UCB Del Close Marathon 2019 Tee

New for the 2019 Del Close Marathon, Los Angeles! 

• Who is Del Close?

Del Close is generally considered the father of Improv. He was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years, influencing Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley, and the Upright Citizens Brigade, to name a few.

• UCB on Del Close

"He just challenged you to be better." - Matt Besser 

"The best advice Del ever gave me was to be fairly close to yourself. Let your performance come through the rules so it was organic." - Ian Roberts 

"He lived his life to make improv an art form unto itself." - Matt Walsh 

"He was a comedy genius who had taught all of my heroes." - Amy Poehler

• What is the Del Close Marathon?

The Del Close Marathon is an improv festival founded by the Upright Citizens Brigade after Del's passing in 1999. UCB's mission was to celebrate their mentor and keep his name and teachings alive for future generations.  

The first DCM had 36 shows in 30 hours at one venue. Over the next 2 decades in New York City, DCM expanded to 3 days, multiple venues, and hundreds of shows.

This year, DCM21 heads to Los Angeles for the first time ever, and will return to its roots with a limited number of great UCB improv teams performing and paying tribute to the man responsible for turning improvisational comedy into its own art-form.