Episode 76 – 'For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close' w/ Director Heather Ross & Co-Editor George Mandl

Del Close was an early member of the Compass Player (later Second City), an early proponent of “Yes, and” improv method, the “Harold” longform improv format, and an unironic “guru” of almost every major comedy player who came out of Chicago into Saturday Night Live into your favorite comedies of the last 40 years. Yet, why isn’t he known to many, or all, and why do those who did knew him personally describe him as a “madman”? On this episode is Heather Ross, director and co-writer of the new Close documentary For Madmen Only, along with her co-producer and -editor George Mandl, and former Chicago improv student Dustin Levell. We discuss:

• How Ross’s doc work with women in Chicago kept her hearing stories about this “Close guy with a needle hanging out of his arm” who trained all her favorite comedians;

• the closest Close had to an autobiography, the late-’80s pre-Vertigo comic Wasteland, and how its visual narrative contributed to the doc;

• his degree of shock-seeking and self-mythologizing;

• and why Chicago improvers from Mike Myers to Bill Murray have wanted to make a biopic out of Close’s life;

Also:

• the difference between the ‘60s San Franciscan Harold versus the “Teaching” Harold;

• the influence of the book Close’s tri-authored book Truth in Comedy and its profound wisdom, both personally and artistically;

• the ambivalent nature of being a great “guru” and having one’s students surpass in levels of fame;

• and why the 4-20% of genuine good improv is ephemerally like the being around your funniest friends at the lunch table in high school — you had to be there, and it can never be recreated.

Heather Ross is an Emmy-Ward winning documentarian for her film Girls on the the Wall, along with producing on the genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are. She also directed several shorts in the “It Gets Better” series of advocacy films.

George Mandl is a film editor based out of Los Angeles. He and his work can be found at his website.

Dustin Levell is a Chicago-based comedy writer, performer, and stage director who trained at Second City and Improv Olympic.

For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close is currently available to rent or buy on VOD. And, also, on Kanopy.

Episode 47 – 'Nothing Lasts Forever' & 'SNL' Cinema

Filmmaker Kyle Smith is back, along with first-time guest co-host and old friend of the show (and me), writer and performer Dustin Levell, to pick and talk one of Saturday Night Live’s founding filmmakers, Tom Schiller, his lone feature film, and its bizarre underground relegation. On this episode, we also discuss:

• Schiller’s self-description as a “foreign” director,

• how out of place this style is from SNL’s current formatted format,

• why SNL films are less about format than characters,

• and how truly amazing it is that a movie with these stars and filmmakers was shelved at the height of the comedy boom that SNL helped create.

Also:

• If this is or isn’t Lorne Michaels first produced narrative feature,

• is or isn’t the first “SNL movie,”

• what its failure to even secure a release might have done to Michaels other produced films,

• the relationship between him and Schiller,

• the filmmakers from Adam McKay to Christopher Guest that have sprung from SNL ranks,

• and outsiders who’ve made short films for the show such as Robert Altman, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Breast, and Jim Jarmusch.

Kyle Smith is writer/director of the films Blue Highway and Turkey Bowl, which debuted at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival. Currently in development on his third feature, you can find Kyle and his film thoughts on Letterboxd.

Dustin Levell is a Chicago-based comedy writer, performer, and stage director.

Nothing Lasts Forever made its television premiere on Turner Classic Movies, which means it will hopefully air again in the future. Bootlegs are also available for purchase.