New York City, NY (PRWEB) May 19, 2004 -- Twenty years ago, on May 16, 1984, most of the world believed that we had lost a comedic legend forever. This has turned out to be what will inevitably be known as the greatest comic prank ever conceived. Andy Kaufman, by all accounts, is alive and well at age 55 and is now living in New York City on the upper west side. To his loyal supporters and fans, Andy says "sorry about faking my death," in a recent interview with ABC News at his apartment. In order to reach legendary comic status and seal his place in the history of performance art, he said it was "necessary to go away for twenty years."
Even though he has technically returned, Andy says that he plans to maintain his low key lifestyle that he has led for the past twenty years. He has resumed contact with friends and family. Fearing the possibility of this scenario and the potential for another hoax, Kaufman's family has contracted with independent auditors Ernst & Young to determine if this in fact the real Andy Kaufman. He has subjected himself to medical examination and submitted DNA, hair, blood and fingerprint samples to the auditors. Ernst & Young and the Kaufman family report that with a 99% probability, this is indeed the real Andy Kaufman. His mother says, "It's good to have Andy back."
In 1999, a new crop of Kaufman fans were born after Jim Carrey starred in the hit film Man on the Moon. "Andy's bizarre mix of comedy and performance art will inspire fans and comedians alike for generations, especially after this stunt," says Jim Carrey.
Andy says he will make only occasional public appearances, sometimes in disguise so that you won?t know if it?s really him or someone else. Kaufman was famous for pulling this stunt with the Tony Clifton character, sometimes played by good friend Bob Zmuda.
Andy says fans should tune into his website for ongoing updates to his adventures in life. As always, Andy's stage has been the world, testing the boundaries of our beliefs, our sources of information, and our perception of reality. "It's good to be back," Andy writes on his website.
Well, a boy can hope anyways.
Posts: 1572 | Registered: Jan 2004
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That blog doesn't sound anything like what I'd expect from Andy, and I've been a fan for a long time.
Put me down in the "hoax" column. I'm actually surprised that, with 20 years to prepare, there weren't more fake Andys coming out of the woodwork.
Posts: 5264 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I printed the article for my dad to read, he said he remembered something about Andy saying that if he could come back twenty years after he died, he would. I wasn’t alive 20 years ago, so I don’t want to offer a real oppinion, though I have watched reruns of Taxi which was a really cool show.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I haven't seen much footage of Andy, but I've seen a couple of shows that talked about him. They kept saying that nobody understood him and people didn't think he was very funny. Therefore, he must be a COMIC GENIUS!
I didn't get it. The stuff they showed seemed like it was all just him acting weird and not funny or like a jerk and not funny.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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People say that, but to me it is mildly humorous at best. I must be too low (or high?) brow for his humor.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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"I've never told a joke in my life." -- Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman is to comedy as David Blaine is to magic.
David Blaine isn't so much trying to amaze you with his big stunts as make you wonder and make you remember. His magic borders on the feasable--yeah, I can imagine a guy standing on a pole for a few days--but it's the image, the idea he's trying to make you remember, rather than the magic--the man standing in ice, the man in a box.
Andy Kaufman was the same way. He wasn't so much trying to make you laugh as he was trying to make you have SOME sort of emotion. If you hated him--like my wife did--he was cool with that. He just wanted to be so big you couldn't be apathetic about him.
I still feel the best art is art you don't know you're experiencing. Knowing it's art allows you to seperate yourself from it, create a safety net for yourself. Not knowing it's schtick can take that away.
Andy did it every which way. He went to extremes to make people uncomfortable. He went to extremes to make them angry. He went to extremes to make them comfortable and happy.
And, I think, everyone's lives were made richer by the experiences.
I miss him, but I really miss his style of art. Not withstanding David Blaine and Phil Hendrie and the other handful who "got" it and let themselves be influenced by it, nobody's really tried to do what he did.
Posts: 1894 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I didn't get it. The stuff they showed seemed like it was all just him acting weird and not funny or like a jerk and not funny.
