by Sam Wasson
The Daily Show, 358–60
early life and comedy of, 288–90, 298
on failure and embarrassment, 312
Good Morning America, 357–58
in homecoming scene, 328–30
immigration subcommittee appearance by, 368–69
Iraq performance by, 367
Second City and, 299–302
at White House Correspondents’ Dinner, 366–67
The Colbert Report, 364–65
Coltrane, John, 84
Columbia Pictures, 247, 265, 275, 276
Comedy Central, 364
comedy industry
on Broadway, 39–40, 68–69, 74
as democracy, xii–xiii, 366
in Hollywood, 109, 149–50
See also improv (improv comedy)
commedia dell’arte, xi, 33, 183, 187
Committee
in L.A., 119
players of, 273
in San Francisco, 105–7
workshops of, 111–14, 119–20
community, Paul Sills on, 12–13, 20, 43, 75, 92, 104, 157
Compass Players
devolution of, 42–44
duet of May and Nichols in, 37–39
establishment of, 28, 29–30
Flicker on, 45–46
in New York, 58–59
Shepherd and Sills on method at, 32–34
sketches and technique of, 30–32, 40–41, 46–47
in St. Louis, 47–53, 65
See also specific players
Conservatory, 294–95
Contact (game), 6
Continental Divide, 267
Cooler Near the Lake, 146
Cort, Bud, 291, 293
Coven, Larry, 250
Crosby, John, 79
Crosscurrents, 283–85, 340
Cunningham, Dennis, 102, 128–29
Curtin, Jane, 225–26
D
The Daily Show, 357, 361–62, 364
Daley, Richard J., 119, 129, 130, 131
The Dana Carvey Show, 357
Dangerfield, Rodney, 258
Darden, Severn
Compass Players and, 41, 45, 46, 58
description of, 43
Second City and, 60, 62, 74
Darling, Joan, 76, 78, 88, 89, 90
Daveikis, John, 204
Davis, Miles, 84
Davis, Rennie, 131
Davis, Tom, 238
Deconstruction (longform), 320, 333
Delany, Dana, 291, 292
De Maat, Martin, 294–95
Democratic National Convention, 128–33
Diller, Barry, 202, 219, 228
Dinello, Paul, 299
“The Dirtiest Sketch Show Ever,” 352
Dock (nightclub), 39
Dolman, Bob, 205, 251, 260–61, 262, 267
Dolman, Nancy, 181, 184, 240–41
Dooley, Paul, 346
Dorff, Kevin, 316
“Doug,” 328
Doumanian, Jean, 266
Downey, Jim, 236, 238
Doyle-Murray, Brian
Caddyshack, 239, 256
The National Lampoon Radio Hour, 206, 208–9
The National Lampoon Show, 212, 214
Second City Chicago and, 144, 154, 162–63, 171
Second City Toronto and, 182, 183, 187, 189
in unreleased improvised film, 291
Waiting for Guffman, 346
Dratch, Rachel, 316, 342
Dreyfuss, Richard, 273
Dr. Strangelove (film), 83, 97
Duke, Robin, 242, 251, 266
Duncan, Andrew, 43, 49, 60, 62, 64, 110
E
“East of Eatons,” 241
Eastwood, Jayne, 182, 187, 188, 204
Ebersol, Dick, 225, 266
Ed (longform), 315–16
Eh?, 117
Elkins, Hilly, 150, 151
Enter Laughing, 100
Enterprise, 26, 28
Erickson, C. O., 322, 323
e.t.c. theater, 301, 302, 315, 327, 331, 337
Et Tu, Kohoutek, 193
Evans, Bill, 85
An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May, 68–69, 100
Event, 57, 68
Excelsior and Other Outcries, 63–64
The Explainers, 141
F
Factory Theatre Lab, 184–85
failure, 94, 301–2, 312, 318, 378
Falk, Peter, 171, 174, 228–29
Family (ensemble), 318–21, 326–27
See also Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB)
Fariña, Mimi, 124, 126
Farley, Chris
addictions and death of, 310, 352–53
early improv and humor of, 295–96, 302–5
early life and comedy of, 270–71
“Motivation” (sketch), 310–11
Saturday Night Live, 311–12
Second City and, 299, 306
Feiffer, Jules
cartoons by, 141, 172, 361
The Explainers, 141
on Gerald Ford, 225
journalism by, 65, 132–33, 145
Little Murders, 141–42
on “Teenagers,” 59
Feig, Paul, 371
Ferrell, Will, 370, 371
Fey, Tina
Citizen Gates, 343
description of, 325–26, 343
early comedy influence and training of, 279, 317, 320–21, 324–25, 337–38
Second City and, 342–43
Fields, Bert, 224, 228
Finn, Pat, 302–4, 305, 316
Fire Hall. See Second City Toronto
“First Blow Job,” 211
First Line/Last Line, 48, 56, 68–69, 122, 153
Fish, Nancy, 119
Fisher, Jim, 138, 140, 155, 164
505 Club, 197, 204–5, 219
Flaherty, Joe
on Belushi, 154, 155, 228
on Bill Murray, 170
on Candy, 186, 191
on improv, 188
The National Lampoon Radio Hour, 206, 209–11
The National Lampoon Show, 214
“PTA,” 146–47
SCTV, 230–36, 239, 250–51, 254, 260–61
Second City and, 138–40, 177, 182–90
Flaherty, Paul, 252, 254
Flicker, Theodore J., 45, 47–53, 65, 88–90
See also Premise Players
Flynn, Neil, 318
“Football Comes to the University of Chicago,” 140
Ford, Gerald, 225
Forsberg, Jo, 99, 138, 168, 169, 294
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (movie), 371–73
The Forty-Year-Old Virgin (unreleased sketch), 313–14
43rd Parallel; or, Macabre and Mrs. Miller, 165
Freeman, Al, Jr., 88
Friedberg, Martin Harvey, 119, 137
fuck, 93
“Funeral,” 165
G
“The Game of Hurt,” 31
Game Theater, 104–5, 127
Gardner, Pete, 315, 316
Gary Austin Workshop, 167–68
Gertz, Jami, 291
Get Smart, 110
Ghostbusters, 267, 275–79
Ghostbusters II, 307–8
Gianas, Tom, 328, 331–32
Ginsberg, Allen, 54
Global Studios, 234, 235
Global Village Theatre, 184, 185, 188, 203
Godspell, 179–82, 185, 187, 189
Goldberg, Dan, 244
Goodrow, Garry, 119
Gordon, Barbara, 35
Gordon, Bobbi, 43
Gordon, Brian, 183
Gordon, Mark, 43
Gordon, Max, 55–56
Gordon, Ruth, 39–41
Gottlieb, Carl, 119
The Graduate, 91–92, 109–10, 114–19, 121–24, 126
Grant, Cary, 287
Greenberg, Ed, 114
Gregoropoulos, Noah, 316, 331
Grodin, Charles, 158, 159, 160
Grosbard, Ulu, 123
&nbs
p; Gross, Mary, 266
Groundhog Day, 321–23
Groundlings, 167–68, 214–15, 356–57
Guest, Christopher, 142
Little Murders, 142–43
The National Lampoon Radio Hour, 206, 208–9, 345
opinion of SCTV, 344–45
This Is Spinal Tap, 272–75, 345
Waiting for Guffman, 344–50
H
Hackman, Gene, 77, 335
Halpern, Charna
Close and, 283–86, 354–55
Farley and, 303–4, 353
on Fey and Poehler, 325–26, 327
ImprovOlympic, xiii, 283, 290, 303, 330–31
Truth in Comedy book, 330–31, 354
Hamilton, Rachel, 338
Hankin, Larry, 74, 76
Hanley, William, 115
Harolds (longform), 114, 119, 149, 166, 250, 285–86
Harris, Barbara
in Compass Players, 30, 32
The Explainers, 141
on improv, 84
“Museum Piece,” 71–73
work at Second City, 62, 79
Harris, Sydney J., 16, 17
Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour, 189
Heard, Cordis, 128
The Heartbreak Kid, 158–60
Hefner, Hugh, 65
Helbig, Jack, 315, 320, 333
The Heliotrope Players’ Production of Thornton Wilder’s American Classic, Our Town, as Directed by d’Eric Blakemore; or, Cash Stations of the Cross, 315
Helms, Ed, 352
Henderson, Jo, 49
Hendrickson, Kathy, 309
Henry, Buck
Get Smart, 110
Nichols and, 10, 110–11, 114–15, 147–48
in Premise Players, 78–80
Saturday Night Live, 238
heroin, 154, 268, 353
Hesseman, Howard, 106, 112, 119, 124–25
Heyman, Burt, 119, 137
Hi-Hat Lounge, 29
Hitchcock, Michael, 346
Hoffman, Abbie, 129, 132, 145
Hoffman, Dustin, 77, 117–19, 121–24, 263–66, 296–98
Hoffman, Jackie, 313
Hoffman, Julius, 145
Holland, Tony, 291
Hollywood production process, 109, 149–50
Hope, Bob, 55
“Horror” (sketch), 318
Howell, C. Thomas, 291
Hull House, 3–4
Humphrey, Hubert, 131, 132
Hutchins, Robert Maynard, 15
I
The Ice Harvest, 373
improv (improv comedy)
Armandos, 332, 351
ASSSSCAT 3000, 351–52
British censorship of, 82–84
Deconstruction, 320, 323
as democracy, xii–xiii, 366
Ed (longform), 315–16
Event within, 57, 68
first performance of, 26
formal rules for, 46, 51, 65, 76
Harolds, 114, 119, 149, 166, 250, 285–86
invention of, xi, 30–35
jazz and, 51–52, 84
magic of, xi, 378–79
play and games by Spolin, 3–7, 33
premise of, 38, 65, 76–77
vs. scenario play, 26, 31, 40–41
slow comedy, 286, 304, 316, 363
spot-improv, 47–51, 164
See also comedy industry; specific companies and persons
improvisational music, 102–3, 113–14, 206–7, 272–73
improvisational theater, xi
Improvisation for the Theater (Spolin), 127–28, 290, 330
ImprovOlympic (iO), xiii, 283, 290, 303, 330–31
Insana, Tino, 153, 192, 193, 194
Inside Vladimir, 327
Invocation, 269, 283–85
iO. See ImprovOlympic (iO)
Irwin, Bill, 291
Ishtar, 287, 296–98
J
Jacott, Carlos, 316
Jagodowski, T. J., 363–64
jazz, 51–52, 84–85, 206–7
See also musical improvisation
Jazz Freddy, 315–17
See also slow comedy
Jewison, Norman, 107–8
Joffe, Charles, 60
Johnson, Lyndon B., 124–26
Jolovitz, Jenna, 301, 334, 337, 342
Jolson-Colburn, Jeffrey, 266, 267
Jones, O-Lan, 291
Joseph, Jackie, 6
Josephine Forsberg’s Players Workshop and Children’s Theater, 294
Justice Is Done; or, Oh Cal Coolidge, 146
K
Kahn, Sheldon, 199–200, 202
Kampmann, Steven, 250
Kapelos, John, 249
Kash, Linda, 346
Kaz, Fred, 102, 193
Kazan, Elia, 14, 22, 40
Kazurinsky, Tim, 266
Kelly, Walt, 59
Kemper, Ellie, 352
Kemper, Victor, 172, 173, 201–2, 364
Kennedy, Jacqueline, 83
Kennedy, John F., 81, 89, 92–93
Kennedy, Robert, 82, 89, 127
Kennedy, Ted, 300
Kenney, Doug, 209, 239, 256
Key, Keegan-Michael, 360
Kitchen Rules, 51, 65, 76
Klausner, Julie, 352
Klein, Robert, 96
Knocked Up, 373
Koch, Howard, 150–51, 171–72
Koechner, Dave, 314, 316, 331, 350
Kolb, Mina, 62
Kubrick, Stanley, 83
“Ku Klux Klambake,” 301
Kuwait Until Dark; or, Bright Lights, Night Baseball, 306
L
La Cage aux Folles, 335
See also The Birdcage
Lake, Dawn, 346
Landis, John, 243–44
Lane, Nathan, 335–37
Lange, Jessica, 264
“Las Vegas,” 193–94
Late Night with Conan O’Brien, 350, 351
Lavin, Linda, 141
LeCompte, Jo Ann, 88
Lees, Beatrice, 309
Lehman, Ernest, 109
Lemmings, 206, 207
Leonard, Kelly, 330, 331
Levine, Joseph E., 109
Levy, Eugene
Cannibal Girls, 212
improv style of, 195–96
on O’Hara, 198
as 1063 Avenue Road player, 179
“Perry Como: Still Alive,” 344
SCTV, 230, 234, 236, 251
Second City Toronto and, 182, 189, 220
Waiting for Guffman, 344–47, 349–50
Libera, Anne, 290, 299, 300, 328
Liebling, A. J., 13, 15
Life (magazine), 59
The Lily Tomlin Special, 214
Lindley, Audra, 160
Little Murders, 141–42
Live Bait Theater, 315–16
“Living Newspaper,” 30–31, 78
Living Premise Players, 88–90
See also Premise Players
Lois Kaz, 331
Lolita (film), 83
Lomax, Alan, 207
longforms
Armandos, 332, 351
ASSSSCAT 3000, 351–52
Deconstruction, 320, 333
Ed, 315–16
Harolds, 114, 119, 149, 166, 250, 285–86
Movie, 320–21
by Myerson, 112–13
popularity of, 330, 331
Wake, 354
love, 294–95
Luv, 104, 107
M
“Machine Gun Blackout,” 319
Macmillan, Harold, 83–84
Mafia, 61, 71
Maguire, Roberta, 144, 145
Mailer, Norman, 69
Mamet, David, 97–98
Manchester, William, 31
The Man of Destiny, 20
Marsalis, Wynton, 206–7
Martin, Andrea
Cannibal Girls, 212
as Edith Prickley, 222–23
as 1063 Avenue Road player, 179, 180, 181
SCTV, 234, 251
<
br /> Second City Toronto and, 220, 222
Martin, Steve, 248, 308
Marx, Groucho, 59, 143
Marx Brothers, 31, 59, 183, 271
MASH, 147–48
Mason, James, 83
The Matchmaker, 39–41
Matheson, Tim, 243, 244
Mathieu, Bill
as Committee’s musical director, 113
in Johnson sketch, 125
music by, 64, 71, 113
on music improv, 102–3
residence of, 102
at Second City, 62, 65
A Matter of Position, 86
Matthau, Walter, 150, 151, 201
Maxwell Street Market, Chicago, 206–7
May, Elaine
The Birdcage, 335–37
breakups and reunions with Nichols, 86–87, 101, 201
Close and, 42, 52–53, 166
in Compass Players, 30, 34