The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del CloseChicago Review Press, 2008 M04 1 - 416 pages Nichols and May. John Belushi. Bill Murray. Chris Farley. Tina Fey. Mike Myers. Stephen Colbert. For nearly a half century, Del Close—cocreator of the Harold, director for the Second City, San Francisco's the Committee, and the ImprovOlympic, and “house metaphysician” for Saturday Night Live—influenced improvisational theater's greatest comedic talents. His students went on to found the Groundlings in Los Angeles, the Upright Citizens Brigade in both New York and Los Angeles, and the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago. But this Pied Piper of improv has gone largely unrecognized outside the close-knit comedy community. Del was never one to let the truth of his life stand in the way of a good story—and yet the truth is even more fascinating than the fiction. In his early years, he traveled the country with Dr. Dracula's Den of Living Nightmares, knew L. Ron Hubbard before Scientology, and appeared in The Blob. Del cavorted with the Merry Pranksters, used aversion therapy to recover from alcoholism, and kicked a cocaine habit with the help of a coven of witches. And when he was dying, Del bequeathed his postmortem skull to the Goodman Theatre for use in its productions of Hamlet—a final legend that lives on, long beyond the death of the father of long-form improvisation. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 44
... included eclectic titles, with war comics, Classics Illustrated, and even some horror titles. The other boys would collect soda pop bottles to buy traditional superhero titles like Batman, Green Lantern, and Blackhawk, but they were ...
... included an excerpt from Hamlet . Del explained that they had needed a skull and had decided the best place to get one was a graveyard . They entered , broke into a crypt , and opened a casket , he told his friends . The skeleton was ...
... included such future luminaries as Edward Asner , Elaine May , Barbara Harris , Byrne Piven , and eventual Second City cofounder Paul Sills . It was the beginning of a theatrical tradition that would give birth to the Compass Players ...
... included the commedia bit played New York , Theodore J. Flicker , who was casting for the St. Louis version of the Compass theatre , saw it and hired Hardin and myself . ( Hardin later dropped out . ) Primarily because we improvised in ...
... included Ryan , Jerry Hardin , Richard McKenzie , Marcie Hubert , Annette Hunt , and Del . Nine by Six opened at the Barter in mid - 1956 , and went over extremely well with audiences . There were nine scenes in the piece , including ...
Contents
1 | |
22 | |
36 | |
44 | |
62 | |
77 | |
7 Stongehenge and a Skate Through the Sewers | 95 |
8 The Merry Pranksters and My Mother the Car | 109 |
17 The ImprovOlympic | 239 |
18 Roaches in the Dental Floss | 251 |
19 The Return of the Harold the Barons Barracudas and Charna | 267 |
20 The Brain of the Galaxy | 285 |
21 Chris Farley The Blob and Farewell to Second City | 300 |
22 Workshops Reunions and the Family | 316 |
23 Close Youve Gone Sane | 331 |
24 The Party | 350 |
With the Committee in San Francisco | 118 |
10 The Birth of Harold Spidering and a Pornographic Western | 132 |
11 Pretty Much a Blur | 153 |
Belushi and the Bean Can | 165 |
13 Valium Vitriol and Ancient Egyptian Opium | 175 |
14 The Clockwork Orange Treatment | 193 |
15 Junkies Give the Best Shots | 208 |
16 Saturday Night Live Tennessee Williams and the Cleanup | 220 |
25 Curtain Call | 364 |
Bibliography | 376 |
Notes | 377 |
Interviews | 386 |
Acknowledgments | 389 |
Works of Del Close | 393 |
Index | 410 |
Other editions - View all
The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close Kim Johnson No preview available - 2008 |