Andy Essays/Papers/Articles/Letters, Page 3
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Tom Izzo
14 April 2000
The Andy Kaufman death dispute: Fact or fan fiction?
"Throughout all of the controversy and speculation, Andy's family and friends could attest to one thing -
Andy Kaufman was a warm, loving, courageous man and his early death was not fair" (Momchilov, 3: Frequently).
Andy Kaufman grew up dreaming to be a performer. From his early childhood he would stage his own television shows
in his room, pretending that there was a camera inside the wall. Young Andy always wanted to perform, and whether
it be on the schoolyard, or the comedy club, perform he did. Easing his way onto the entertainment scene, Andy
began by opening up for bands, performing in bars, and testing his act in nightclubs. "Andy loved to experiment
with such esoteric routines as eating a bowl of potatoes on stage or curling up into a sleeping bag for a 20 minute
siesta while a perplexed audience looked on" (Slotek, 3). He took pleasure in seeing the audience's strange
reactions to his unusual antics. He liked to keep the audience on their toes, and often times the audience became
the performer and an amused Andy became the audience. The shock value of his routines was priceless, and he kept
people wondering what if.
The ABC television special that aired entitled "Andy's Fun house" "began with Kaufman sitting in
an easy chair in front of a TV set and explaining that ABC gave him $100,000 to produce a television special but
"I went on vacation and have nothing left." Thus he says the entire special will consist of him watching
TV. He looks thoroughly ashamed of himself." (Shales, 2) Mr. Kaufman would challenge his audiences. From time
to time he would make the audience work while he either slept, or had a snack on stage. One never knew what to
expect at an Andy Kaufman show. He dared to break the medium of straight stand up, and his performances fell into
their own unique category. He would take less money, or often go to lesser venues just so he could do whatever
he wanted. After being kicked off Saturday Night Live by a fan vote, Andy found it difficult to get any work. He
was lucky enough to get a one-time guest spot on a popular Late Night program. "As a guest host for the ABC
comedy show Fridays, Andy created general mayhem and turmoil during the live broadcast. This resulted in a scuffle
between Andy and several cast and crewmembers during the last sketch of the night. Andy insists the incident was
a terrible misunderstanding."(Momchilov, 15: Brief). He just did not desire to conform to the entertainment
industry's common rule of thumb. Kaufman didn't consider himself a comedian, but instead an entertainer who loved
to draw emotional responses from unsuspecting audiences. "He was not a comic in the conventional sense, in
that he didn't do jokes, and he seemed always to be working to please himself and not the audience." (McKay,
1). Whether those emotional responses are comedy, anger, sadness, or even hatred, Andy did not care.
If taken in at face value, one might perceive Andy Kaufman as a rambling madman. "Many thought Andy was reclusive,
difficult, even downright ornery. But I think those were the knee-jerk reactions people have to an easily misunderstood
presence, to a special kind of genius." (Hirsch, 60). Andy never wanted to be treated better than anyone else
was. Despite his media out bursts, and practical jokes, Mr. Kaufman was actually a down to earth guy. "Even
after becoming a star in Hollywood, Andy still continued bussing tables at Jerry's Famous Deli." (Momchilov,
16: Brief). With Kaufman you never knew where the act ended and the man began. "Andy often went through much
time and trouble pretending to be many of his alter egos, and went through great lengths maintaining his secret
identity." (Hoyle, 1). "It wasn't discovered until years after his death that he even had a daughter
that he left behind." (Speidel, 1). The man lived shrouded in mystery and loved to keep people speculating
and guessing what he would do next.
"Sometimes when you look Andy in the eyes, "Letterman said. "You get a feeling somebody else is
driving." (McKay, 2). Andy wanted you to believe the impossible, and accept the extraordinary and he would
go to any extent to do this. "Why would anyone do this? Why is this funny? What are we being subjected to
here?" (Hirsch, 60) He developed a cult following which is still waiting for him to return to this very day.
His persona was more like a magician than a comedian. Similar to that of Elvis, and Jim Morrison, Andy's life has
become legend. It can be summed up in the analogy of the boy who cried wolf too many times, and the reaction he
got was exactly what he would have wanted. "Somewhere, assuming he's really dead, Andy Kaufman was undoubtedly
looking down and smiling." (Slotek, 1).
Andy pulled more stunts than anyone did in Hollywood history. Whether he was wrestling women in a wrestling ring,
or going berserk on live television; Mr. Kaufman tried it all. It seems as if he planned to base his entire career
around the art of deception, and for ten years he managed to fool America. However, when he announced that he was
diagnosed with lung cancer many just figured it to be just another Kaufman ploy. Many people to this day are convinced
that Andy is out lurking somewhere ready to take the cake on his greatest prank of all time. "If he ran out
tonight and yelled "suckers!" at us in the midst of our celebrating and grieving and admiring his amazing
collection of acting accomplishments, well, that would just be the capper, wouldn't it? That would be Andy at his
ultimate." (Werts, 1)..........
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