Is This Guy For Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman

I've been fascinated with Andy Kaufman from a very young age. I remember seeing that infamous scene where Kaufman has fire thrown in his face by Jerry 'The King' Lawler as well as later getting the snot slapped out of him (again by Lawler) on the David Letterman show.

Though Kaufman died in 1984, over the past 3 decades, it seems that interest in the absurdist comedian will spark back up about every 7-8 years. His over-the-top stunts and brilliant bits of surrealism have never really left the public's interest. When such interest in Kaufman reaches it's temporary zenith, I end up reading another biography on the comedy icon.

This biographical graphic novel by Box Brown is a rare triple-triple crown for me. This is the third biography on Andy Kaufman that I have read just as it is also the third work by Box Brown that I have gotten my hands on.

While the other two Kaufman books focus more on his time as a comedian and actor, this 2018 volume, published by First Second, deals more with Andy's life-long love affair with wrestling. I really learned a lot of new stuff that I did not know about Kaufman- especially how he came to be involved with the circuit down in Memphis. I would have liked more focus on Kaufman's personal life as well as his battle with cancer. But the information Brown puts into this book was quite satisfying.

In the early 80s having a big name celebrity involved with professional (I.E. FAKE) wrestling was unheard of. These days, it's not considered unthinkable if a celeb doesn't appear on a wrestling program or premiere event to pitch a new film or music project. Why even our current President of the United States took to the squared circle prior to his political career to get in some free publicity. There can be no doubt, without Andy Kaufman, the WWF (now WWE) and showcase events like Wrestlemania would not be the cultural touchstone that they are today.

I love Box Brown's work. I've been eagerly awaiting this book for well over a year after devouring Brown's story of the video game Tetris. There's a couple of Brown's collections of fiction stories out there for me to read. But I can't wait to see what piece of pop culture history Box Brown has in store for his next work of non-fiction. (Upon further research, the answer to that pondering is Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America, due in stores in April 2019.)

Worth Consuming! 

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.