When I was 10 years old, I first discovered Andy Kaufman on “Taxi” reruns airing on Nickelodeon’s Nick At Night. By that time, Kaufman had already been dead — or “dead,” depending on whom you have been speaking to — for over a decade.
I laughed with gusto at the antics of the long-sideburned, good-natured immigrant from the fictitious island nation of Caspiar, Latka Gravas. Four years later, I discovered what a true performance artist Kaufman was by reading Bob Zmuda’s book about his friendship with Kaufman: “Andy Kaufman Revealed: Best Friend Tells All.”
I was hooked on the stories Zmuda shared about his best friend, Andy Kaufman: Kaufman’s eccentricities, his trailblazing work as an anti-comedian, and his darker characters, like the abusive longue-lizard character, Tony Clifton.
Needless to say, when the media announced the release of Alex Braverman’s new documentary on Kaufman, “Thank You Very Much,” I just had to see it.
Braverman does a good job both directing and editing this narrative, which is partially old archival interviews about Kaufman, intermixed with new interviews from Kaufman’s longtime friends — like best friend and writing partner Bob Zmuda; Kaufman’s last known steady girlfriend, Lynne Margulies; and fellow prankster and friend Bob Pagani, to name a few.
What’s most intriguing about the documentary is its open-mindedness. Kaufman was a dadaistic entertainer of the finest kind. “The Houdini of practical jokers,” as Zmuda aptly describes his friend in the aforementioned “Revealed,” which went on to spawn director Milos Foreman’s “Man on the Moon,” co-starring Jim Carrey in an Oscar-worthy portrayal of Kaufman and Paul Giamatti as Kaufman’s cohort and partner-in-crime, Bob Zmuda.
Speaking of Mr. Zmuda, he strongly implies in the documentary that Kaufman’s death from lung cancer at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, in 1984 was an elaborate hoax. The end of “Thank You Very Much” shows grainy footage of a man walking around an Albuquerque, New Mexico, apartment complex rumored to be Kaufman. I am well aware of this footage, as I was asked to come into the KRQE studio and discuss it with reporter Tina Jensen back in 2014. The ensuing segment and interview amassed a quarter million views. “More views and clicks than any other story KRQE has done,” Jensen told me later.
Whether Andy Kaufman lives or not, Braverman wisely avoids dogmatism and certainty and allows us, the viewers, to formulate our own opinions.
I’m sure that’s the way Kaufman would have wanted it/wants it.
As you well know…. Andy Kaufman Is Alive!
https://curtclendenin.bandcamp.com/track/andy-kaufman-is-alive-uncle-andy-lies