# Andy Kaufmen and the mystery of Tony Clifton

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufmen-and-the-mystery-of-tony-clifton/227685>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 5, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufmen-and-the-mystery-of-tony-clifton/227685 "2004-02-05T17:10:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufmen-and-the-mystery-of-tony-clifton/227685/21 "2004-02-07T22:54:56Z")

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Is Andy alive? You bet he is. I read something the other day where Kaufman had actually moved to an island in the South Pacific that Elvis has setup for famous people who want to “get away from it all.”  
IIRC Jimmy Hoffa inherited it from Amelia Earhart. Supposedly the same island where she crashed her plane…mm-hmm, remember you heard it hear first.

Some say Hitler even tried to get a place there but they told him to blow. I’m not sure I buy into that story. Everyone knows Hitler came back to the US with Poppy Bush and ran the Zapata Oil Co. after “popping” JFK. 😉

Is Kaufman dead? I’m not really sure he was ever alive.  
BTW **Miller** you should thank **Marley** for the excellent sig.  
**"Meanwhile, Miller is right about everything."** not bad… 😉  
Sorry John, I’m just f\*\*ing w/ ya a little bit. Andy’s dead, RIP. I’m still not sure what it was that I liked about him, until the girl wrestling anyway

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**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufmen-and-the-mystery-of-tony-clifton/227685/22 "2004-02-07T23:38:32Z")

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> [@t-keela](#):
>
> BTW Miller you should thank Marley for the excellent sig.

I would, but I’m not going to use it as a sig. Instead, I plan to link to it next time we’re in a knock-down, drag-out debate on something. “I don’t know what I’m talking about, eh? Well, that’s not what you said here!”

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufmen-and-the-mystery-of-tony-clifton/227685/23 "2004-02-07T23:53:09Z")

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Guess I bought myself some trouble there. 😉 Either way, I think your interpretation of the Andy Kaufman dealie is totally right. It’s a pity this thread had to go on beyond “So, to sum up, Tony Clifton: fictious. Andy Kaufman: dead. You: whooshed hard.”

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**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufmen-and-the-mystery-of-tony-clifton/227685/24 "2004-02-08T01:20:18Z")

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Oh, and might as well correct myself:

“The Tony Clifton character was a guy who was so outrageously unfunny, obnoxious, and offensive, that no one ever knew if they were supposed to be angry or **amused**.”

Although when talking about Tony, “angry or pissed” works, too.

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