Remembering John Candy: SCTV, UNCLE BUCK & SPACEBALLS
The days I spent with John Candy who was shooting UNCLE BUCK and Chicago Psychotronic Film Society co-founder Del Close were like being in a comedy super group.
For this story to make any sense you need backstory. It comes together exactly like a Harold, a 3 part Improv exercise where 3 separate routines come together in the final part. The Harold was first performed by The Committe in California in the 1960’s where Del Close was House Director, but in the days before computers did not spread as it would in the 80’s and 90’s across the Improv comedy scene. Del had turned it into an art form, and even created plays out of the form: HONOR FINNEGAN VERSUS THE BRAIN OF THE GALAXY for example and I would do the same later in several of my 19 plays. Here Honor talks about her work:
Tell us about your improv days. I understand that you studied with Del Close who has an extraordinary resume including work with Second City and Saturday Night Live. What did you learn from Del and has the art of improvisation helped you in your music career?
I studied and worked with Del from 17 years old to 22 or so. I learned a lot from his work and a lot from our relationship. He was a Svengali figure to me. The rules and goals of long-form improv have definitely shaped my thinking as an artist. Just trusting the creative process, taking a leap, and being courageous were great lessons.
I definitely want to know about “Honor Finnegan Versus the Brain of the Galaxy.”
I was on an improv team called, “Baron’s Barracuda’s.” We were the house team, and we put a lot of work into the Improv Olympic at Crosscurrents. Del wanted to do something special for us, so he decided we would write and stage a show. He was really into Japanese anime, sci-fi, and comic books so the idea for the show came from him. I was the heroine who saved humanity from the Brain of the Galaxy. I sang a love song to Godzilla where I had to drop to my knees. I bruise easily so I was black and blue for the entire run of the show.
The reason Del was into Japanese anime was because I turned him onto it. We would meet daily and watch anime with pages of translations provided to us by Doug Rice creator and artist of DYNAMO JOE comic books and often while watching these we would break into comedy scenes. I had no background in Improv comedy but I did know how to think in patterns.
Still there? Good, because all this will come together. Del and I watch this anime that wasn’t available in the U.S. for several months and he invites me to Crosscurrents where he is teaching and having comedy teams do performances for paying audiences. I have no idea what to expect and sit in my chair as Del hits the stage, tells a few funny observations and then without any warning, says “I would like you to meet my friend Mike Flores”, the audience gives polite applause, they didn’t know me and then Del said, “Come on up”.
Come on up? I walk up onstage and Del starts riffing as we had done watching Japanese anime and we locked in. For 20 minutes we did comedy. When it was over the crowd burst into applause and I headed not back to my seat but to the bar for a much-needed beer where the comedy teams were waiting to go on. Kim Howard Johnson who would go on to write books about Monty Python and Del, and Jim Murray, Bill’s brother, asked me what comedy team I was on and what classes was I taking. When I said none, I was met with stunned silence. I did not know that Del never did that. Never.
I asked Del if I should take a class or join a comedy team and he said, “No. You should teach a class” so I did.
John Candy had been on SCTV, still my favorite comedy show of all time. But here’s what you don’t know- Del created SCTV while at Second City in Chicago. However, his contract stated that any ideas he came up with were the property of Second City. He never got a credit in the credits, or a bonus from Second City. After he died, the head of Second City finally came clean to the press and admitted Del had Created SCTV. Del taught many comedians: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Stephen Colbert, Rachel Dratch, Mike Myers, Gilda Radner, Bob Odenkirk, Amy Sedaris, Chris Farley and many more all received improvisational comedy training from Del Close.
John Candy was shooting Uncle Buck and would come into Chicago to party, Del and I would meet up with him and have a ball. We spent several days and nights together and John would without any warning, go into an improv comedy scene and we were right there with him. It was amazing. We could be at a restaurant, walking to my place to watch Japanese anime, at a bar, it didn’t matter. On the street or in a place, John lived and breathed improv comedy, which is not adlibbing, as we were playing as well.
See I told you all the parts would come together! Here are some great bits from SCTV:
Click this link here for UNCLE BUCK
Click this link for SPACEBALLS here
Here the great Mel Brooks discusses SPACEBALLS:
Behind the paywall: Amicus Films : Part 2
In our second part of our Amicus odyssey we witness the continuing rise of the studios. We twist with Checker, Blow with Bilk, Train Ride with Dr Terror and dine with De Sade.
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The Chicago Psychotronic Film Society which begat The Global Psychotronic Film Society is quite a party. From it's earliest days with guests JOHN CLEESE, ROBERT DeNIRO, BILL MURRAY (our first dues paid member), DAN AYKROYD, SYDNEY POLLACK, RUSS MEYER, CLIVE BARKER, JOHN DUGAN, PENN AND TELLER, KENNETH ANGER, DARIO ARGENTO and many more there was nothing like it on earth. People travelled from all over the world to attend our parties or host them and none of the celebrities were paid to be at the events.
We did shows at bars and clubs LIMELIGHT, KABOOM, THE LYRIC OPERA (!), THE BIOGRAPH THEATER, THE LIAR'S CLUB and many more places. This meant you had to be 21 to attend and there were no dealer tables.
We were the only fandom that had an equal number of women in the group at a time when women avoided fandom! Join us on Facebook here: The party starts now
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