Still in Holland

And a wee rant about our favourite comic

Some Good News (About Andy Kaufman)

Marjan and I discovered Andy Kaufman right at the start of our relationship and fell hard for him and his body of work. I found I’m From Hollywood on a VHS tape in a Sam the Record Man cheap bin and bought it because I had heard the name in the REM song.

It was the story of his late career episode as the self-proclaimed Intergender Wrestling Champion - incredible stuff. Pre-Internet rabbit holes were both more difficult and more fun, and we explored the whole warren. We tried to invent and define a term for what he was doing - Post-Post-Modernism. (It didn’t take off.)

And then, as if on cue, came the (gag) Jim Carrey film Man on the Moon. It featured a ham-fisted impression - nay, caricature- of the genius comic which the media and the public declared Brilliant. It really broke my heart, that a film so shallow and lame would carry a poor understanding of our hero into posterity. (Carrey’s moronic “channelling Andy” stunt enraged me. It was a perverse development worthy of Kaufman, but not funny: murdering the legacy for some trickle-down cred. Fuck Jim Carrey.)

Well guess what? It seems an actual doc is coming soon, with the footage as the source! I am very excited to see a new tribute arrive, with the possibility of an honest look at the funniest person on Earth. I can’t wait.

In the meantime, enjoy some clips. And yes, I am avoiding the dreadful global news. Fuck it. Right?

Love,

Santa