Nearly eight months after his racist stand-up rant, Michael Richards isn't treading the typical celebrity path of endless made-for-TV mea culpas or posh rehab. No, the erstwhile Kramer is definitely taking the road less traveled.
The one that leads to Cambodia.
The former Seinfeld star says he has given up comedy to "feel myself out" during a sojourn to South Asia.
"That night, when I was insulted and disrupted, I lost my heart; I lost my sense of humor," he told the Los Angeles Times from the Asian nation. "I've retired from that. I'm taking time off to... get to know myself and appreciate other people."
The 57-year-old arrived in the city of Siem Reap June 29 with his fiancée, actress Beth Skipp. The two were accompanying a contingent from the Los Angeles-based Nithyananda Foundation, which adheres to the teachings of its namesake, a 29-year-old Hindu monk.
Richards, however, told the Times that while he attended spiritual seminars from the Nithyananda group during his visit, he was not a full-fledged member.
"I'm not a part of the group," he said. "I'm not a devotee...I don't wear club jackets or belong to organizations of this nature," Richards said. "I do my own personal work. We came to see this amazing country.
"I listened in," he said of the seminars, "but often my fiancée and I went on our own, to feel the temples in our own way. They're magnificent structures. It's great to just be in them and watch time go by. We'll probably be back."
He also denied that his trip abroad was any sort of "karmic rehab" for the Laugh Factory outburst last November that led to his very public fall from grace.
"No, I've been doing other personal work since [the incident]," he said. "I'm trying to learn to enjoy myself."
Aside from a misguided attempt to address his actions during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Richards has largely been out of the public eye since video of his routine gone wrong hit the Interent.
Although Richards says he isn't actively seeking a spiritual awakening through the trip, which will also encompass Thailand, that doesn't mean he's beyond having any epiphanies.
"Life is not always about us or making people laugh," he said. "I'm trying to understand the humanity that I am, that I belong to. So, in that sense, I'm part of a group: humanity.
"What constitutes spirituality is heart. Making people laugh is something else—I did Seinfeld for 10 years—it lightens things up, helps people enjoy the world they live in more. I've had people call me from hospital beds and tell me, 'That Kramer character got me through it. Thanks.' It's pretty simple, you know, the feeling of opening yourself up to others," he told the Times.
"When you're right there at that living connection, that's spiritual."