to tinker. But it was always something I did for fun in my spare time."

Under the name "Goldentusk" Goldenberg creates and posts some of YouTube's most popular videos ( viewer counts currently number in the thousands, with the two most popular tabulated at 1,954,851 and 1,282,076 as of this date ). Of all his videos, most fans seem to prefer the "Superman" parody. The first of his series of movie themes, uploaded to YouTube on July 5, 2006, Goldentusk's "Superman" consistantly pulls hundreds --or even thousands!-- of views per week, including repeat visitors. One wrote that they wanted to view it again, as a sort of dessert to watching a rental video of one of the films.

"The 'Superman' was the first song I had experimented with, and I guess the old adage about sequels applies to almost everything; it always seems to be the favorite," Goldenberg said.

In this video, "Goldentusk" is a handsome, strutting Superman, who knows full well how important he is to Earth's citizens. The humorous lyrics nail almost every trivia and joke about The Man of Steel in both comic books and films. The key to the delight of the audience for this particular video might be the energetic fun and joy Goldenberg displays in his acting and his pleasure in performing this part, especially the times during the song when he throws his arms high and head back to exclaim, "I am Superman!"

The second in his film-tribute series is the "James Bond" parody [ it was the second-most popular, since it was overtaken, see below ]. This video stars Goldenberg performing as James Bond, villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and two "extras" clad in Russian-style fur hats ( who are Soviet spies, presumedly ). Using the music of the James Bond Theme ( originally written by composer Monty Norman for the title sequence of the first Bond film, "Dr. No" ), Goldenberg kids the mythos of Bond-the-invincible-and-sexually-attractive superspy versus his frustrated villain adversaries.

The third in the series is "Jaws," where Goldenberg first displayed the agility of his vocal range [ see below ]. He plays all the main characters, plus a few victims of the ravenous Great White -- and "Jaws" himself.


The fourth in the series [ and once more popular than the third, "Jaws" ] is "Back to the Future." Playing Marty McFly, his dad George, and Doc Brown in this parody, "Goldentusk" draws raves with such lines as "Oh, Great Scott, my own mom thinks I'm hot...she doesn't know we share a chromosome."

Fifth and Sixth: "Batman" and "Halloween," in which Goldenberg displays complex multi-track singing of multiple characters.


and Seventh: "Indiana Jones," just in time for the Summer 2008 release of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Goldenberg looks the part as Indiana Jones --one could imagine Goldenberg in the role for real. As "Goldentusk," he adds his own golden touch to magnificent classic films.


"I do all the film work on the theme songs myself," said Goldenberg. "The music is of course, the composer's." He said that he writes the lyrics by listening to the songs over and over to get the rhythm of the tune, and constructs his songs by taking bits and pieces of the memorable elements of the films, and fan-discussion points and jokes.

Fans beg "Goldentusk" to post the lyrics to his parodies, but thus far he has not. But some try to memorize; one fan wrote that he sang one song over and over until his grandma told him to stop. Many have tried to copy the lyrics down as best as possible from multiple viewings, and some have even written directly to their hero. One posted the reply he received:
Fan TNARookie wrote: "He won't post the lyrics to any of them because in his words: 'It's just meant to be funny and not meant to be absolute; the song itself is amazing without the lyrics.'"


The videos are not always done in typical "ha-ha" uproarious funny fashion. They touch upon emotions ranging from a gloating, triumphant shark in the "Jaws" parody to the melancholy of "Batman," Goldenberg's fifth video which showcases his best vocal effort to date. For "Batman Theme Song" he recorded his voice on overlapping, harmonizing tracks in an effort worthy of an opera. Goldenberg has crafted the perfect lyrical partner of the melancholy strains composed by Danny Elfman. His lyrics dwell on Batman's pain in his losing his parents --the catalyst which drives this Dark Knight. In this song, Goldenberg's vocal range seems to go from baritone to bass in multiple octaves, a feat he also accomplished in his "Jaws" parody --where he also takes a falsetto part as a little boy menaced by the shark.

But Goldenberg's efforts on both these videos are dwarfed by the sixth entry in his film-homage series. In "Halloween" he appears as seven or eight characters, in a 6-part harmony. While "Halloween's" serial-killer Michael Myers is portrayed by someone with a statue-like appearance, "Goldentusk" sings the parts of Dr. Sam Loomis, Sheriff Leigh Bracket, three hospital staff members and victims.

With such clever lyrics and excellent singing, Goldenberg seems to need little more to enrapture the audience. But he goes the extra mile with ever-changing background visuals and snappy editing.
In his first video, "Superman," the green-screen often loses integrity -- which hasn't impaired the enjoyment of the fans, though some have noted it in the comments section.

Green-screen erosion aside, Goldenberg's attention to detail and variety for his background pictures, gotten from various archive sites [ like Wikipedia or Image After ] add richness and texture to his videos. His "James Bond" dangles precipitously from a statue, from a rope in a dungeon; and conveys Bond's well-known globe-trotting with backgrounds ranging from London's Big Ben to the inside of a space station. Even in "Jaws," Goldenberg is not stymied by a background limited due to the film's ocean venue. The "ocean" surrounding the shark changes colors and swirl patterns. "Goldentusk" has learned one of the most important lessons in luring repeat viewers: create a complex, detailed film so the audience can discover something new to look at each time.

With "Batman," fifth in his series of movie theme homages, Goldenberg displays his sharpest and most sophisticated editing, as well as complexity in his song, which layers each track in a perfect arrangement. His "Halloween" has a more complex 6-part harmony, blended perfectly, while Goldenberg returns to simpler roots with a solo-voice for "Indiana Jones."

YouTube fans have praised his vocal skills, asking if he does musical theater as his day job, or begging him to record an album. But amazingly enough, singing has not been his major career focus. Goldenberg said that he had performed in an improv show called "Second City Sings" for about six months before the program was canceled by management.


"It was a very fun experience and it seems as if they're starting something similar to it within the next few weeks," he said. "My songs [ for the YouTube videos ] were never sung in that venue, as all the songs were always made up on the spot improvisationally from a live audience's suggestion."

On his own webpage resume, Goldenberg has posted photos from his long career. He began acting as a child, by the name Andy Goldenberg.

"I had tried my hardest to excel at sports, but, alas, was overweight and, ultimately, not very athletic," said Goldenberg. "Even soccer, where I performed better than average, had me on the bench more often than on the field. I have some great family videos, though, of the terrible contributions I did make when actually playing. Being a middle child and yearning attention, I think I turned to acting.

Goldenberg had his big chance for TV when he was asked to audition for NBC's Unsolved Mysteries:

"I mainly focused on theatre as a kid; I went on only a few professional auditions during my childhood. The only reason I was able to audition for Unsolved Mysteries was because my headshot photographer thought I resembled him at an early age and they were doing an episode about his sister.

"I don't think my father ever really got to see me perform other than at our house growing up. My mom was always supportive and still is, even when others try to pressure her into telling her kids to get 'real jobs.'

"As for 'early success,' I made friends laugh. I booked a commercial for SPAWN toys in high school only because I was a huge comic book geek (hadn't even been asked to audition, just happened to see a toy in the casting session of another audition and freaked). However, as I was the oldest kid at the shoot by at least three or four years, I was cut from the final spot. You see both sides of my pants though," he said.


****

Education of a genius: Goldenberg graduated from the Miami Theatre Conservatory, and graduated from Second City Los Angeles Conservatory ( Goldenberg graduated fifth-level, along with his fellow improv-group members, so they make a well-oiled, experienced team ).


"In college, at the theatre conservatory, we took a stage combat class, which is where I learned techniques for broadsword and rapier/dagger, etc. I have never been able to play drums in my life," he said of the Dr Pepper commericial. "What you see is me just trying to have fun and play."

Goldenberg continued: "In High school debate, I performed Humorous Interpretation where I played, I think, all nine characters in a five minute scene. My senior year was the first year I had tried the Debate program and I somehow wound up heading to the National Tournament with the piece; I made it to the semi-finals I think. I was a sophomore in The Desperate Hours, playing a husband who needs to protect his wife and KIDS. Someday, when I'm old enough, maybe I'll do the part more justice."


Many YouTube fans have thought that "Goldentusk" was really Weird Al Yankovich in disguise. In fact, Goldenberg credits Weird Al as a real influence.


"I have been writing song parodies since I was little, my first tape being Weird Al's 'Even Worse.' I've often dreamt of being a songwriter; I've even written several songs myself, yet more love-stricken tunes than humorous ones," said Goldenberg.


We might well see the day when this talented genius gets the chance to write original tunes for a play or film. Most of his YouTube fans are clamoring for such, and it shouldn't be too long before Broadway and Hollywood take note.


[ Note: Goldentusk's "Batman" surpassed his earlier effort "Back to The Future" in mid-July 2007. On July 19, it was noted that within an 8-hour timespan, there were 1,295 views of "Batman" to total 91,295. Keeping the audience hungry for more works: Goldenberg waited six months between the premiere of "Halloween" ( in October 2007 ) and "Indiana Jones," ( April 28, 2008 ) which netted nearly 23,000 hits within the first two weeks of its premiere. ]

Goldentusk YouTube fan hits to date, as of May 12, 2008:

Superman: 1,954,851 ( posted July 05, 2006 )

James Bond: 1,130,108 ( posted August 23, 2006 )

Jaws: 872,981 ( posted October 17, 2006 )

Back to the Future: 412,217 ( posted December 01, 2006 )

Batman: 1,282,076 ( posted April 20, 2007 )

Halloween: 374,965 ( posted October 19, 2007 )

Indiana Jones: 25,474 ( posted April 28, 2008 )

Dr Pepper ad: 78,669 ( posted August 13, 2006 )

This doesn't even count his hits with his improv-comic troup, The 11th Hour, and his cartoon series, "Almost Infamous" which features Mel Gibson as the leader of a therapy group to help celebrities who get into trouble.


"Almost Infamous" 1: 10,973 ( posted January 08, 2007 )

"Almost Infamous" 2: 6,008 ( posted January 23, 2007 )

"Almost Infamous" 3: 12,490 ( posted February 01, 2007 )


11th Hour videos:

Outtakes of Spiderman 3: 694,672 ( posted June 22, 2007 )

Outtakes of the Christ: 10,101 ( posted May 07, 2006 )

Great Moments in Minimum Wage Jobs_Waiter: 1,125 ( posted August 19, 2007 )

Great Moments in Minimum Wage Jobs_Maid: 1,345 ( posted August 19, 2007 )

Magic Finger: 3,324,143 ( posted August 24, 2007 )

Bullies_You Think You'd Know:101 ( posted July 7, 2007 --and this many hits in ONE day! )


Alice Wrigley, Gal Reporter: 2,001 ( posted May 31, 2007 ) from singleservingfilms.

Heinz Top This TV Challenge entry: 2,104 ( posted July 15, 2007 )from BenWestLake.


Breathing Contest Music Video entry, starring Andrew Goldenberg

Indiana Jones

Batman

Superman

James Bond

Halloween

Jaws

Back to the Future

Dr Pepper Berries and Cream

Article Tools