Lost in the Funhouse (48 page)

A note about source material: In addition to the two hundred-plus interview subjects who recreated their colorful memories of Andy Kaufman for this project, it should be stated that virtually every one of his television appearances described in this book and countless personal audiotapes of concert performances were meticulously transcribed to serve the author. Furthermore, hundreds of print reviews—scores upon scores of which are cited in the text—were also plumbed for content. (Frankly, there are simply too many to list here.) Besides having access to thousands of magical pages that contained Andy’s private writings (which opened secret portals into his unique sensibility and fully inspired the intimate prose style of this work), the author found essential pieces of the subject’s own musings and recollections captured in the print reporting of the following brave souls:

Allen Steve.
Funny People:
Chapter: “Andy Kaufman.” Stein & Day: 1981.

Blumenthal, John. “We Wuz Robbed!: In One Corner a Playmate, In the Other, the Intergender Wrestling Champion of the World.”
Playboy:
February 1982.

Bonko, Larry. “Unfunny Funny Guy—That’s Kaufman.”
Ledger-Star:
March 7, 1979.

Boosler, Elayne. “Andy: A Farewell to Andy Kaufman—By One Who Shared the Ride.”
Esquire:
November 1984.

Carter, Betsy. “Hide-’n’-Seek in Andy Kaufman’s Fun House.”
Washington Post:
July 1, 1979.

Christgau, Robert. “Andy Kaufman’s Miracle Show.”
Village Voice:
May 14, 1979.

Clifton, Tony (no really). “Laughter from the Toy Chest: Andy Kaufman, Comedy’s Stand-up Pirnadello.”
Time:
May 28, 1979.

Coleman, Janet. “Don’t Laugh at Andy Kaufman.”
New York
magazine: September 11, 1978.

Darvi, Andrea.
“Taxi’s
Andy Kaufman: He’s a Gas!”
Family Weekly:
February 28, 1982.

Firstman, Richard C. “The Lifelong Childhood of Andy Kaufman.”
New York Newsday:
June 6, 1984.

Harris, Harry. “The World According to Kaufman.”
Philadelphia Inquirer:
October 8, 1978.

Hicks, Jack. “He Loves to Get Hate Mail: Andy Kaufman.”
TV Guide:
June 6, 1981.

Hirshey, David. “Andy Kaufman: Beyond Laughter.”
Rolling Stone:
April 30, 1981.

Jares, Sue. “For Taxi’s Andy Kaufman, The Time Isn’t Always Prime for His Zany Kitsch-22 Act.”
People:
Septemer 7, 1981.

Kart, Larry. “Andy Kaufman: Humor’s Con Man Toys with Our Idea of What’s Real.”
Chicago Tribune:
May 17, 1981.

Kart, Larry. Foreign Man, Tony Clifton, Latka: Kaufman Circles in His Loony Orbit.”
Chicago Tribune:
August 12, 1979.

Kilgore, Michael. “Andy Kaufman Takes His Performances to The Edge.”
Tampa Tribune:
October 16, 1978.

Knoedelseder, William K. Jr. “The Identity Crisis of Andy Kaufman.”
Los Angeles Times:
December 10, 1978.

Kort, Michele. “Andy Kaufman Wrestles with Racquetball.”
Racquetball Illustrated:
Decmeber 1980.

Leogrande, Ernest. “Will Carnegie Hall Survive Kaufman’s Gig?”
New York Daily News:
April 20, 1979.

Liska, A. James. “Kaufman’s Not a Comedian, So Don’t You Laugh at Him—Come On Now, Stop Laughing.”
Valley News:
August 17, 1979.

Lovece, Frank.
Hailing
Taxi:
The Official Book of the Show.
Prentice Hall Press: 1988.

Mendelsohn, John. “Andy Kaufman Does de Elvis.”
Rolling Stone:
January 12, 1978.

Metcalf, C.W. “A conversation with Andy Kaufman.”
Oui:
April 1980.

Musto, Michael. “Andy Kaufman: ‘I Sing, Dance, Tell Jokes…’”
Soho Weekly News:
April 19, 1979.

Nolan, Tom. “All Shook Up! … Andy Kaufman Must Be in There Somewhere.”
Crawdaddy Feature:
April 1979.

Nolan, Tom. “‘I Think They Consider Me Nut’: Is It Andy Kaufman’s Bizarre Antics That Scare Network Officals? His Latest, Uh, Offbeat Ideas? Or What?”
Panorama:
April 1981.

Nulman, Andy. “Andy Kaufman’s a Serious Comic.”
Circus Weekly:
May 1, 1979.

O’Melveny, Don and Sheraton, Shelley. “Andy Kaufman.” Unpublished article: 1978.

Robins, Wayne. “Andy Kaufman’s Complete Variety Show.”
New York Newsday:
April 22, 1979.

Sorensen, Jeff.
The Taxi Book.
St. Martin’s Press: 1987.

Weisbord Cavestani, Laura. “Is This The Weirdest Interview Ever …?”
Los Angeles Free Press:
March 9, 1978.

White Timothy. “Andy Kaufman’s Broadway Bout.”
New York Daily News:
April 3, 1983.

Young Charles M. “Andy Kaufman’s State of Confusion.”
Rolling Stone:
June 14, 1979.

Zurawik, Dave. “What’s Andy Like? A Good Question.”
Detroit Free Press:
July 29, 1979.

A Delta Book
Random House, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036

Copyright © 1999 by Bill Zehme

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address: Delacorte Press, New York, N.Y.

Delta
^®
is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

eISBN: 978-0-307-42846-2

Reprinted by arrangement with Delacorte Press

Photograph courtesy of Shapiro/West and Associates, Inc.

v3.0