Thank You Very Much

Florida Premiere

With his gonzo, boundary-shattering comedy, Andy Kaufman provoked and often outraged audiences. For those who got the joke, that outrage was the very point; Kaufman’s genius was in making people confront their own presumptions. The American cult comedian revolutionized the genre forever in the 70s, changing not only the rules of modern entertainment, but how we perceive ourselves and each other. Now through never-before-seen archival footage and intimate recollections of friends, colleagues, and family members including Danny DeVito, James L. Brooks, Laurie Anderson, Marilu Henner, and Steve Martin, filmmaker Alex Braverman excavates the all-too-short life and career of the enigmatic legend whose impact is felt all the more today with the blurring of artifice and reality that defines our present age.

Who was Andy Kaufman? Was he a comic, an affable sitcom star, a washed-up lounge singer, a busboy, a professional wrestler, a hoaxer, a provocateur, or a pest? Nearly 40 years after his supposed death, one question still puzzles fans and haters alike: was he for real? Produced by Josh & Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems) and winner of the Best Documentary Award at the Venice Film Festival, Thank You Very Much is an endlessly fascinating trip into the mind of the Houdini of humor and the definitive film looking at how a shy, oddball Jewish kid from Long Island, New York, became the most polarizing performance artist of the 20th century.