Trev mourns the loss of his friend Andy Kaufman (no, not that one)

We met at Great Adventure when he was a juggling clown and I was in charge of making sure the garbage cans were empty. We dated the same girl at different times and later laughed about it.

To know Andy Kaufman was to laugh. He lit up a room with his laughter, and that's not all he lit up which made things even funnier. He was our social director, taking us on road trips to Coney Island, Yes, Peter Frampton, Gary Wright at JFK, and countless parties.

When the Mets opened their season in 1987 after winning the World Series the year before, Andy picked me up at the YSP studios at 10 a.m. and we drove to Shea to see the home opener against the Pirates followed by a trip back to Coney Island for Nathan's. Later when I was invited by Great Adventure to ride the (at the time) new Batman ride, I took him with me and we walked in like we were setting the clocks back.
Later as I got into stand-up, Andy helped me write jokes and was bitten by the bug himself. I'll never forget putting him on stage at Catch A Rising Star and seeing the fun both he and the audience were having.

When he moved to Colorado and became a teacher, all I could think of was "Welcome Back, Kaufman." He moved those kids like he moved his baseball teammates, like he moved all of us. He came to visit me with his son, Max, whom I remember how overjoyed he was telling me when he was born. We hung and laughed and he cracked my children up.

So when I read that he had posted "F$%k Cancer," I was shocked and afraid until he told me he would beat it. You know, I honestly believed him because I never saw Andy Kaufman set his mind to something and not accomplish it. As he continued to both tell and text me how well he was doing, all I could feel was relief, until he died peacefully in his sleep Sunday night.

There isn't anyone who's ever known Andy that doesn't have stories like these. and I'm sure that there isn't anyone who wouldn't join me in Andy's refrain "F$*K CANCER!!!!" You took away my friend and you don't get to do that! You won't. Not now, not ever! Rest in peace my friend, I'm sure you're already making them laugh!

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