Kramer’s life is a fluke.

How else could you explain his success with no apparent means of support?

True, he sponges off of his neighbor across the hall. True, he’s an entrepreneur with wild schemes, but half-baked ideas only go so far.

Then again, what about his electric jewelry during the Disco era?

“In the late ’70s, disco tech was all the rage. Everyone was dancing, and I invented these tiny crystals powered by hearing aid batteries that fired ruby-red pin-points of light like laser beams and mounted them with rubber to earrings and other jewelry,” Kenny Kramer said yesterday from his office in New York City.

“They were actually really popular, partly due to the drugs and the lack of light back then. Everyone was buying them. It was a fluke.”

“No soup for you”

For the confused Seinfeld addict, breathe easy because you didn’t miss an episode. Cosmo never created electronic jewelry in the ’70s. Kenny Kramer, the model for Cosmo’s personality, did.

The “fluke” that projected Kramer’s personality into must-see-TV Thursday began in 1977 when Larry David moved in across the hall from Kramer.

The two became best friends.

“We were living in a federal subsidized building for performing artists in New York City, which is a miracle within itself,” Kramer explained.

“We were living at the end of the hall and across from each other just like in the show. We were living as roommates but each had his own apartment. He was always amazed at my life. He thought I was normal and that I’d make a good character on TV, but he’s the maniac neurotic. It [Seinfeld] is really the Larry David story.”

The idea to create a show about nothing began germinating in the minds of comedian Jerry Seinfeld and David during the ’80s. Soon after, David began creating characters out of people from his everyday life.

Kramer was one of his inspirations.

“He’s a hipster dufus,” Kramer said in reference to Cosmo. “His character is loosely based on my lifestyle, my entrepreneurship without any visible means of support, my dating and raging heterosexuality and my hot tubs.

“But Michael Richards [who plays Cosmo] brings the physical characteristics,” Kramer added. “If anyone walked around like that, they’d be in a mental institution.”

In creating other characters, David’s “maniac, neurotic” personality molded into George. Also, David’s “platonic ex-girlfriend” Monica Yates, daughter of writer Richard Yates, “became” Elaine.

“But who’s the real Jerry,” Kramer asked. “That’s the question. Who’s the real Jerry?

“I’m happy to report that the real Jerry is a nice guy,” Kramer continued, trying to answer his own question. “But the Jerry on TV is despicable and lonesome. I mean, he’d break up a couple to get a date or push an old lady out of the way to get a cab. Who’s Jerry?”

Even the “Soup Nazi” was created from the characteristics of someone who sells soup in New York City. Unfortunately, the “Soup Nazi” didn’t find Seinfeld’s portrayal of him as funny as most viewers did.

“I call him the ‘Soup Rat Bastard’ because that’s more politically correct,” Kramer remarked. “He’s a maniac — a sick, demented human. He thinks he made Seinfeld famous but he also thinks Seinfeld ruined him by referring to him as a Nazi. He hates Seinfeld. Now he’s in Florida on the Home Shopping Club selling flash-frozen soup for $19 a pint.”

Kramer Reality Tour

Kramer’s knowledge that he was the inspiration behind Seinfeld’s famous Kramer wasn’t enough to satisfy the entrepreneur-at-heart. He knew there had to be another way to gain public recognition.

“The show didn’t start off as a hit until its fourth season,” Kramer explained. “When I began to noticed how well-liked Kramer was, it dawned on me to cash in on this fluke.”

So he proceeded to create the “Kramer’s New York” CD-Rom, but when he approached companies about producing it, he was told it needed a game/entertainment content. He then changed the focus to a Seinfeld-Realitycheck.

“As I was having this idea, I looked out the window and saw a tour bus,” Kramer said. “There was a flash as I thought about a reality tour, tour both literally and figuratively, and that would be the entertainment portion of the CD-Rom.”

He began working on a deal with the Greyline Bus company — the deal was he could use the bus to help create his reality tour and, in exchange, he would give Greyline promotional mentions.

But the deal fell through, and Kramer resorted to renting a theater and hiring a different bus. A New York Times reporter heard about Kramer’s project.

“One day there was a story on the front of New York Times’ ‘Today’ section,” Kramer said. “It was like a press release. I was B1, above the fold and instantly famous.”

Since then, the “Kramer Reality Tour” has evolutionized into a three-hour multi-media event where Kramer tells what is factual and fantasy on the show and the stories behind the stories.

The tour is highlighted by trips to the locations Seinfeld has made famous.

The “Kramer Reality Tour” itself has become a must for New York tourists. The weekend tour is already booked up until the end of May, and summer availability is going fast.

Media slut

But the “Kramer Reality Tour” isn’t enough for someone who describes himself as a “shameless media slut.” He ran for New York City’s mayor in 1997.

Although he lost the mayoral race, he enhanced his publicity. But that’s not why he ran.

“I saw the Democrat running and she was smart, but every time she talked, she stuck her foot in her mouth,” Kramer said. “And then I saw that the Reverend Al was running for the Republican side, and I realized I could win. They were boring.

“But I quit,” he continued. “It was too much work, and it was to the point where it was serious. I was becoming responsible about what was happening with money, and it was costing me more to have accountants write the reports. I was in the hot sun shaking hands when I should have been on the golf course. I was working hard for a job I didn’t really want.”

The only scrape that Kramer suffered from running for mayor was a lawsuit brought against him from one of his campaign volunteers.

“Volunteers generally don’t get paid,” Kramer said, referring to the ridiculousness of being sued. His trial was handled by Judge Judy and will be aired May 14, the same day the final two-hour episode of Seinfeld will air. “She was more than judicious,” he said.

Speaking of the last Seinfeld episode … Kramer won’t. “I signed a deposition that I wouldn’t say anything about the last episode, but I’m prepared to spill the beans for the right kind of money, but I doubt your paper has it.”

In honor of the last Seinfeld episode, Kramer will be presenting a special “Seinfeld Send-Off” tonight at 8 in the Great Hall, Memorial Union.

Kramer’s appearance at Iowa State is co-sponsored by the Student Union Board and Lectures Committee. “It’s public service,” Kramer said. “You’ll save on air-fare and hotel costs.”

Like the episode, Kramer won’t give away any of the details of his presentation, but said it will include rare video footage, anecdotes and backstage insights.

The send-off is free and open to the public.

Giddy-up.