Brought Him Fame, Financial Independence and a Television Special
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Smith, Roberta. A Comedian As Artist, The New York Times, February 9, 2015 By Roberta Smith When Andy Kaufman, the entertainer, so-called anti-comic and Elvis imper- sonator extraordinaire, died in 1984 at 35, he left behind two very distinct if connected personas. The better known is Andy Kaufman, the television star who provided some of the funniest moments on the popu- lar sitcom “Taxi” in the guise of the loopy auto mechanic Latka Gravas, he of the high-pitched voice, unidentifi- able accent and alternate sense of real- ity. As Latka, Kaufman appeared on all Jeffrey Sturges five seasons of “Taxi” (1978 to 1983); it brought him fame, financial independence and a television special. (This was stipulated in his first contract.) But Kaufman didn’t like the sitcom format and agreed to stay on the show only when the writers allowed Latka to develop multiple-personality disorder so he could play other characters. The second persona is Andy Kaufman, the stand-up innovator, politically incorrect satirist and cult figure revered by comedians and artists alike — an artist in his own right. This Kaufman, who had been obsessed since child- hood with professional wrestling, invited women to wrestle with him onstage, to the outrage of many feminists. He behaved unpredictably on talk shows, often leaving his hosts semi-flummoxed. He led perplexed audiences in grade-school-like singalongs and once invited the audience members at the Improv in New York to touch a cyst on his neck, albeit only after they washed their hands. Following his ineffably odd evening “Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall,” he took the entire audience for milk and cookies. If audiences became disgruntled by his failure to amuse, he might burst into tears, his cries and shrieks becom- ing increasingly incoherent and rhythmic until he suddenly started expertly accompanying his vocals on conga drums. He often seemed like a straight man with no partner. His ineffective jokes and weird stunts are seen as an offshoot of Conceptual art, performance art and the interactive strategies of relational aesthetics. The second Kaufman is the subject of “On Creating Reality, by Andy Kaufman,” an engrossing, idiosyncratic ex- hibition at the Maccarone gallery in the West Village. Latka is nowhere in sight. The show has been organized by Jeffrey Sturges the artist Jonathan Berger, who makes the relational aesthetics reference in the news release. Also according to the news release, Mr. Berger collaborated with the estate of Andy Kaufman; Lynne Margulies, Kaufman’s companion; Bob Zmuda, Kaufman’s frequent partner in crime (he usually refereed the wrestling bouts); and Tony Clifton, a repulsive lounge singer whose existence remains wrapped in ambiguity. (Thought to be a Kaufman creation based on a real person, he was impersonated by Kaufman; his brother, Michael Kaufman; and Mr. Zmuda during Kaufman’s lifetime and has made periodic appearances since Kaufman’s death, including at the after-party of the opening at Maccarone.) And in a brilliant stroke, Mr. Berger has made the show deliber- ately interactive — relational — in a way that feels like a curatorial invention. It comes in two parts, set in separate spaces: Kaufman’s stuff and his art. The main gallery at Maccarone is ar- rayed with 17 white vitrines with hairpin legs evoking 1950s Long Island, where Kaufman grew up. They display a fascinating range of ephemera and personal effects: letters, childhood poetry, scripts, unpublished novels, press clippings and photographs, tour schedules, props and costumes. In a sense this material forms a study in young, self-aware ambition, a portrait of an artist operating from a per- sonal inner reality, in place since childhood, striving to create a larger reality that conforms to it. The envelope containing Kaufman’s 11th-grade report card is scrawled with an unusual note from a teacher: “I just don’t know Andy.” Two vitrines contain his collections of 45s and LPs; another is piled with letters from women, some denouncing his “intergender wrestling” contests, others threatening him and still others hoping to participate. Kaufman’s involvement with Transcendental Meditation is covered; the prosthetics and jacket that he and Mr. Zmuda used when impersonating Tony Clifton are displayed. Also here: a letter Kaufman wrote to Elvis Presley in 1969, in which he says that he is studying “to be a famous TV personality” and describes Presley as “out of sight — not just in surface, but in depth.” Kaufman’s rhinestone-studded, satin-lined, high-collared “Elvis” shirt shares a vitrine with the sports jacket and rip-off shirt and tie that Foreign Man, the inept, squeaky-voiced comic precursor to Latka, would shed as he morphed into the smoky-voiced, swivel-hipped Elvis. The rapidity of Kaufman’s rise is summed up with an immaculate yellow Post-it from around 1975, on which is written the name and phone number of the NBC executive Dick Ebersol , and the words “call collect.” Mr. Ebersol subsequently became disenchanted with Kaufman; it was in 1982, during Mr. Ebersol’s year as stand-in producer of “Saturday Night Live,” that Kaufman was voted off the show in an unusual viewer poll; it was a serious blow to his career and his ego. While every item on view is carefully numbered, there are no labels. Instead, you get a form of oral history that may, like Kaufman’s performances, make you slightly uncomfortable. Mr. Berger has arranged for a Kaufman colleague, friend or relative to be present each day to an- swer questions and reminisce. These guests, who are not announced ahead of time, in- clude Mr. Zmuda, Tony Clifton, Michael Kaufman and Carol Kaufman-Kerman (the artist’s sister) and his bi- ographer Bill Zehme. A round table and several chairs, not unlike the set of a television talk show, encourage interaction, which is essential to a full experience of the Agence France-Presse — Getty Images show. In Maccarone’s new project space, you can view Kaufman’s art and see some of the costumes and props from the vitrines in use. Mainly you will see the unorthodox, versatile talent behind it all. The video segments include ap- pearances at the Improv in New York and on David Letterman’s and Johnny Carson’s shows; an interview with one of the Tony Cliftons as well as skits from “The Andy Kaufman Special” and “Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall.” In an appearance on Dinah Shore’s show, he sits at the piano delivering a childish song, while Marvin Hamlisch, Sammy Davis Jr. and Bob Hope look on, more or less cringing. Concurrent with the Maccarone show, “Andy Kaufman’s 99cent Tour,” 10 evenings of screenings and discus- sions, will be held at Participant Inc. on East Houston Street, starting on Tuesday. Organized by Mr. Berger and Lia Gangitano, the director of this alternative space, it will present Kaufman’s television special and the Carnegie Hall evening in their entirety; show some Kaufman family movies; and delve into his record collection and his interest in professional wrestling. Each evening will be overseen by some of the same aficionados appearing at Maccarone, as well as the artists Dan Graham, Mike Smith and David Robbins (Mr. Robbins will appear in a video introduction). The Participant news release features a photograph that should have been at Maccarone: it shows a teenage Kaufman, honing his Elvis impersonation at the birthday party of a 5-year-old named Jeff Citrin, around 1964..