THE KAYFABE REPORT

In this report I talk about..........

-the history of professional wrestling and how it went from a war-time sport to a carnival-inspired form of theater called kayfabe (0:00 - 16:29)

-Andy Kaufman's wrestling-inspired career, how he used babyface and heel characters to get his audience to question the line between fiction and reality (16:30 - 44:43)

-3 tiers of transgression and where Andy Kaufman's work fits among them (44:44 - 54:32)

my favorite writing I came across:

1. Lost in The Funhouse: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman by Bill Zehme

The reason you'll see this book referenced by alllll the other books written about Kaufman is because this is the best biography of Kaufman written! It's super detailed without being boring. It seamlessly combines hundreds of different interviews with the people around Kaufman and their primary sources into one cohesive voice. If you're going to read one book about Kaufman check this out.

2. Ringside: A History of Professional Wrestling in America by Scott Beekman

A concise history from America's beginnings to present day McMahondom. The author does a great job gleaning the best insights from academic writing without falling victim to tangents or moralizing. It moved from era to era of wrestling with a consistent grasp of what made each different and the people who defined them. 

3. Andy Kaufman: Wrestling With the American Dream by Florian Keller

There are some great insights in here about censorship and Kaufman's work in general ....if you can handle the theoryspeak/PhD-thesis paper elbow patch style of writing. But it's good!

4. I'm From Hollywood by Lynne Margulies and Joe Orr

A documentary made by Kaufman's widow about his life as a professional wrestler. It features interviews with Kaufman's comedy friends that never reveal his performance as a work, each offering their "heartfelt concerns" about Andy's safety and mental health during his kayfabe feud hehe. I'm guessing media rights precluded them from being able to include too much from the Letterman appearance (much like how WWE-owned media rights stopped me from uploading this video to youtube) but the doc gives a complete picture of their entire feud from start to finish, with clips of ALL the promos and matches. Highly recommended.

5. Andy Kaufman FULL video archive on Youtube as one convenient playlist

Can't get any better than watching the real thing.

6. The Art of the Heel by Mike Edison

My favorite of all the "politics is like wrestling nowadays" articles that connects kayfabe to the mango stained shitgibbon who used to rub cheetoh dust on his little hands in the oval office. xD