| The
Del Close Messages (part 3) Go back to part 2. |
| Thanks
del Eric L. |
10:27
am |
| The hardest note I ever got in
my short life in theater was from Del Close. The first day of the first class I took with him I was doing something, that I have since forgotten, when del said "stop." We did. "You in the red shirt, what's your name?" "Eric," I said. "Eric remove yourself from my stage" I did. I was crushed. The first time he spoke to the entire class was to tell me to get off his stage. However he pulled me aside later and told me not to get too bent out of shape about it, because he had been enjoying what I was doing, just not the way I was doing it. He taught me so much over that class (which became the Lindbergh Babies) and even more during our shows run. (he was at so many of the shows.) I will miss him, and hope that we all can continue to make him proud. Eric |
|
| Thank
You Del Case Clay |
10:39
am |
| To be directed under Del was
an honor for all of us. My favorite story of him was down in Austin. A place where all of the people who weren't fortunate to live in Chicago under Del and Company. These people were hungry just to hear a peep from this man so they could take the brilliant words back to their college troupe and practice these truths daily. This is what they saw him wearing: An "I Know What You Did Last Summer" t-shirt and a South Park cap. I laugh imagining hundreds of troups wearing these shirts and hats in their next show in Nebraska and memorizing lines from these shows. Thanks for everything. |
|
| Del
= hardcore Dan |
11:20
am |
| I have a feeling that Del
liked to creep people out their first time in his class. I remember my first Del day, I
had done a very shitty scene earlier that day and was in the middle of a great one. Right
as it was peaking, Del got up and went to the bathroom. I totally lost my focus and we
were edited at a bad time. After the edit we all just stood there, a couple people onstage
in post-edit form, and someone said "Um, should we wait till he gets back?". We
pondered this for a minute, and Del came back. Del said "Why aren't you
improvising?". I told him it was because he left in the middle of my scene (yeah I
said it like that, I was a real smart ass). Del said "Oh, that doesn't mean your
should stop. Those scenes were going fine, it's just that I had seen that one you were
doing before so I opted to leave". One time I did a scene that Del loved, and that was a fonder memory, because then he went into about seven "Del stories" involving famous people and doing illegal things with them in an awkward place. He created pretty much everything I love in improv, and I hope I can still learn as much from him as possible by following his insane vision of doing "interesting bullshit on stage". -Dan Telfer |
|
| How
to Die Hip Dave |
1:28 pm |
| Del has a line in The
Untouchables: "Mr. Ness, you're an intelligent man, so I'll pay you the compliment of being blunt..." (or words to that effect) To me, that line sums up a great deal of the way Del directed people. He would always give you the naked, sometimes brutal, honesty that he wanted to see from you on stage. That is also why everyone who has ever received a compliment from Del can remember exactly when it happened. He never hesitated to give you an honest appraisal of your work. I think one of the reasons that I've worked harder to be a better improviser is just so I could get a compliment from Del. Thanks Del, Jethro |
|
| Del's
Wicca Furniture Jason |
12:46
pm |
| "I guess I better die now, otherwise a lot of people are going to be really disappointed." -Del, this past Wednesday. | |
| Thanks
Del George Eckart |
1:11 pm |
| Del left his stamp on us all.
It's amazing to think that he created all this... I think what intrigued me most about Del was that he saw things that no one else saw. He pretty much formed the Lindbergh Babies. He saw our form, our style where no one could. In one class, he started talking about Melanie Blue. She was this strong, bizarre, and confounding improviser/monolgist who Del obviously felt was somewhat of a kindred spirit. And voila, out of nowhere, for no apparent reason, Melanie showed for our class. Del saw something and had her get on stage with us. She would do monologues and we would do scenes based on her stories. He said "Well, let's just see what kind of trouble we can get into..." We had no idea what kind of trouble we WERE getting into. Melanie was a hellcat. She was confrontational, shocking, and aggressive. Editing people out physically. Getting in their faces. Bullying her way into scenes. Pushing players' buttons. Basically, kicking our collective asses on stage. At first it seemed odd. Why was Del subjecting us to this assault? Later, it made perfect sense. She was our big test. When the Lindbergh Babies did a show upstairs with (or against) her, audiences HATED her. People who came to see us couldn't believe what she was doing to us and all of the crazy things she was talking about (drugs, sex, madness, jail...) But, we fought back. It brought us together as a group. We had to team up to overcome the challenge of Melanie. We had to slay the dragon. Only Del saw this. Genius. He couldn't have been happier to see her create this incredible friction on stage and even make audience members leave the show. We probably should be called the Close Babies. I could never thank him enough for seeing something in us and putting us together. I always felt like we were the luckiest group around to work with him like this. He gave us all a wonderful gift. I can't even begin to explain how cool it was for me to see him to show up and watch "Show." He could barely get up the stairs, but there he was. When asked why he came out to see us at the Austin Festival last year he responded "Well, my name IS on the show," It is. It also is on any improv show that goes on anywhere. "I think we can pretty much assume the lights went out there..." -George |
|
| Del Bob Dassie |
1:23 pm |
| He is a legend, and was a
legend in his own time. Hell, who else could be the subject of more stories than those
that Del told? What a bizarre and fantastic life, and a body of work that continues to grow and grow. Del made his mark in a big way. And, on his terms. We should be so lucky to follow this example. He unlocked a door that didn't exist. -Bob Hey Del, thanks again. |
|
| The
Beard Griggs |
1:38 pm |
| Every Thursday at 1:00 for the
past year, Del and I would get together to go get groceries, medicine, books, etc...
Sometimes it would last an hour, other times I wouldn't get home until nine or ten o'clock
at night. We talked about Kerry Wood, pumpernickel bread, chicks, Bill Clinton, God and
sometimes we would talk about improv. I have hundreds of Del stories. Like the time that Del and I got stuck in an elevator and Del wanted me to tell the maintenance people to lower some pot down to us, because he didn't want to die in an elevator unless he was stoned. Or the time that Del and I went to a department store the week after Thanksgiving and we literally had to peel the "fucking children" off of him because they all thought he was Santa Claus. I told him once that his newly cut beard made him look intimidating and that his students would really be scared of him now. To my surprise, that hurt his feelings. "I don't want to scare or intimidate anybody. I want respect, not fear. Fear never taught anything." He said all of this very quietly and then added, "Remind me to never trim my beard again. I'd rather look a homeless kook then a pretentious prick at some university." He was also very generous. After my car broke down he repeatedly sent me e-mails offereing to loan me money so I could buy a new car. I once told him that I was going on a date later that evening and as he got out of my truck he threw forty bucks on the seat and said, "Don't take her to watch you improvise, take her somewhere that makes you look smart." He then smiled and walked up to his apartment. He always said that he never had the "patience for money. It's just easier not to have it." The last thing I heard Del say was, "Don't ever think this journey is about you. It's about everyone around you." Jeff |
|
Go on to part 4.
If you want to discuss this go to the thread "The Del Close Messages" at the IRC Message Boards.
Last edited on 01/25/01.