I remember seeing Andy Kaufman on TV before he started playing Latka on Taxi. He came out to perform on Van Dyke and Company, Dick Van Dyke’s variety show that didn’t last long in the Fall of 1976. Andy appeared as a strange foreign man who said very stilted jokes that didn’t make sense. But then he did a wild transformation and performed as Elvis Presley. Keep in mind that Elvis Presley was still alive at this time so there weren’t hundreds of Elvis impersonators. After doing a perfect Elvis, he reverts back to the foreign guy and says, “Thank you very much.” Kaufman’s performance was bizarre and completely captivated me even if I was still in elementary school. I wanted to see more of him and was happy when he popped up on the cast of Taxi. Thank You Very Much appears to have that moment at the start of the documentary along with so much footage of his twisted brand of comedy.
Andy goes on The Dating Game and stuns the bachelorette by not understanding her Santa question. He then gets upset when she doesn’t pick him because he answered all the questions. They have Andy’s screentest for Saturday Night Live in 1975. He recites the opening to the Superman TV show. While he isn’t picked for the cast, Andy gets to perform on the first episode doing his Mighty Mouse lip synch bit. Steve Martin and Melanie Chartoff gets into the comedy of Andy “waiting” on screen. Director Alex Braverman and the crew found the footage of Andy in the peanut gallery for Howdy Dowdy to go with the time Andy interviewed the wooden cowboy superstar on his bizarre TV special.
The film probes the worse part of Andy’s childhood that seemed to define his brand of humor. When his grandfather died, his parents said the guy has gone on a world trip and didn’t drop by the house to say goodbye. This trauma leads to him doing magic and songs at children’s parties to keep from missing his travelling grandfather. He ends up running around from home, living in a New York City Park and doing bad things around 1967. But he finds Transcendental meditation. We get video of Andy asking the Maharishi about entertainment and the nature of comedy. Later we meet the guy that Andy based his Foreign Man character after. Even Orson Welles couldn’t grill it out of Andy at the time. James L. Brooks explains how he wanted Andy for the role of Latka on Taxi. Marilou Henner also talks about working with Andy. There is footage of the time Andy worked as the busboy at Jerry’s Deli while the show is a hit. There’s also highlights from his performance at Carnegie Hall in 1979. This includes a guest performer who had a heart attack on stage. Did she really die up there? Then he took the audience out for milk and cookies afterward. Andy’s alter ego Tony Clifton appears. To play the character, Andy bulks up, goes all sleazy showbiz and becomes a massive jerk to everyone. The audience doesn’t dig the semi-bitter Tony Clifton. Zmuda talks about how Andy would vanish into Tony Clifton as a complete personality for days. It was a split personality. We learn why Tony Clifton didn’t appear on Taxi. There’s audio of Judd Hirsh refusing to act with Tony. Laurie Anderson talks about being Andy’s co-conspirator in doing live routines on unsuspecting people in public. Later she would go into clubs as a heckler who would beat him up on stage. This led to Andy Kaufman wrestling women for real. He did this on Saturday Night Live. We see how his routines get more into violence including his breakdown on Fridays with Michael Richards and Jack Burns. This leads to the showdown with Jerry Lawler. There’s footage from the classic Breakfast With Blassie. Things go downhill for Andy as he’s banned from Saturday Night Live and Taxi gets canceled. Then he gets the worst news in 1984. When he dies, the press and people think it’s just a put on. Carol Kane poked Andy’s corpse at the funeral. Bob Zmuda gets into how him and Andy once discussing him faking his death. Was this a routine?
About over a decade ago, I was invited out to Dennis Hof’s Bunny Ranch for his birthday party. During our interviews, Hof spoke of being pals with Andy Kaufman and how they’d hang out at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. Andy was supposedly the one who told him that he should buy the place. I had always wondered if this was a tale Hof told to get good quotes. I was glued to any Andy story. But during the weekend long party, I found myself hanging with Bob Zmuda. I didn’t want to talk his ear off asking questions about Andy. I did ask him, “How can I tell if you’re playing Tony Clifton or Andy?” He gave me a smile to let me know that he was keeping some of Andy’s secrets.
Thank You Very Much gets a bit under the surface as to why I found myself glued to Andy Kaufman as a kid and bummed out that he died before I got out of high school. The notable routines are all here. The highlights of his life are properly presented. Sure you can watch Jim Carrey play Andy in Man On The Moon, but you’re getting the recreated bits. The documentary shows how Andy was able to be so unconventional and end up on network TV. We also witness how things fell apart. Thank You Very Much is the documentary about Andy Kaufman that I’ve been waiting for. The only thing it is missing is Andy popping up after the end credits to announce he faked his death. Maybe I need to poke around the disc to see if it’s an Easter Egg.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The documentary features a mix of ’70s and ’80s standard def video with 35mm clips and recent HDTV video. The Audio is DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0. They’ve done a great job getting the vintage video to sound good. The movie is subtitled.
Extra Footage (20:05) contains more black and white video of Andy shot by Richard Beymer (Twin Peaks & West Side Story). Andy plays piano and duets. Then we get color footage of Andy on stage at the Hollywood Improv. He breaks out a copy of the West Side Story soundtrack. He brings on Richard Beymer for his “Hollywood Has Been Corner.” Andy and Richard sound like they’re going to get into a fight. Richard claims he hasn’t worked in 15 years because he’s looking for the right role. Richard’s also been making is own movies on Super8. The actor then sings “Maria” very sadly and performs the mic drop.
Productions Stills (2:25) are photos from Andy’s life along with interview subjects. There’s also a picture of Andy’s tombstone.
Theatrical Trailer (2:22) has the great clips of Andy on stage and in the wrestling ring.
Drafthouse Films present Thank You Very Much. Directed by Alex Braverman. Starring Andy Kaufman, Danny DeVito, Steve Martin, Marilou Henner and Bob Zmuda. Rating: Unrated. Running Time: 100 minutes. Release Date: December 16, 2025.
