funny, funny world

Although he tears up when he sees clips of his comedy sketches, Stanley Kaufman admits that his son, Andy Kaufman, was difficult to handle growing up. He ran away from home. He didn’t do well in school. His hair was “down to his hips.”

But one day, he gave his father a copy of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road. “That moment was my awakening as to who Andy was and what he was trying to say,” Kaufman said Tuesday night at Caroline’s Comedy Club midtown Manhattan, where amateur comedian Blaine Kneece received the fifth annual Andy Kaufman Award and $2,500.

The competition—named for the New York-born comedian, who died 25 years ago—featured six finalists, each given eight minutes to woo the judges. But a few acts were interrupted by the show’s chain-smoking emcee, Tony Clifton, who was eventually asked to leave. A lounge-singing character created by Kaufman and known for outrageous outbursts, Clifton was often played by other people even when Kaufman was alive.

Some audience members questioned whether the scene, which included a shouting match and the emptying of a glass, was scripted.

But Kaufman’s daughter, Maria Colonna, compared her father’s work to that of Sacha Baron Cohen, another actor known for bringing controversial characters to life.

She said her father would be honored to know there’s a comedy award in his name. “But at the same time,” she said, “I’m sure he’d play some little trick on us.”

Al Parinello, executive director of The Andy Kaufman Award ceremony, was a good friend to the comedian. In college, Parinello paid Kaufman $5 to perform in a coffee house. Like most of Kaufman’s work that followed, the performance shocked the audience. But as alternative comedy has taken center stage, work like Kaufman’s—known to make audiences uncomfortable—has gained in popularity. Every week, 125,000 YouTube viewers request an Andy Kaufman video, Parinello said.

Parinello and Kaufman’s brother, Michael Kaufman, spent two months pouring over 100 videos submitted by amateur comedians from 15 states. They narrowed their selection to 25 contestants, who performed Monday night. Six were chosen for Tuesday’s finale, where judges included Flight of the Conchords actress and Kaufman Award winner Kristen Schaal; Kaufman’s manager, George Shapiro; and Michael Kaufman.

“We look for people who will take risks—unprecedented risks in some cases,” Parinello said, giving a nod to comics who incorporate costumes and technology into their performance. Tuesday’s winner, Kneece, used iPods and video. Another finalist, Eric Davis, wore a red, spandex jumpsuit filled with inflated objects.

Before the comedians performed, the audience watched a video featuring some of Kaufman’s more memorable moments: among them, a conga drum skit, an Elvis impersonation and his curse-laden appearance on the David Letterman Show.

“Looking at this video, I’m even amazed at how much Andy created in the short time he was with us,” said Michael Kaufman. “It’s given people freedom to do things they might not have otherwise done.”

George Shapiro, Kaufman’s manager and a producer of the award-winning television series Seinfeld, said the first time he saw him perform, the audience seemed uncomfortable.

“He’s the most original—not only performer, but I think the most original person I ever met in my life,” Shapiro said. “My only concern was, as a manager, am I dealing with someone totally insane?”

After the finalists performed, Carol Kaufman-Kerman introduced a song her brother performed at the end of many skits: Friendly, Friendly World. Her brother’s routines were out-of-the-box, she said—but at the end, he usually tied the knots.

“No matter how far he brought you,” she said with a smile, “he always brought you back to that safe place at the end.”