The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del CloseChicago Review Press, 2008 M04 1 - 416 páginas 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. |
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... hired the youth , who was likely in the right place at the right time . “ We didn't recruit people , " Newton said . " We had Card and his wife and one assis- tant . The first assistant was a friend of mine who we had done a double act ...
... hired , along with Mike Nichols , and the two of them joined the company in Chicago at the same time . In the interim , Del was touring with the Barter . After his first sea- son , Del traveled to New Orleans during a hiatus to eat fire ...
... hired Hardin and myself . ( Hardin later dropped out . ) Primarily because we improvised in a style obviously not " method . " ( He'd never seen anyone impro- vise before , it turned out , or he might not have been so enthusiastic ...
... hired by Theodore J. Flicker for a new company of Compass Players , to be based in St. Louis . The exact circumstances remain unclear . Del thought that Flicker had come to see Nine by Six one evening , possibly at the instigation of ...
... hired to open for the Kingston Trio , who were riding the crest of a wave of hit records at that time . Hugh Romney , a stand - up comic and a friend of Brent and Darden ( and later to become famous as Wavy Gravy ) , called the Kingston ...
Contenido
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 |
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close Kim Johnson Sin vista previa disponible - 2008 |