Before Michael Richards even auditioned for the role of Cosmo Kramer, he started to establish himself with his Dick Williams fitness guru character, initially on the short-lived sketch show Fridays, and later on The Tonight Show as a guest performer.
When watching clips of the Williams character, it’s easy to see the parts that Richards brought over to Kramer on Seinfeld, namely his flare for acrobatics and broad physical comedy. Nothing embodies that side of Kramer more than his entrances, of which no two were the same — just like snowflakes.
Here now is a look back at some of Kramer’s best entrances.
The Ball
So much grace and elegance. George always wanted to make a big entrance in front of his New York Yankee colleagues, but this probably isn’t what he had in mind. Look at the smile and the quick recovery at the end, though. Kramer isn’t going to let George’s sour disposition sour his night.
The Sliiiiide
Alerted to the sound of Jerry ordering Chinese food, Kramer bursts into Jerry’s apartment with this classic move. Notice the distance that he gets here. Is he wearing some kind of special curling shoe? Is the floor greased up or moving like a Jamiroquai video? Is it some kind of combination? Maybe he’s just powered by extra MSG.
The Express Pop-In
When he’s not casually sliding into Jerry’s home, Kramer surprises audiences with his quick and spry entrances, often to the dismay of Jerry’s many, many girlfriends. You would think that Jerry might lock the door more often but he knows that Kramer’s brand of chaos is always around the corner and maybe that’s why he doesn’t set up more barriers — maybe he prefers that.
The Spin
Never one to bore the audience, Kramer does a little spin move to add some pizazz to his already flamboyant entrance when in the midst of a celebrity, this time, former baseball player Keith Hernandez. A man with whom he has a history.
The Impostors
In the most meta story line in Seinfeld history, Jerry makes a pilot about his own life, which means they have to audition for a new Kramer, and a new Kramer means a flurry of imitation entrances. A sight that still feels weird to watch even though the actors all had interesting interpretations of what it is that Michael Richards did so well.
The Classic
In the end, there’s no one who can make an entrance like Kramer and no better way to inject that character into the story.
