Guru: My Days with del Close

By Jeff Griggs

A legend of improvisational theater, Del Close is best known for discovering and cultivating the talents of John Belushi, Chris Farley, Bill Murray, Mike Meyers, and countless other comedy giants. He was resident director of Chicago's famed Second City and "house metaphysician" for "Saturday Night Live," a talent in his own right, and one of the brightest and wackiest theater gurus ever. Jeff Griggs was a student of Close's at the ImprovOlympic in Chicago when he was asked to help the aging mentor (often in ill health) by driving him around the city on his weekly errands. The two developed a volatile friendship that shocked, angered, and amused both of them-and produced this hilarious and ultimately endearing chronicle of Close's last years. With all the elements of a picaresque novel, Guru captures Close at his zaniest but also shows him in theatrical situations that confirm his genius in conceptualizing and directing improvisational theater. Between comic episodes, Jeff Griggs gives the reader the essentials of Close's biography: his childhood in Kansas, early years as an actor, countercultural exploits in the 1960s (he toured with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and designed light shows for the Grateful Dead), years with the Compass Players and then with Second City, and continuing experimentation with every drug imaginable, which pretty much cost him his health and ultimately his life. He was comedian, director, teacher, writer, actor, poet, fire-eater, junkie, and philosopher. "Being a really good actor does not necessarily guarantee that you will be a very good improviser," Close liked to say. "Being an actual, complete, hopeless, wretched geek in real life doesn't disqualify you from being a solid improviser, either." He approached improv the same way he conducted his life-in bizarre, dark, and dangerous fashion. Guru captures it.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566636140
• ISBN13: 9781566636148
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee Publisher
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Guru: Compelling, poignant and hilarious.

This book was a real blessing for me. I was a student of Del's for four months during the last year of his life. He was a complex man, by his own admission, not a very likable one. This book allowed great insight into what was going on during that last year or so. Del did some very generous things for me during that time, but i always felt our relationship ended poorly. After reading this book, i felt a great weight lifted, and a greater understanding of that period of my life. I am able to forgive Del and realize there really was a method to his madness. He was an extraordinary soul and this book nails that with a few tears, and a great deal of laugh out loud escapades that prove Truth... is far stranger then fiction. My girlfriend read this book after me in one 5 and a half hour sitting. She literally could not put it down, and she never even met Del. This one is a gem that i look forward to reading again down the road. Well Done Jeff! No small feat. Thanks for setting the record straight on just who Del Close really was.

How to Read Hip: "Guru" Offers Insight to Improvisational Theatre's Enigmatic and Masterful Forces

True genius - that of visionary and driving force caliber - is rarely seen and even less seldom acknowledged during one's own lifetime. Del Close, the father of long-form improvisational theatre and the idea of improv as an art form, casts a long shadow as the central figure of Guru: My Days with Del Close, by Jeff Griggs. In a mentor/protégée dynamic reminiscent of Ronald Harwood's "The Dresser", Griggs - a young, talented performer - finds himself entrusted with, at first, weekly errands for the slowly ailing Close. A somewhat odd pairing from the start - the ever-rebellious, outspoken and temperamental Close and the somewhat reserved, patient Griggs - find they are alike at the very core as both are insightful, driven and passionate about the work on stage. In his teachings at IO (formerly ImprovOlympic) in Chicago - along with Charna Halpern - Close taught, mentored and sometimes fought fiercely for honesty and intelligence onstage. Through Griggs we are privy to the secrets, insights and, oftentimes, despair that accompanied a mind of such magnitude. The critiques of class work, for instance, are priceless for anyone who has taken an improvisational stage class: Take it seriously. Commit. Think of your stage partner and your relationship together, over yourself. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I have been fortunate to have studied with teachers mentioned in this book, including Jeff Griggs, who is remarkably insightful as a teacher and tremendously talented as a performer. Being taught by a mentored student of Close's gives me a kind of "Closean Pedagogical Contact Buzz" - a metaphor Mr. Close might have enjoyed. Or not.) Deftly interweaving Close's biographical facts with the continuous and growing narrative bond, Griggs establishes a private - and oftentimes poignant - look at a psychologically complex man and we are all the wiser and more mature for it. For baby improvisers to seasoned vets to actors who may still think improvisational games are just for warming-up before acting, to those who simply love the theatre, this book is necessary because it is a part, a record, of our theatrical history.

A great portrayal of Del, and of Improvisers in general

What impressed me most about this book was not Griggs' compelling portrayal of Del Close (although I loved it), nor the way that it filled in gaps in Close's biography that I only had to guess at before. What I liked most about it was Griggs' descriptions of what it's like to be an improviser in the scene; taking classes, being in ensembles and learning from giants. I certainly can relate, and that's what helped make this book such an essential read for me. This book is a must for disciples of Close. It's funny, touching, wonderfully human, highly informative. It made me feel like I had gotten to know Close well. After reading this book, I truly wish I had that honor.

Something Wonderful Right Away...

I couldn't put the book down. I loved Mr. Griggs' invocation of Del Close. For improvisers it's a must-read: you witness Del's clarity and passion regarding the craft. For you pop-culture buffs, it's a must read: you get to learn of Del's impact on American comedy, and his intersections with 1960s counterculture. For those who love a good story, it's a must read: I loved how seemingly innocuous errands became adrenaline rushing adventures, and was fascinated by the reflections of a man who lived a tremendously full life. With his book, Mr. Griggs took me back to when I studied under Del in 1998. Seven years later, his teaching is very much vital and relevant to us as we are building a longform improv community in Houston, TX. Thanks for your work, Jeff. Well done!

Read it, Loved it.

This book is such a good read, you'll be hard pressed to put it down once you pick it up. The essence of Del is so meticulously laid in front of you, that you truly feel you knew him by the book's end. All of the true life stories presented by Griggs hit home and give insight into the fearless, crazy, and sometimes lonely world of an incredible genius. If you have enjoyed any comedian or comedic actor in the past 35 years, then you must read this book, as Del has been noted by nearly every one as a person of influence and inspiration. Kudos to Griggs for bringing this to us.