ANDY KAUFMAN'S RELEVANCE
25 years after Andy Kaufman left us, he is more relevant than ever.
A testament to Andy Kaufman’s influence, the debate over whether he actually died 25 years still persists.
The film documentary "The Death of Andy Kaufman," released in December 2008, asks the question 'could
Andy have faked his own death?’ No doubt, the controversy will continue.
Andy’s spirit is still alive and well when world-class rock group R.E.M. closes every live concert with a tribute to
"the best entertainer ever" by singing their Grammy-nominated hit song "Man on the Moon," that inspired
the title of Jim Carrey’s 1999 biopic of Andy.
It’s alive and well when Andy’s alter ego, Tony Clifton, still performs to sold-out crowds, during a 2008 national tour
and upcoming 2009 tour. Could that actually be Andy?
It’s alive and well when famous British band Noah and the Whale requests permission to play Andy’s
renowned Saturday Night Live sketch "Mighty Mouse" between songs in their U.K. concert tour.
It’s alive and well when NBC TV’s 1995 "Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman" is nominated for an Emmy
Award.
It’s alive and well when, in 2009, PBS produced and repeatedly airs a star-studded TV documentary, "Make 'em
Laugh" hosted by Billy Crystal, and devoting an entire segment to Andy Kaufman, who influences comedy
and other performers.
It’s alive and well with phrases like "Kaufman-esque" and "Andy Kaufman-type" used to describe other
performers’ stunts and hoaxes, such as Joaquin Phoenix’ recent appearance on David Letterman that
prompted over 200 news sources to report his "Kaufman-esque attitude." Indeed, 25 years later Andy is
part of the American lexicon. He has become an adverb and an adjective, and has morphed into an integral
part of our verbal DNA.
It’s alive and well when a cursory search for "Andy Kaufman" on the 3 largest search engines - Google,
Yahoo and MSN – generates over 10,000,000 responses on the World Wide Web.
It’s alive and well when over 100 YouTube viewers request an Andy Kaufman video every hour of every day
of every year…and growing. That’s over 125,000 weekly requests, 6,500,000 annual requests, totally over 3 million
annual hours of video, from around the globe – much more than most popular living comedians today. If all this video
is played back-to-back it would take 371 years! Although Andy left us before the Internet, he now dominates it, and
has captured the minds of today’s youth culture as well as his more mature fans.
It’s alive and well in the legacy of The Andy Kaufman Award™, recognizing original new talent in the spirit of a
comic legend.
CONTACT:
Larry M Weiner, APR
201-712-0019
lweiner@larrymweiner.com