The Definitive Guide to Comedy
“Meet Del Close, the man with the keys to comedy. If only he can remember where he left them.” That’s the tagline on the poster for the new documentary, For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close, which Utopia Distribution has acquired the rights to, with plans for a 2021 …
First the UCB closed up its doors in New York City. Now comes word that the Chicago theater that gave birth to the Upright Citizens Brigade also will not reopen. Charna Halpern, co-founder and still head improviser in charge of improvOlympic (aka iO), confirmed today that Chicago’s iO Theater will …
Red Crown Productions LLC announced it’s developing a biopic about Chicago improvising legends Del Close and Charna Halpern, Del & Charna. Kay Cannon will direct the film, off a script from Rich Talarico and Alex Fendrich. All three are alums from The Second City, and Cannon and Talarico both studied …
Adam McKay won the Academy Award for best screenplay for his adaptation of The Big Short. His newest film at the end of 2018 is VICE, McKay’s darkly satiric yet mostly true retelling of the life and career of Dick Cheney. He has come a long way since his Second …
Heather Anne Campbell is one of America’s great improvisers. She has studied under the legendary Del Close in Chicago, performed overseas with Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, appeared on MADtv, written for Saturday Night Live, and helped jumpstart FOX’s ADHD Animation Domination High-Definition. In Los Angeles, you’ve seen her or taken …
A roast of George Wendt at The Second City over the weekend brought with it some unexpected news about an upcoming movie on the late improv icon Del Close. Various sources reported that the financing for Del needs to be reconfigured, and executive producer and Second City owner Andrew Alexander …
Scot Armstrong grew up outside of Chicago and first studied comedy under the legendary Del Close, before moving to New York City and joining the Upright Citizens Brigade improv troupe Mother, whose members included Jason Mantzoukas, Jon Daly and Jessica St. Clair. He has since worked with St. Clair as …
Jay Chandrasekhar has spent the past two decades writing, directing and acting in film and television. With his group Broken Lizard, he has co-written, co-starred and directed their feature films, Super Troopers, Beerfest and Club Dread. He’s also directed the big-screen version of Dukes of Hazzard, small-screen episodes of Arrested …
In an ironic twist, The Second City and its leaders are producing a biopic about the legendary late improv comedy guru, Del Close, who famously had a falling out with Second City over the direction and importance of improv, and bolted to join Charna Halpern in launching improvOlympic. Mike Myers …
The annual Del Close Marathon brings the founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade together along with thousands of performers from around the world, celebrating their late improv guru Del Close by improvising comedy shows around the clock for a three-day-and-night weekend. In its 18th year, the UCB4 – Amy Poehler, …
