Andy Kaufman Revealed! (24 page)

Judd Hirsch yelling at Clifton while two prostitutes look on
Bill Knoedelseder

Tony Clifton getting thrown off the Paramount lot

Over 300 wrestling matches. No woman ever won the money.
Comic Relief Archives, Elizabeth Wolynski

Andy stalking his prey, Zmuda as referee
Comic Relief Archives, Elizabeth Wolynski

Zmuda choreographing the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes for the Carnegie Hall Show
Comic Relief Archives, Elizabeth Wolynski

Zmuda and Kaufman triumphant as they receive a standing ovation from the Carnegie Hall Audience
Comic Relief Archives, Elizabeth Wolynski

Andy takes the entire Carnegie Hall audience of 1,800 people out for milk and cookies.
Comic Relief Archives, Elizabeth Wolynski

Bob Zmuda (above) with Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, and Billy Crystal
Comic Relief Archives

Zmuda teaching Jim Carrey how to do Clifton
Copyright © 1999 by Universal City Studios, Inc. Courtesy of Universal Studios Publishing Rights, a division of Universal Studios Licensing, Inc. All rights reserved.

The legendary Milos Foreman, directing Bob Zmuda and Jim Carrey in
Man on the Moon
Copyright © 1999 by Universal City Studios, Inc. Courtesy of Universal Studios Publishing Rights, a division of Universal Studios Licensing, Inc. All rights reserved.

Offers began coming in for Andy left and right. One of the propositions was from Harrah’s Casino in Las Vegas. Though casino shows had long been the domain of the blue-hair set, the management of the gambling facilities realized they’d better approach a fresh, younger demographic before their current clientele died of old age. Yuppies were now lined up as management’s latest victims, a new crop of hedonists they hoped would arrive in droves and happily surrender their paychecks to the cashiers and dealers. But sheer gambling alone was too naked an inducement to come to Vegas, and as it was in the beginning and now and ever shall be, entertainment was the guilt-softening element necessary to bring in the largest contingent:
I paid for my trip and saw a couple of good shows.
Uh-huh, if you say so.

The only adjustment for casino management was shifting some of their entertainment resources from the traditional to the fashionable. They looked to the
Saturday Night Live
group as their yardstick of cool, and perceived Andy as the seminal artist among them. Because he was also on a hit sitcom, they thought he must be a big draw for young professionals. Thus strategized, Harrah’s called and said, “Andy Kaufman? Come on down!”

Andy wasn’t so sure about playing Vegas, despite its rich history and, of course, the important role it had served in Elvis’s career. The rub was that he would be constrained from experimentation and would instead be required to offer up his “killer set” night after night. I saw it as a good career move and wanted Andy to take it, but he needed some convincing.

My family had been vacationing in the Tahoe area since I was around twelve, so I knew one piece of information that might inspire Andy to take a gig with Harrah’s in Reno, if not the one in Vegas.

“You know, Andy, Harrah’s has a club in Reno. It’s huge.”

“So? Why would I go there? I don’t particularly want to go to Vegas. What’s with Reno?”

“Well, Reno’s surrounded by legal brothels.”

“Really? But doesn’t Vegas have them too?”

“They’re way outside Vegas, plus they aren’t as good, mostly rip-offs,” I offered knowingly. “There’s more in Reno and they’re a lot better.”

“Oh yeah? Lots of them?” I could tell I had him.

“Yeah, there’s a ton of whorehouses up there,” I assured him, “good ones.”

“They’re close by?”

“Fifteen minutes, tops. Most of them.”

“Okay, but what are the girls like?”

“They’re pretty decent, in fact lots of ‘em are drop-dead beautiful.”

Magic words. Andy got on the phone to George Shapiro, who got on the phone to Harrah’s and made them a counteroffer: Andy would perform, but it would be at their club in Reno.

On September 13, 1979, we held a lavish press conference in the major city nearest Reno: San Francisco. Harrah’s flew reporters in from all over the country, and once the room filled I counted upwards of seventy representatives of the national media. It was all quite civil … then disaster struck. A youthful, longhaired reporter claiming to be from the powerful
Detroit Free Press
stuck up his hand. When Andy made the mistake of calling on him, the man’s attitude spilled out like so much bile.

Apparently incensed by Kaufman’s attempts to “buy” the press with such transparent incentives as free tickets, hotels, and piles of food, the subversive fledgling newshound, who was obviously trying to make a name by assassinating a celebrity, began a rapid-fire series of embarrassing questions that left Andy fumbling for answers.

“Mr. Kaufman, at Carnegie Hall, on December sixteenth and seventeenth of 1978, is it true the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir appeared as part of your show?”

Andy nodded proudly. “Yes, that’s true.”