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THE SCOOP for March 8, 1999
___________________________
Del Close
A Fellow Of Infinite Jest
� 1999 Bob Harris
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[] = italics
Del Close died this week.
If you have laughed out loud anytime in the last thirty or forty years,
chances are Del touched your life.
The world will not be as cool without him.
__________
Del Close was one of the early performers and directors who helped create
the venerated Second City improvisational comedy troup in Chicago. And as
a creative guru to various Saturday Night Live casts, Del influenced
entire generations of performers, from John Belushi and Bill Murray to
Chris Farley and Mike Myers.
You may not recognize his name, but Del was at least partly responsible
for a large percentage of what you probably think is insightful and funny.
The name of Del's textbook was [Truth In Comedy.] Convinced of an abiding
and inherent human compassion, he taught that your richest, finest
connection with an audience comes not when you go for an easy joke, but
when you mine the deepest parts of your soul, wrestle with your emotions,
and speak with total candor.
Whether playing a character in a scene or engaging in direct monologue,
Del taught militant, unflinching honesty, believing that audiences would
recognize their own frailties and fears and react accordingly -- with a
laughter every bit as deep and honest as the performance itself.
__________
This was a revolutionary idea thirty years ago, when live comedy consisted
largely of guys named Shecky doing set-up, punchline, set-up, punchline,
thank you, drive safely.
If you think about it, that kind of comedy -- which as the 1980s
demonstrated, capuchin monkeys and Andrew Dice Clay can do passably well
-- is inherently conservative. It's not easy to engender empathy and
challenge prejudices in ten words or less, so stand-up tends to play to
the audience's assumptions. Which is why so many comics play to base
impulses and obvious stereotypes.
Del would throw you out of class for that. Del would rather see you work
through a half-dozen honest moments -- even uncomfortable ones, which are
often still amusing as hell -- for one insightful laugh than get a score
of Shecky laughs.
I went through the Calendar section of my Sunday paper to see how much
Del's influence is felt in film comedy today.
"Analyze This" was directed by Harold Ramis. "Rushmore" features Bill
Murray. Both are Second City alumni who readily acknowledge Del's
influence. And consciously or not, Julia Sweeney's "God Said Ha!" and "20
Dates" by Myles Berkowitz also exeplify Del's guiding principle of
trusting honesty and openness to lead to a deeper laugh.
Ironically -- given that Del's own film career was little more than a
series of bit parts, sometimes in surprisingly cheesy movies -- literally
half of the comedies onscreen right now (or anytime), including pretty
much all the cool ones, would not be what they are without Del Close's
influence.
__________
He also had a phenomenal resum� of countercultural contacts. Beyond
knowing half the comedy world, Del did experimental theatre in San
Francisco in the late '60s, ran with Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey, and
produced light shows for the Grateful Dead.
But more than just a gadfly, Del was a genuine subversive, in the best
sense of the word.
Del didn't consciously try to change anyone's political ideas in the way
you or I normally imagine such things: protests and placards and parades
in the street.
Instead, and to much greater effect, Del's work simply liberated the
creative spirits of his students and audiences. The cardinal rule of
improvisation is to "yes, and" -- which means to agree with any premise,
no matter how absurd, and then follow and amplify it, working with fellow
players who will "yes, and" any idea of yours.
Implicit in this exercise is the obliteration of the superego, a voluntary
abolition of internal authority. It's a magnificent creative tool. And
as a side-effect, it teaches self-reliance, tolerance of others, and
disrespect for rigid totalitarianism, either emotional or political.
If you've ever sensed that the richest comedy is inherently
anti-authoritarian, that's the deal.
Spending time with Del Close is the reason I eventually came to read Noam
Chomsky.
I studied with Del for a couple of years. I can't say I liked him,
exactly. What I felt was more like awe, like a boy feels toward a father
he both fears and admires.
When Del was at full speed, he was amazing.
I once saw him play Polonius in a production of "Hamlet." The character
is often played as a rather boring blowhard, but Del found beats and
inflections in the lines that sounded both honest and marvelously funny.
His playful rendition of the "brevity is the soul of wit" speech,
transforming Polonius' mundane blithering into an ever-building symphony
of self-importance, should be studied in every college theatre department
in America.
(In a final, quintessential act of playfulness, Del has willed his skull
to the Goodman Theater -- so next time they do "Hamlet," he can play the
part of Yorick.)
But Del was human, too, and his unpredictable mood swings made his
tutelage a sometimes harrowing experience. I learned later he had been
through a lot of hell over the years, some of it his fault, some of it
not. I suspect the personal stuff is part of why he never landed more
prominent film or television roles for himself, which is a loss for all
concerned.
Sometimes Del's classes were high-impact learning experiences. Sometimes
they were meandering sessions of name-dropping, retelling the lore of his
unusual life. Sometimes he would lash out at a student who broke the
rules of improv with an intensity that was deeply ironic for a man who
truly believed in acceptance and toleration. I think his passion for good
theatre often conflicted with his passion for understanding.
You really never knew which Del you were getting, although most of them
were cool as hell.
__________
One day I had time to kill, and I found myself actually writing a poem
about the man, trying to capture the strange and powerful impact he had on
those around him.
I share it here not because I'm much of a poet. I know I'm not. Really,
you don't need to write in and tell me. It's just what I wrote at the
time:
__________
Two fingers clawing the air
A cigarette burning between them
["The muses,"] Del muses,
["Are with us."]
Legend-teller, tale-maker
Cougher-up of flame
Eases himself to the floor.
["I remember when Burgess Meredith and I were filming The Blob
with Larry Hagman. Otto von Bismarck was just a gaffer then.
That was right after I directed the stage production of the
Monroe Doctrine with Mike Nichols and Elaine May."]
Mephistopheles jazzman
Reclines
Eyes dancing fire
Delight
["And Stonehenge--that was Avery Schreiber and myself,
standing rocks on their sides to entertain the druids.
Paul Sills had mixed up some excellent meade that day."]
Candles at tables
Smoke floating low
Kennedy dead from a headwound
Cocktail dresses and narrow black ties
["I damn thee, convention, indicted!"]
APPLAUSE snapping fingers
High priest in a hipster's cathedral
Bruce
Died.
Belushi
Died.
Del
Runs his free hand through thinning gray hair
["No!"]
Eyes like ball lightning
["Move the scene forward. Describing what's done leads to nothing!"]
The lawyer and bartender quiver onstage
Smiling meekly at thunder
Nodding at teacher
An eye out for muses nearby
__________
I wrote the above shortly before leaving Del's classes. The stand-up boom
was on, and I needed to pay the rent. Besides, I knew the rules of
improv, and I didn't feel that there was much more I would get from his
classes.
I realized only later that what you learned from Del came not from any
specific thing he set out to teach, but from his singular example. As he
was for many others, Del was a major influence on both my personal and
professional life.
For all his faults, Del lived with a higher level of personal and creative
freedom than anyone I ever knew. And that, more than any scenework
instruction, is what will endure.
["Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of
most excellent fancy..."]
___________________________
Bob Harris is a radio commentator, political writer, and humorist who
has spoken at almost 300 colleges nationwide. His email address is
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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___________________________
Bob's Big Plug-O-Rama� (updated 3/8/99):
The Mining Company, an Internet search/portal sorta like the more famous
Yahoo! site, has a list of about a dozen recommended political humorists
posted at http://politicalhumor.miningco.com/msub14.htm. I made the cut,
along with Mort Sahl, Art Buchwald, P.J. O'Rourke, Dave Barry, Mark
Russell, the Smothers Brothers, Will Durst, Mark Twain, and Will Rogers.
Is that cool or what?
My first book, [Steal This Book And Do Life Without Parole], will be in
bookstores this fall. Check out my fab publisher at
http://www.commoncouragepress.com.
http://www.bobharris.com is up, complete with an archive of radio stuff,
notes on my [Jeopardy!] ordeal, a list of my bad habits, and more. Drop
in and say hi.
Radio syndication is rolling. About 70 stations and counting. Yippee!
Call your favorite station and ask for the feature. They pay attention,
honest.
We're recording at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills
(http://www.mtr.org), who let me cavort in their beautiful fishbowl studio
in exchange for gratuitous plugs, including this one. If you live in
L.A., the sessions are free and open to the public, so come on by. For
time and date info, email my assistant Jennifer Logan at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Oh, hey, yeah -- if you have anything to ask that an assistant can handle,
her address again is [EMAIL PROTECTED] She's great, and that thing
with the cigar was completely consensual. Although I wish she'd pull it
back out. It's starting to feel funny when I jog.
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