I'm Funny, You're Funny
This weekend, BirdDog will descend on the city. So will Baby Wants Candy, Wicked Fuckin' Queeya and WeirDass. They are improv groups, and what they all share-besides an apparent affinity for dippy names-is the discipline imparted by Del Close, the man they are coming here to honor.
Del Close was improv's guru and prophet. He gave improv its tenets, philosophy and air of religiosity. As Charna Halpern, the founder of ImprovOlympic in Chicago, describes Close's legacy, "Improv is based on the ideals of other religions: do unto others as you would have them do unto you; do no harm." Matt Walsh, one of the founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and a former Close student, puts it more bluntly: "We're a benevolent cult."
That "cult," once thought of as a uniquely Chicagoan phenomenon, has caught fire in New York in recent years. Since Close's death in 1999, four of his disciples at the Upright Citizens Brigade have been staging an annual marathon in his name. This year's features 113 groups from 13 cities performing around the clock for three days; several are former Close students and represent the first generation of Close-ian improvisers. But whether performers have heard the words from the master himself or one of his followers, improvisers belong to a tradition that has already spread far from its young Chicago roots.
"He really had the truth," says Halpern of Close. "He succeeded in creating a theater of the heart." Close joined Halpern at the ImprovOlympic in 1984, transforming the Chicago theater into ground zero for improv training, and continued to teach there until he died from emphysema. Most of the current crop of first-generation teachers-including the four UCB founders and Ali Farahnakian, the owner of the People's Improv Theater here in New York-studied with Close at ImprovOlympic.
When Halpern met Close in 1984, he was already an infamous presence on the Chicago improv scene. He had just left Second City, where as resident director in the 70s and early 80s, he trained John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. He was known as the "House Metaphysician" on the SNL set for two years.
Close's most important contributions to improv were two golden rules he created in the 50s with colleague Elaine May. The first is known as "Yes And." It says that the performer must always agree with the last statement made and then add something to it. The second tenet of improv is don't ask questions. You are to justify and support your partner's actions-no matter how absurd.
In terms of craft, Close's rules advance the improvisers' scene, creating texture and situations out of thin air. As a philosophy for life, the rules can also provide a framework for positive thinking. Improv teaches one to embrace what the world throws at you and build upon it. Unlike the cutthroat world of dramatic theater, Close found that agreement and partnership worked best for improv.
These tenets may explain why improv is now catching on in New York.
"Improv forces you to be with people in a situation where you have to be positive with each other," says David Silverman, 36, a student at the UCB and the PIT. "That's awfully appealing in a world full of rejection and pain."
The UCB estimates it has trained around 3000 improvisers since it opened in 1996. The number of students enrolled at any one time has more than doubled in the past two years.
Ali Farahnakian responded to the surge of interest by opening the doors of his own theater, the PIT, in fall of 2002, and he continues to expand class offerings. Halpern, too, is working to bring Improv Olympic to New York this year. People who try improv tend to stick with it, she says, because "everyone is treated well. It's great to be in a place where everyone is respected."
Farahnakian, in fact, opened the PIT because of Close's "Yes And" rule. "This guy Del Close, he was my mentor, he passed [it] on to me, saying yes to something and then adding to it," he says. "So in a way, there's a certain duty, if you can open up a space, take something and make it a theater."
Close left Second City in the mid 80s partly over ideology. Unlike the theater's management, which thought improv was merely a means to the end of scripted material, Close believed it to be a performance art in its own right. This split lives on in Close's students in the current rift between the UCB and the PIT. At the UCB, teachers stress the mechanics and methods of improv, especially the long-form structure developed by Close, called the Harold. Though the founders believe that improv is indeed a performance art, they prize comedic ability over improv skill in their performers.
"We'd take funny over a good improviser," says Walsh. "Sometimes good improv can be very uninteresting to an audience."
On the other hand, Farahnakian of the PIT believes that improv is a tool. "I think of it as more than an art form," he says. "It's a movement-a way to something else," adding, "it's still a wonderful gift to give to the audience every night."
Farahnakian and his PIT teachers stress the philosophy and purity of improv over comedy, and though they teach the Harold, structure takes a second place to "Yes And."
Although improvisers are clearly taking Close's legacy in different directions, even the founders of the PIT and UCB agree they are basically doing the same thing. Farahnakian sees no real difference between the two theaters. "It's all derivative of what Del was doing."
As David Silverman describes it, "They're two of a feather." Among the performers at this weekend's marathon, there are bound to be those who stress one view over another, who place the accents over different points in Close's teachings, and who disagree with their guru on certain issues. But if their ability to come together once a year is any indicator, they still believe in Del Close and his ideal of improv.
Farahnakian explains it best with a metaphor: "I like to think of improv as Mexican food. You know, there are about seven ingredients. But whether it's a chimichanga or a burrito or a taco, [you've] still got lettuce, tomatoes-it's just how you put it together." o
The Del Close Improv Marathon runs from Fri.-Sun., July 30-Aug 1. For complete schedule, visit delclosemarathon.com.