The seminal US TV programme, Saturday Night Live, gave an initial leg-up to some big names - John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase - but none bigger (or stranger) than Andy Kaufman. Part performance artist, part prankster, Kaufman was a one-off unique, someone who eschewed orthodox comedy routines in favour of standing in front of an audience singing lines from Walt Disney songs over and over again. More surreal than stand-up, Kaufman's bizarrely imaginative routines soon won him a cult following. Despite his growing fame, Kaufman still worked as a bus-boy in a New York restaurant, and when he wasn't performing he was busy becoming the Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World (a category he invented himself and which saw him defeat over 400 professional female wrestlers over the years).
His only concession to the mainstream was his appearance as the Latka Gravas character in the hit sitcom Taxi. Kaufman died in 1984 at the age of 35 from lung cancer, but such was the bizarreness of his life and times that many of his fans believe he's still alive. Written with the full co-operation of Kaufman's friends and colleagues, Bill Zehme spent six years on this book, and it's about as definitive as they come. And certainly a lot better than the recent biographical film, Man On The Moon, which starred Jim Carrey.
