For Madmen Only

I read a quote the other day. Somebody like

Can't remember if it was P.T. Barnum

or Henry David Thoreau that

said that democracy is based on the notion

that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Societal pressures tend to keep our abilities quashed down.

We don't sing. We don't dance

because the professionals do it for us.

But in order to do improvisation

You have to have some respect for

the possibilities of human abilities.

Like

You have to assume that people can do extraordinary things

We've got a real special treat for you right now

It's my pleasure to introduce to you

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Del Close

If you've never heard of Del Close

Well, congratulations

That means you're not a comedian

which all in all, is probably good news for you.

If you are a comedian,

then you know this actor turned comedy guru

trained pretty much everyone in the business.

He was like a living legend.

If you don't know Del Close, Google him.

He's done everything interesting in comedy, in my opinion.

What do you want to see a show about?

- Yeah, I'm talking to you! - Um...

Um, crime!

An excellent suggestion!

Del Close showed me the connection between

comedy and bigger ideas.

We're not worthy!

Oh yeah, the Cult of Del

it should be the Church of Del.

Del taught me the whole concept of just

being bold in your life and being fearless.

I'm just trying to put you to bed.

No! Me Baby!

Baby no go night night!

It was the first time I was

part of a Bohemian culture

I was around gay people. I was around white people

that... I was around white people

A whole lot of white people

Del, thanks for teaching me everything I know.

Being present in the moment. In a scene.

And not going for a cheap gag or a cheap joke.

Thanks honey.

And that's just a smattering of comedians

who studied with Del Close.

Dozens of those comics started their own Del-inspired theaters

passing down the wisedom to a whole new crop of comedy nerds.

Del has created now

multiple generations of people

who seek even more freedom

like the free jazz of the 60s and 70s.

This is a very pretentious comparison, I know

- I like it. - See!

But I'm an eccentric.

That's three generations of comedians

if you're keeping track.

All of them chasing this myth

of the guru who discovered a new art form...

Improvised comedy.

Which, for some reason, he called Harold.

And a friend of mine said

they're doing this pure improvised show.

It's called Harold.

I went down and I watched it and I thought, this is for me!

I have to improvise.

A lot of the comedy everyone is used to

They improvise like crazy.

I mean, look at Judd Apatow's films.

There's so much improvisation.

I've never been in one... Judd.

When we did "Anchorman"

and "Talladega Nights"

we improvised for hours.

The skeleton took a shower

The skeleton ran out of shampoo in the shower.

Which was heavily inspired by Del Close.

The Human Torch could not get a bank loan.

The Human Torch

So one cameraman if you look at his dailies,

you can see the camera move a little bit.

Sure, laugh it up

But Del's path of destruction has cut through almost every

seminal comedy moment of the last sixty years.

Which is all the more amazing when you realize he was

I bite myself, I bite myself, I bite myself

literally nuts.

There was a period where Del

was doing shows at Second City

where he was in the mental hospital.

They had to go pick him up

bring him back to do a show

and then take him back to the mental hospital.

He was a fucking crazy person.

He was crazy.

Undecided!

I think with that crazyness

he's kind of a genius.

So how did a mad man manage to change

the face of comedy as we know it?

And end up with roughly the same name recognition

as a third tier fast food chain?

Well, you can't ask him because frankly, he's dead.

But he did leave behind one clue.

The burn of the...

Uh, nickel, dimed, and quartered

Uh yeah

The goddamn fog

Ooh! Matin' with Satan.

No! The Creamin' Demon

Which one?

The Creamin' Demon

What am I looking at?

Is maybe what you're asking yourself right now.

Well, Del Close has just been hired to write

a comic book about his life.

For DC comics, no less.

Emergency Room Service?

No, no... Emergency...

- Rumors! - Rumors!

Great minds.

And this is his team.

Smell... of the Mega Brain.

Here's Del. Full of ideas.

Sniff and Crawl.

Only problem is they're all batshit.

Done.

That's Mike Gold, Del's editor,

trying to turn batshit into comic books.

Well, he was insane.

Now, I like that.

Insane people come up with great stories.

They go places nobody's ever been before.

What happened to Merlin?

Feed us... the Fetus

Here's John Ostrander,

Del's trusty writing partner.

He's just happy to be in the room,

even if it smells like an ashtray full of farts.

Many times, I go, how did Del and I ever

together?

Del is... hip.

I'm a square.

I'm so square, I'm almost cute.

But I knew comics,

but he was Del.

He had this imagination.

Probably there's androids.

Probably..

- Probably there's androids - There might be...

You know what?

Oh, and all Del's lines here are direct quotes

taken from tape recordings he made throughout his life.

Starting with the audition process...

Anyway, back to 1987.

Witches in Toronto

I love that.

Witches...

Toronto freaks me the fuck out.

Right?

That is great. Can I get an outline on that?

- Witches in Toronto, Thursday? - Yeah, yeah, you bet.

Beautiful

- Did you write that? - Good.

I got it.

Witches in Toronto.

I got it.

Thank you, John.

I was the outside-the-box guy

over at DC.

They had just started "The Dark Knight"

and "Watchmen" and, you know, they were feeling pretty good.

And they figured this is a good time to sort of

push the boundaries of comics and enjoy the surreal.

That's Del.

Anybody who ventures into the land of Del Close

hears all of these Del Close stories.

And they're phenomenal.

We famously dine out on Del's stories.

We feast on Del's stories.

I wanted to get some of those in print.

Del volunteered for some tests

for the U.S. Air Force.

They would give people acid

and they monitor their dreams.

He left the experiment

and he ended up getting a letter that said:

"Mr. Close, you owe The United States Air Force

one more dream."

So I'm driving through the streets

of San Francisco,

and Del is going to eat fire.

He pulled it out,

and that thing of flame shoots out

and my car caught fire.