I just finished it. Pretty good book. Read it in a week. It's about 270 pages and about 53 chapters but they are short chapters, that go back and forth between the biography of Del Close and Jeff Griggs stories of experiences with him as his assistant/student/friend.
Who else here has read it? What did you think? Any other cool books like this that you have found?
Guru: My days With Del Close by Jeff Griggs
Everything else, basically.
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- Asaf Offline
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Jeff's great and I love some of the stories that he tells.
There is apparently a newer book on Del called "The Funniest One in the Room" by Kim Johnson, one of the writers of Truth in Comedy. I'm curious to read that.
Del has a crazy history that Jeff was not able to touch upon as much which this book, I believe, covers.
There is apparently a newer book on Del called "The Funniest One in the Room" by Kim Johnson, one of the writers of Truth in Comedy. I'm curious to read that.
Del has a crazy history that Jeff was not able to touch upon as much which this book, I believe, covers.
My curiosity is piqued since the few stories I've heard are almost mythological.
My favorite anecdote was about Del's friend showing up at his door unexpected (having flown in from New York). Del was skeptical about opening the door until his old friend revealed he had stolen a 3,000 year old opium pipe from a history museum. Del was delightfully surprised to find opium still in it, so they both smoked it.
My favorite anecdote was about Del's friend showing up at his door unexpected (having flown in from New York). Del was skeptical about opening the door until his old friend revealed he had stolen a 3,000 year old opium pipe from a history museum. Del was delightfully surprised to find opium still in it, so they both smoked it.
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- arthursimone Offline
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there are lots of sources for Del stories, but frankly I don't think of them as that important, at least in the context of how american theater arts got to where they are right now.
Don't get me wrong, he was an amazing figure, but the story is bigger than that. Beware the selling of the Cult of Personality. What works so well about "Guru" is that Griggs is part of the story as much as the generations of improvisers and teachers that visited him at his deathbed that survive to continue and transform his work.
Any given artists' personality and life history is only as great as the context he/she lived in.
Don't get me wrong, he was an amazing figure, but the story is bigger than that. Beware the selling of the Cult of Personality. What works so well about "Guru" is that Griggs is part of the story as much as the generations of improvisers and teachers that visited him at his deathbed that survive to continue and transform his work.
Any given artists' personality and life history is only as great as the context he/she lived in.
"I don't use the accident. I deny the accident." - Jackson Pollock
The goddamn best Austin improv classes!
The goddamn best Austin improv classes!
- jillybee72 Offline
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I loved Guru! Especially as it's about a beginning improv student, beginning his career at the same time Del is wrapping up his career.
At first Funniest One in the Room debunks a lot of crazy Del stories - then it replaces them with other crazy stories, in the end leaving me with the feeling it doesn't matter what's true. Del is true.
At first Funniest One in the Room debunks a lot of crazy Del stories - then it replaces them with other crazy stories, in the end leaving me with the feeling it doesn't matter what's true. Del is true.