Official Trailer for Doc ‘For Madmen Only’ About Improv Guru Del Close
by Alex Billington
July 6, 2021
Source: YouTube
“If you’ve never heard of Del Close, that means you’re not a comedian – which is probably good news for you…” Utopia has released an official trailer for the documentary For Madmen Only, from filmmaker Heather Ross. The full title is For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close, and this premiered at the Chicago and Calgary Underground Film Festivals last year. Comedy guru Del Close, mentor to everyone from Bill Murray to Tina Fey, sets out to write his autobiography for DC Comics (called “Wasteland“). As he leads us through sewers, mental wards, and his peculiar talent for making everyone famous but himself, Close emerges as a personification of the creative impulse itself. “We knew that to make the definitive movie about this icon/unknown, we would need to take the same kind of creative risks that he was famous for. As someone known for breaking down genres and experimenting with form—not to mention playing fast and loose with the truth – we decided to apply the same ideas to our film and try to break new ground with the documentary genre.” That sounds like the kind of innovation I love to see – I’m looking forward to watching.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Heather Ross’ doc For Madmen Only, direct from YouTube:
Comedy guru Del Close, improv mentor to everyone from Bill Murray to Tina Fey, sets out to write his autobiography for D.C. Comics. In this at once hilarious and poignant look at the life of the godfather of improv comedy, Del Close, director Heather Ross tracks the trailblazer from “human torch” sideshow act to his influential and contentious rise at The Second City, mentoring such greats as Bill Murray, John Candy, and Tina Fey, among many others. Inspired by his semi-autobiographical DC Comics anthology Wasteland, the film delves into the inner workings of Close’s wacky mind through inspired reenactments, archival clips, and interviews with such devotees as Bob Odenkirk, Tim Meadows, and Adam McKay, among many others. The result is a lively, multi-layered picture of a man and his mission, riding on the edges of genius and despair, creativity, and insanity. For Madmen Only is directed by the Emmy-winning filmmaker Heather Ross, director of the doc film Girls on the Wall previously, and lots of TV work. It’s produced by Jennifer Pike. This initially premiered at the Chicago Film Festival last year. Utopia will release Ross’ doc For Madmen Only direct-to-VOD starting July 27th, 2021 this summer. For info, visit Altavod.
