"Andy's Writings"
(from the andykaufman newsgroup)
 
 

For your enjoyment here's...

"GOD...and other plays" - A Primer:

For his one-man play, "God" Andy developed what could be construed as a
stream-of-consciousness technique during portions of his tale of a fictitious
god and the fantasy kingdom that surrounds Him. The work exhibits remarkable
means of character portrayal, combining it with the use of mimicry of speech
and the parody of literary styles as an overall method. Similar to "The Huey
Williams Story", "God" is written in the form of an interrupted series of
dreams. Symbolizing all humanity, the main character, Tinctured Puncture, his
friends, and his acquaintances blend, as characters do in dreams, with one
another and with various historical and mythical figures.

Strangely, a character named, Larry Prescott, is an allegorical figure
representing Elvis Presley.

Judged on it's own merit, "God" is little more than the inspired(?) work of a
freshman in a junior college Creative Writing class. But to devoted fans of
Andy Kaufman, this story will probably make them smile, look at each other
and nod knowingly, trading in the coinage of this simple tale -
acknowledging a shared passion.

Andy's love and devotion to Jack Kerouac, Hubert Selby and other "Beats" are
present throughout "God". Many of the pages flow with the thump of
free-flowing prose. Some of his word-play rings true to the sounds of
improvisational jazz.

Like his hero Kerouac, Andy's writings are forged and popularized in a
jazz-flavor. It is a rebellious and personalized style of prose and it is
best enjoyed as a performance piece and not as a stand-alone work of
fictional writing.

And as Gina would say, "hee-hee-hee-hee-hee."

And float they did...
As mentioned by others, Zilch Publishing will make "GOD...and other plays"
and "Poetry and Stories" available after March 1, 2000.

In a previous message ("GOD" - A Primer dated January 25, 2000), we outlined
Andy's "GOD" (his one-man play) which he created as a performance piece, a
story designed to be performed rather than read.

(Andy did "GOD" twice at a college coffeehouse and never performed it
again.)

Here is more background behind Andy Kaufman's "GOD"

As many of you know by now, Andy loved Elvis and even wrote Elvis a fan
letter (offering to drive Elvis' limo for the summer - just in case Elvis'
chauffeur wanted to take a vacation).  Eventually Andy hitchhiked to Las
Vegas to meet his idol.  When he finally did (surprising The King by coming
out of a walk-in cupboard as Elvis and his entourage walked by) he thrust a
book his idol and said, "Mister Presley, I wrote this book about you..."

The book in Andy's hand was "GOD."

"GOD" is an amusing and irreverent tale that includes a character who is
patterned after Elvis Presley.  Andy even mentions Elvis by name:

"Oh a stately mountain high"
"U-uh-huh"
in a low, deep, Elvis Presley type voice.
"Deep in the heart of the Rockies?"

In Andy's "GOD" Larry Prescott is the Elvis Presley character who (like Andy
before him) drove a delivery truck and drank beer.  Larry's triumphant
appearance on coast-to-coast television (which includes censors concerns
over Larry's wigglin' hips), where his awesome "Hound Dog" blows everyone's
minds, sets the tone for things to come, culminating in God's wrath against
the earth for trying to build an unauthorized "Heaven" on the Earth.
Actually, little bellbottomed Gina ("tee-hee-hee") pisses the God-man off by
yanking on his beard.

Andy=Larry=Elvis?

Manny  Mackelblatt=Colonel Parker?

Larry's success skyrockets him to fame and fortune.  He partners with other
investors and has the Atlantic Ocean drained in order to build an immense
amusement/theme park called, "Heaven, the Place of Paradise."

This heaven on earth includes multiple attractions and several layers.
Access to each layer is controlled by the amount of money the visitor has.
Many of the theme areas are high-tech and therefore cost a lot to produce.

"Of course, to get the most out of Heaven, the idea is to walk from the
outer layer to the center, and as you walk, everything gets bigger and
better..."

Larry meets God at the center of the park where Larry gives his daily
concerts in front of millions of visitors.  God (despite his bad back) is
inspired by Larry's performance and belts out his own song.

God's voice begins the book (and several chapters) with shouts of
pseudo-spiritual dogma and old southern dialect.

Interesting note:  The town of Auburndale (featured at length in Andy's "The
Huey Williams Story") is mentioned quite often in the early pages.  Andy's
"GOD" was completed many years before "Huey" ever began, and yet places and
events seem to reappear as common throughout his work.

Andy's "GOD" is storytelling interspersed with religious mythologizing,
modern lyric poetry, and Andy's patented wordplay.  Portions of "GOD"
feature Andy's post-Beat style poetry with characters, Tinctured Puncture
and Gina of cute flying bellbottom fame floating.

Just floating.

Excerpt follows:

Floated through. Float.  Floating. And floated some more.

Tinctured Puncture.  Floating. Just floating around.  Tinctured Puncture.
                   Floating.  Just straight.  Not stopping.

Tinctured Puncture.  Floating. Just.  Open arms.  Tinctured Puncture.  Just
floating. Around. Tinctured just floated.  Around.  In kind of a bored daze.

God waited as Tinctured floated away.  Tinctured floated around the
amusement park looking for Gina.  His float wasn't as pure as it had been.

Came the sunshine. Awaken. Awoke.  Tinctured Puncture.  Floated. Just.  Andy
they flew--together.  Gina started to fly.  Tinctured started to float but
fell.  Gina reached out and took him in her arms.  He held her tight as she
flew.  And when he was ready, he let go of her and started to float.  And he
took her hand.  And they flew away together.

THE END.