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Kenny Kramer, the inspiration for the ``hipster doofus'' Cosmo Kramer in the television comedy series ``Seinfeld,'' poses for a photograph in New York. Kenny Kramer, who lived across the hall from a co-creator of "Seinfeld," has embraced his accidental celebrity with an exuberant bear hug. [AP photo: Adam Nadel] 'Seinfeld' show's end boosts business for real-life Kramer By ERIC DEGGANS ©St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 1998 Fans the world over may mourn the impending end of the show about nothing, but real-life-guy-turned-sitcom-character Kenny Kramer has found a serious silver lining in the announced end of NBC's Seinfeld. Kramer, who served as the real-life inspiration for nutso TV neighbor Cosmo Kramer, has found business at his Kramer's Reality Tour has more than doubled since comic Jerry Seinfeld announced he was pulling the plug on TV's top-rated comedy in May. The media deluge came first, with news organizations practically climbing all over each other to interview Kramer when word leaked of the decision over the Christmas holidays. Now, two years into presenting his weekly, three-hour tours of all the Manhattan landmarks featured in Seinfeld, the shaggy-haired entrepreneur has found bookings filling up faster than ever for his jaunts -- which include a stop by the Soup Nazi's legendary shop (don't call him that, though), Monk's Restaurant and the office building presented as the home of Elaine's one-time workplace, Pendent Publishing. "We usually have a few tickets left by mid-week, but now things are booked at least a week in advance," offers Kramer, 54, who says he won't book more than two shows a week because -- in true Kramer-esque fashion -- "that's too much like work." Content to ride the wave of affection for a show he had nothing to do with creating, the former stand-up comic also has assembled a traveling version of the tour, a T-shirt parodying the one that features the "Kramer" painting and his own website (at http://www.bway.net/kramer/home.html). "As a fan, I'm disappointed, but . . . it's worked out well for me," says Kramer, a self-decribed "media slut" who has appeared everywhere from the Today show to Oprah and also does selected TV product endorsements. "I just show up, kibbitz a while and they pay me," he adds. "What could be better than that?" Business | Citrus | Commentary | Entertainment Hernando | Floridian | Obituaries | Pasco | Sports State | Tampa Bay | World & Nation © Copyright 1998 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.