Andy Kaufman – Dead or Alive?

I’ll admit it… I never liked Andy Kaufman. Oh, the Mighty Mouse bit was funny the first time you saw it, and the Elvis/Foreign Man bit was amusing, and Latka was cute on Taxi (though I always preferred Christopher Lloyd’s bizarre Reverend Jim). But overall, I never understood why anyone thought he was funny, or even clever.

I do now. Maybe it’s that Kaufman was ahead of his time. Long before “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, when the WWF/E was just a beginning to evolve into its 1980’s heyday as a bunch of affable clowns, Kaufman was taking professional wrestling over into the realm of hostile aggression when he whipped up an audience of Southern redneck wrestling fans into a frenzy. Long before Jerry Springer’s staged television weirdness, Kaufman was punching out people on talk shows. Looking back at Kaufman’s career, it appears less that Kaufman was the mentally disturbed jerk he seemed at the time, and more that he was on to something.

The tragedy of Andy Kaufman is less that he died at age 35 of lung cancer after being a health nut who never smoked, but more that it appears (and the film “Man on the Moon” makes clear) that there never really was an entity “Andy Kaufman”. He really was just a series of alter-egos, such as the lounge lizard Tony Clifton, and events. But the question has lingered: Did Kaufman stage his own death? Was it just another performance? It would be perfectly in character for him to do so (unlike the late Jim Morrison, for example), and indeed, he did talk at one time about wanting to fake his death. Yet aside from hard-core Kaufman fans, no one really has cared.

Perhaps now they will.

Before Kaufman died (or “died”) on May 16, 1984, he told several friends that he was planning to fake his death, disappear and return in 20 years, precisely. So, on May 16, 2004, Comic Relief, the charity organization Zmuda founded in 1985, will present… something. Something secretive, something at House of Blues on Sunset Strip. Title: Andy Kaufman – Dead or Alive?

More info courtesy of the House of Blues.

Andy stated that were he to fake his death, he would return 20 years later to the day. MAY 16TH, 2004 IS THAT DAY. Over one hundred personal ads will be taken out, across the country and abroad, reminding him of his words. Will he show? This historic celebration will include a special premiere showing, along with star appearances by Rodney Dangerfield, Caroline Rhea, Bob Odenkirk, Paul Rudd, Rich Voss, Jerry “the King” Lawler, Andy Dick and a rare performance by International singing sensation TONY CLIFTON and his CLIFTONES. Also “Man on the Moon” co-screenwriter Larry Karaszewski will be joined by Andy’s closest companions: George Shapiro, Lynne Margulies, and Bob Zmuda . Tickets $99.95. Special $250 VIP tickets include select seating & celebrity reception (hopefully with Andy).

So will he or won’t he?