(2023, USA, 99')
The documentary is dedicated to the artist and comedian Andy Kaufman, born in New York on January 17, 1949. From a young age, he staged imaginary television shows in his bedroom. While studying at Boston’s Grahm Junior College, he specialized in television and radio production. In 1971, he began performing in improvised locations in both New York and Los Angeles, with an eccentric style of performance: he once read The Great Gatsby aloud until his entire audience left the room; in another appearance, he came on stage with a sleeping bag and pretended to sleep throughout the entire show. With a series of bizarre characters with foreign accents and imitations of Elvis Presley, Kaufman immediately captured the audience’s attention. T
he role he became most known for is Latka Gravas in the successful sitcom Taxi. In 1983, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away at the young age of 35 on May 16, 1984. Many believe that his death was staged, another prank by the comedian fueled by a statement in which he talked about intending to fake his own departure and return to the scene twenty years later. This has fueled an urban legend that still persists today. Andy Kaufman’s face is not unfamiliar at the Lido, where in 2017, Jim Carrey, who has always considered Kaufman as a sort of guiding spirit, presented Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond.
