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The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close Hardcover – April 1, 2008

by Kim Howard Johnson (Author)

6 customer reviews

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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.

The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close

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Product Details

Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Chicago Review Press; First Edition edition (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1556527128
ISBN-13: 978-1556527128
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #598 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Television Performers
- #1866 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Actors & Entertainers
- #1907 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Movies > Biographies

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Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars

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Top Customer Reviews

Great biography that also follows the history of US Improv

By Tony Beeman on March 15, 2008

Format: Hardcover

I loved this book! While I knew much about the last twenty years of Del's life, its great to see the roads he took in the beginning, to see him as a young actor and improviser, learning the lessons that would later inform his directing and teaching.

It's got to be hard to write a biography of Del, who was never concerned with sticking to the facts when addressing his own life. Johnson does a great job of presenting events both from Del's recitations and from the memories of others. The end result is a biography that doesn't just illuminate Del Close, but follows the gestation of improvisation, as its own art form, in the United States through the end of Del's life.

Johnson clearly did his research, interviewing countless people who knew Del at various points in his life across the country and doing a great job capturing their perceptions and putting them down on paper. Improvisation is spontaneous enough that the history of the art is almost an oral tradition. It's wonderful to have all of this in writing!

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Del Close -- Secret Genius of Comedy

By Low Zoo on September 12, 2009

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

I had never heard of Del Close and am now unsure how I found out about this book, but I read it twice back to back. Close was not only a co-founder of the legendary Chicago comedy improv troupe Second City, and therefore responsible for mentoring everyone from John Belushi to -- well, dozens of famous comedians -- but he also collected science fiction, acted in B-movies (and even A-movies), was a professional fire eater, co-wrote comic books (DC's hit horror anthology WASTELAND), practiced Wicca, met L. Ron Hubbard, and worked for Tex Ritter. You see what I mean. This book is the surprise hit of my year and I recommend it unreservedly.

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Know Del Better and Understand the Mad Genius

By Michael Bryant on May 17, 2009

Format: Hardcover

As an improv student and performer for over a decade, this book by the coauthor of Truth in Comedy sheds light on what made Del the Guru of improvisational comedy. It also provides glimpses into what training with Del was like. In spite of his personal demons, his commitment to the craft of improvisation as worthy of theatre performance fathered the modern era of comedic greats. Read this book for a compelling portrait of this less than well known comedy professor.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

I love this book so much & it is so intoxicatingly ...

I love this book so much & it is so intoxicatingly Del Close. Over the last 3 months alone, reading it over & over again, it really felt like I owned the book for 12 years instead... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Amazon Customer

Honesty in its most touching form

Kim Johnson proves himself an admirable biographer and loyal and honest friend.
Del was and I believe still is exactly who he has always been... never wavering... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Dave Segasture

Thorough (but not flawless) examination of a genius

I first heard about Del Close a good ten years ago when I read that the casts of all of the good years of SNL (see: the first 5 years and the late '80s/early '90s) were overrun by... Read more

Published on April 27, 2008 by Joe Levine