Date:
January 6, 2000
Place:
Chicago Cultural Center
Panelists:
Bill Zehme, author of "Lost In The Funhouse: The Life and Mind Of Andy Kaufman" (moderator)
Carol Kaufman-Kerman, Andy's sister
Rick Kerman, Andy's brother-in-law
B.K. Momchilov, researcher, "The Kaufman Chronicles" (http://andykaufman.jvlnet.com)
presented by The Museum Of Broadcast Communications
This was one of the most interesting presentations I've been to in a long time. It was mostly an informal chat regarding the life and art of Andy Kaufman, with a Q & A session and quite a lot of video footage, most of it from Andy's personal collection and a lot of it unseen before.
The personal highlight, for me, was the reception afterwards with milk and cookies in the Museum archives area. The presenters of the program handed out photocopies of a drawing of Andy dressed in his Elvis costume and small boxes of crayons. I've never seen adults have so much fun!
Before I left I did get to speak briefly with Andy's sister, Carol. What was helpful was the fact that her and her husband live in the Chicago area and were able to relate a lot of hilarious stories about Andy and his various escapades around town (often with the family in tow) raising hijinks, when he wasn't making TV shows in Hollywood or "wrasslin'" in Memphis.
In fact the only thing missing from the evening was Andy. But I do feel he was there in spirit... or maybe that was Tony Clifton.