One of the most memorable highlights of “Thank You Very Much,” Alex Braverman’s consistently engaging documentary about comedy legend Andy Kaufman, doesn’t directly involve Kaufman at all.

Well, technically it does — but in the circuitous, convoluted way that only he could design. It’s an audio recording of actor Judd Hirsch, who is so furious he seems ready to explode. His complaint? That a two-bit, no-talent buffoon named Tony Clifton has taken over the set of his 1970s sitcom “Taxi,” which co-starred Kaufman. The fact that Hirsch knows Clifton is one of Kaufman’s alter egos hasn’t remotely mitigated the problem; he’s genuinely angry at Clifton — a guy who doesn’t, in any traditional sense, actually exist.

If there is a moment that distills Kaufman’s unique genius, surely this is it. In other hands, the whole situation would look like a dopey and inexcusably indulgent prank.