Andy Kaufman - Dead or Alive?

May 9, 2004 1:21 PM

Has it been 20 years already?"Andy himself stated that were he to fake his death, he would return 20 years later to the day. MAY 16TH 2004 IS THAT DAY."
posted by ric (24 comments total)

not if courtney love kills him first
posted by Satapher at 2:12 PM on May 9, 2004

more info here...
posted by machaus at 2:12 PM on May 9, 2004

I thought my pizza delivery guy looked familiar. and that would explain the "thankyouverymuch," after the tip.
posted by jonmc at 2:16 PM on May 9, 2004

Andy giving hygene lessons to a Mem-fuss wrestling crowd: "See this? This is soap!" Bwahahha-ha ... I'm surprised he lived as long as he did.

Hope Bob Zmuda has something nice planned.
posted by RavinDave at 2:22 PM on May 9, 2004

Here's a 2nd draft script courtesy of Subterranean Cinema of Andy's proposed (albeit unproduced) movie: "The Tony Clifton Story". As the previous link notes: On page 112, Tony dies of lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. Andy Kaufman would die of lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai eight years later.

Cue spooky music.
posted by RavinDave at 2:41 PM on May 9, 2004

At the bottom it says " Audience members will not be allowed to enter or leave the theater during the last 30 minutes of Andy Kaufman -- Dead or Alive?". Is there any good reason for doing this beside wanting to maintain a general sense of mystery and such?
posted by Monster_Zero at 3:17 PM on May 9, 2004

I had written an FPP about this, though I was saving it for next Sunday. Since someone beat me to the punch, I'll post what I came up with, in case anyone is interested in the links I found:

Will Andy Kaufman return from the dead?

The bizarre, wonderful, and sometimes off-putting Andy Kaufman had said if he were going to fake his own death, he would return 20 years later, to the day. That would be next Sunday-- May 16, 2004.

So, his old friend Bob Zmuda has rented out the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood for that night in hopes he'll show up. If Andy doesn't make it back from the great beyond, perhaps Tony Clifton could make it in his stead.
posted by astruc at 3:23 PM on May 9, 2004

hello sara !
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:57 PM on May 9, 2004

ee boo dah?
posted by quonsar at 5:06 PM on May 9, 2004

My cousin and I have believed for years that Andy Kaufman is actually President Bush. We even shot some footage at the inauguration protests in DC (You may have seen one of us holding up protests signs reading, "Is that you, Andy?") for a doc-/mockumentary. It's very interesting that they both quit drinking and drugs in the same year.
posted by thecaddy at 5:13 PM on May 9, 2004

I want to believe.
posted by delapohl at 7:51 PM on May 9, 2004

At the bottom it says " Audience members will not be allowed to enter or leave the theater during the last 30 minutes of Andy Kaufman -- Dead or Alive?". Is there any good reason for doing this beside wanting to maintain a general sense of mystery and such?

Maybe Kaufman is planning to beat the devil?
posted by Inkslinger at 9:37 PM on May 9, 2004

As much as I seriously doubt it's going to happen, it would probably be one of the biggest events in history; someone finally validating hopeful fans in their "he's not dead" stance.

Should be fun, either way.
posted by Dark Messiah at 9:51 PM on May 9, 2004

Thanks for all the Andy remembrances. I'm pretty sure the guy's dead, as this subject is still shopworn from publicity surrounding "Man On The Moon." Plus, if Andy were to come back, he'd do it in a way-cooler way than a 300+ show at the House Of Blues. Especially with May being TV sweeps month. Andy's return would beat the crap out of Dick Van Dyke's reunion show.

If anyone happens to be at the HOB show next week (sadly, I'll be out of LA that weekend), please do revisit this thread and give an update!
posted by herc at 11:38 PM on May 9, 2004

Sadly, it's kinda hard to fake an official Death Certificate.

On the other hand, if anyone could ...
posted by RavinDave at 12:39 AM on May 10, 2004

I too want to believe.
posted by codger at 6:08 AM on May 10, 2004

What a cruel thing to do to his family.
posted by agregoli at 6:40 AM on May 10, 2004

From machaus's link, I would assume no one will be allowed in or out of the theatre during the final half hour because of how they're going to dispose of the film. That article says it's never been shown before, and will never be shown again.
posted by ArsncHeart at 10:39 AM on May 10, 2004

Be ironic if Andy came back during the final half-hour and was refused admittance, eh?
posted by RavinDave at 11:27 AM on May 10, 2004

Note the thread number.

That's a lot of threads.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 11:31 AM on May 10, 2004

RavinDave: According to the LA Weekly article Zmuda has a 'foolproof' method for determining who the real Andy is (amongst the expected fakes).

In general I think if he comes back it will make this world much brighter, even if just for a day.

Maybe Andy is among us on MeFi right now? Who could it be?
posted by shotsy at 4:15 PM on May 10, 2004

it's me!

thankyouveddymuch
posted by Fofer at 9:04 PM on May 10, 2004

So what happened?
posted by sudama at 7:05 AM on May 18, 2004

(looks around)

Oh well. If you believe there's nothing up their sleeve, then nothing is cool.
posted by jragon at 2:29 PM on May 18, 2004