LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Andy Kaufman: Comedians
built 225 days ago
Apparently, Andy Kaufman was a no-show at his comeback party Sunday night in Hollywood. The notorious prankster died from lung cancer at the age of 35 on May 16, 1984, but anyone familiar with Andy's sense of humor has always recognized the possibility he's been faking his demise. Reports have circulated that the actor -- Andy did not consider himself a comedian -- actually contemplated such a career plan as early as 1980. He said, if he did pull a switcheroo, he'd reappear 20 years later to the day.
Source:
Andy Kaufman never considered himself a comedian. If given the choice, he would rather have been introduced to audiences as a song-and-dance man. Andy felt being introduced as a comedian put pressure on the audience to laugh. Besides, sometimes they didn't laugh and Andy wanted it that way. Andy worked to create real reactions. He wanted people to laugh from the gut, get sad from the gut - or get angry from the gut.
Source:
In 1979, Kaufman performed in front of a Carnegie Hall audience, which he later took out for milk and cookies, via 35 buses that were waiting outside. At the beginning of his Carnegie Hall performance, Kaufman invited his grandmother to watch the show from a chair he had placed at the side of the stage. At the end of the show, his grandmother stood up, took her mask off and revealed to the audience that she was actually comedian Robin Williams in disguise.
Source:
At the beginning of an April 1979 performance at New York's Carnegie Hall, Kaufman invited his "grandmother" to watch the show from a chair he had placed at the side of the stage. At the end of the show, she stood up, took her mask off and revealed to the audience that she was actually comedian Robin Williams in disguise. Kaufman ... had an elderly woman (named Eleanor Cody Gould) appear to have a heart attack and die on stage, at which point he reappeared on stage wearing a Native American headdress and performed a dance over her body, seeming to revive her.
Source:
It has been said that Andy Kaufman was a comedian before his time. Andy would not call himself a comedian or a comic. He would describe himself as a song and dance guy, or technically, he’s in the category of performing artist or performance art.
Source:
Kaufman's younger brother, Michael, 54, a financial consultant and former stand-up who was the M.C. and a judge at the semifinals Tuesday night, agreed that his brother did not like being called a comedian. His explanation: "Andy saying he was not a comedian was just protecting himself, so if he didn't get a laugh he could say, 'It's not supposed to be funny.' But let's face it, he liked it when people laughed."
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Comedians