Alexander Jacob "Sandy" Gutman (born 17 March 1954), better known as Austen Tayshus, is an American-born Jewish Australian comedian.
At 15, he participated in the International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth in Australia and won, and then took part in the finals in Israel, where he finished in the top 10.
From 1979 to 1980 he freelanced as a camera assistant and cinematographer on film clips for Aussie bands including Cold Chisel, The Angels, and Mental as Anything.
[citation needed] In 1984, Tayshus released the single "Phantom Shuffle", which rose to number 16 nationally on the Aria Chart, followed by his debut album When the Ticklers Stopped Quivering, which also peaked within The Australian top 100.
He had a small cameo in the Sharon Stone movie Sliver, directed by mate and fellow film school alumnus Phillip Noyce.
He auditioned for movies including Ace Ventura Pet Detective and Clear and Present Danger His stay in Los Angeles culminated in a collaboration on a low-budget feature film titled Dream Factory, which he co-wrote with the Director Paschal Franchot, and was lead actor.
When the director, Paul Fenech, jumped up to claim the award, to everyone's surprise, saying there was no Laura Feinstein, it created great controversy.
The Tropfest win led directly to work on the Jane Campion film Holy Smoke!, Emma-Kate Croghan's Strange Planet and Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!.
His segment was an historical journey about his father's Holocaust experiences in Poland, from his hometown of Łódź, to the death camp Treblinka, to his rescue from Bergen Belsen.
It is an emotional and deeply moving double header tracing Isaac Gutman's life from 1939 to 1945, when most of his family was murdered by the Germans just for being Jewish.
In July 2000, Tayshus released "Footyana", a comedy piece in the style of "Australiana", referring to Australian rules football and the National Rugby League.
[5] He subsequently ran in the 2011 New South Wales state election as a member of the Outdoor Recreation Party, contesting Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell's seat of Ku-ring-gai.