All our heroes are dead? Hmmmm, maybe not. At the 9th annual Andy Kaufman awards in NYC earlier this week, his brother Michael got on stage at the end of the show and told a wild tale, one that fueled more fire in the Andy Kaufman faked his own death conspiracy and then a young woman who looked eerily like Andy came up on stage and claimed to be his daughter stating that Andy was indeed alive. For a more in-depth article on what transpired click HERE.
Okay I love this for so many reasons!!! Now if you don’t know who Andy Kaufman is I can’t really help you there and the rest of this tirade won’t mean jack to you. But neither did the entire previous article. So, let’s just say, his humor went beyond words and was forged in the ethers of madness and genius. He is the master of large scale pranks. Andy Kaufman is Loki. Now, I grew up worshiping Andy Kaufman. When I was a kid I would annoy everyone in my family with my Latka impression, and reenact the Mighty Mouse routine, well routinely. My apologies to the family members who may recall this constant pandering for attention (some things never change). He was one of my idols. He was a hero. It was a time when he and Peter Sellers vied for my comedy heart-strings. When he died I was devastated. Many a lip did quiver. Yet there has always been that part of me that wanted to believe that his death was a hoax, just another massive prank pulled by my childhood idol, but as time passed the idea faded. Well not totally, I would occasionally hear a story or come across and article that fueled the Kaufman death conspiracy, but that is all it remained.
If you’ve ever been curious about this conspiracy, such as myself, this week’s events are a great example of the brilliance of Andy Kaufman. It really doesn’t matter if he’s alive or not, the length of this prank’s lifespan is pretty awe inspiring. Whether it was done in spirit or he really is chillin’ with the fam somewhere south of heaven and north of hell, It is a brilliant hoax and the legend lives on. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of his passing and maybe this is a set up for his triumphant return? If not, well played brother Michael, even the Hollywood Reporter and MSN are reporting on this one!!! And thank you for reminding me of the genius of Andy Kaufman and allowing me to relive an influential part of my formative years, even if just for an evening!