"Me and Andy Kaufman"
I attended the now defunct Graham Junior College and studied radio and TV broadcasting.
Muffler, a kid from my hometown, attended Graham as well. I ran into him after the holidays and he told me that I had to meet his new dorm roomie. I said I would visit.. Both our dorms were in Kenmore Sq.
The next week I paid him a visit. Soon after I arrived, someone walked into the room.
"Bob, this is Andy. Andy, this is Bob from Northbridge".
Suddenly this guy was right up in my face (he was a bit taller) and talked excitedly of his college station TV show. I told him about mine.
His big blues were staring at me a few inches from my face.
His name was Andy Kaufman.
Oh, there's more....
Me and Andy Kaufman II
So, Andy Kaufman enlisted a fellow student, Al Paranello, to manage him. Al was in the same dorm as me and had heard me sing my originals. He approached me and asked if I would open for Andy every Friday night in our student union.
So I agreed and the weeks saw me singing in front of a good crowd while Andy did his Transcendental meditation on a floor above before his set.
His comedy knocked us for a loop, and had us literally on the floor laughing.
I would run into him in Kenmore Sq. My girlfriend, Stephanie, would crack up as Andy got right in my face and talked about special one man shows he came up with and performed aside from our weekly performances.
Mind you, he never heard my music. "Al Paranello says you're really good", he would often say.
Each week Andy and I would tape our school station TV shows having played the previous night. We would wait out in the hallway and watch Andy in his "Uncle Andy's Fun House" show. They always ran late and we would just have to wait.
So, some years later, I started seeing him on NBC. Saturday Night Live was where he did the same skits as he did in college.
One night when I was off from playing in my band, Strings Attached, I ran into Andy in front of the Harvard Coop.
I mentioned seeing him on TV.
"Did you see me on SNL when I cried on Candice Bergen's shoulder", he asked.
"No, Andy", I replied.
He proceeded to do the entire skit in my face, crying on my shoulder at the end.
Parting, he said, "Al Paranello said you're really good". 