#93 – I’m From Hollywood – A Tribute to Andy Kaufman
This week we join our old friends at The Awesome 80s Podcast to take a special look at the life of Andy Kaufman and the 1989 Comedy Central documentary. “I”m From Hollywood.” Please support the podcast by visiting flairchop.com where you can buy our tremendous “mail-order wrestling gimmicks” t-shirt, posters, and the box set of our first 50 episodes. You can also get a free OSWP sticker by leaving a comment on the iTunes store.
This episode has been archived. It is available either by ordering the physical “OSWP Season 3 box set” with episodes 76-100 or it can be instantly downloaded in a digital version of the “OSWP Season 3 complete set” with episodes of 76-100. The physical box set will always be our favorite, as it comes with a full color booklet featuring art by our friend Dean Stahl and looks great on your bookshelf next to your coliseum home videos. The instant digital download version also comes with high resolution PDFs of the booklet that you can view on your computer. Both the physical box set and the digital download come with two bonus episodes featuring our reviews of the Clash of the Champions 9 and the Royal Rumble 1988. These episodes have never been available on flairchop.com. But if you only want to hear this one episode, we also offer the option of instantly downloading just the individual episode for a small price.
the king! you guys are in the big leagues now! only a handful of Wrestling legends could top that!
i’d say (ranked by the creativity i think they could bring to your Promo)
5. Mankind
4. Stone Cold
3. Magnificent Muraco
2. Superstar Billy Graham
1. Dusty/Flair/Rowdy Roddy Piper (Tie)
I’m from Hollywood is one of my favorites! My breakfast with Blassie was even better though.
if you guys have not seen it its basically Andy Kaufman going out to Breakfast with Freddy Blassie and just shooting the shit about Wrestling and life in general, a MUST see
MST3K SHOUT OUT!
I didnt see Kaufman get slapped by the king on letterman live, but i definetly saw it on the nightly news of the time and being concerned that Jerry Lawler (who at the time i had not seen wrestle, but i knew him from the magazines) might face some sort of lawsuit.
Great podcast as usual, guys.
Around the 44 minute mark, you were discussing how much Kaufman got paid. On Andy Kaufman’s Wikipedia page, there’s a mention that Jerry Jarrett paid him comparably to what other main-eventers were getting paid in Memphis, but he never cashed the checks.
I remember on the Wrestling Observer podcasts that they said the same thing, Kaufman never cashed a check because, in his reasoning, he wanted to be a pro wrestler since he was a child and didn’t want to get paid for it.
I actually remember seeing this on Comedy Central when I was a kid. I can still vividly remember Kaufman standing in front of a pool or something saying, with a goofy, bucktoothed look on his face, “Is that they way they talk in Memphis, Tennessee?” sounding like a total hayseed. It was great. I wasn’t even alive when this all took place, but it’s one of my most well remembered wrestling memories from my youth. Comedy Central providing childhood wrestling memories, along with every episode of Kids in the Hall and the BBC version of Whose Line Is It Anyway. I watched a lot of Comedy Central as a kid. And the Brady Bunch. Oh my nose.
That rendition of “Andy Always Dreamed of Wrestling” sounded like it was as much fun to sing as it was annoying to listen to.
To be a victim of one of Andy Kaufman’s gags must have been beyond maddening. I heard about a time he was at a grocery store and begged each person in the check out line to let him go ahead of them so he could just buy his cheese and get out of there because he was in a terrible rush. When he made it to the front and it was his turn to check out, he didn’t have any money.
Thanks for the great ep – some fantastic memories. I have to admit, as a kid I watched Breakfast With Blassie, but didn’t appreciate it. Will have to revisit it. But I was a fan of the Kaufman angle when I first saw it during the tape trading days. Everything from USWA always seemed fresh and weird and DIY and low rent and crazy. My favorite from the angle was when Kaufman sang to the crowd (“Oh I’m the king….I’m the king…I’m the king of Memphis Tennesse.”), scatting at the end while Lawler stood bemused in that dirty ring. It was a revelation how much heat Kaufman could generate with the fans, back when I didn’t even know what the term heat meant. Old people screaming, women raising their fists, kids doing that chicken pantomime at Andy. Awesome stuff. (BTW, you guys mentioned that, hypothetically, if a girlfriend of yours wrestled Andy you’d be pissed – Andy got you again, his opponents were surely a work and in on the act….OR WERE THEY!)