Everybody Loves Andy

Yet he still can't pay his rent

by Ben Kharakh

Andy Kindler's been marketing himself since he was 7. He's appeared on The Daily Show, The Late Show With David Letterman and played Raymond's writer friend Andy on Everybody Loves Raymond. The New York-born comic says he's thankful for what he has because he had it rough as a kid. "I grew up middle class. Had everything I needed. Had my own room. It wasn't as easy as I'm describing it," he says. "It was easier."

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City Paper: Tell me about your book deal.

Andy Kindler: I'm signed with a literary agent to write a book, but it's one of those things that I had to push to the back burner. I'm trying to get a DVD out there soon through Aspecialthing Records. I'd like to write a book, it's just, will I have time? Will I be able to pay the rent? Will I be able to take over the world?

CP: Is paying the rent something that you have to worry about?

AK: Yeah. That doesn't seem right, does it? I was a recurring character on a hit show, but if I had been a regular on it I'd be sitting in a silk robe right now, smoking a cigar and eating caviar with a spoon while looking at a Ferrari. There's no job stability for me, but since I've been doing stuff for Letterman over the last couple years, I've been getting more roadwork.

CP: If you had a lot of money, what would you do with it?

AK: I've become crazy about sushi. I'd probably eat sushi three times a week and that would run me $300. Then I'd probably buy a house, as opposed to rent. That'd be cool. I'd buy a skipper's hat. I would love to light my cigars with $100 bills. I'd also strip down, but not completely naked, get the wife involved, and then we'd roll around in the money.

CP: Do you think you'd become a patron of the arts?

AK: I paint myself. I draw and do watercolors. Maybe I'd purchase my own art first.

CP: Like the Andy Kindler comics on your Web site?

AK: I just got an Internet award: "Longest Running Website Without Any Changes." It's a new award. My favorite part is where you click a link and it says, "This page is not up yet."

CP: Do you enjoy comics?

AK: I'm a huge comic book fan, but not superheroes. I like Daniel Clowes, Harvey Kurtzman, Harvey Pekar. I'm from the doodle movement, which was very popular in the '50s. It started in grade schools where kids would doodle on their books. I'm one of the foremost people in that movement.

CP: Did you have a recurring character in your doodles?

AK: As a young child, I was always thinking, "Can I come up with a character that later I can market?" Also, when I was 7, I'd walk around my house and say to people, "I hope that you're enjoying the Andy Kindler Brand." I was trying to brand myself at a very young age. To be serious, I was cubist, but not Cubist. I would draw cubes. Draw a square, draw another square inside of it, and then you connect the lines. I thought that was great.

ANDY KINDLER, Thu., April 12, 8 p.m., $15; Fri., April 13, 8 and 10:30 p.m., $20; Sat., April 14, 8 and 10:30 p.m., $25, Helium Comedy Club, 2031 Sansom St., 215-496-9001, www.heliumcomedy.com