Brian Stack (most recently a writer for Conan) shot this interview with Del Close in 1986.

Jesse Thorn of The Sound of Young America says:

When [Brian Stack] was 19, he was an intern at a public access station, and he made this video report. The subject is Del Close, with whom Stack had just started his first class at the Improv Olympic. [...] The video is in black and white, because Brian accidentally set the camera to "monitor" mode, but it's a totally amazing time capsule and about 10 minutes of wisdom from the greatest guru of improvisation.

In included footage of performances caught glimpses of Dave Pasquesi and Mick Napier (with hair!).

(via Boing Boing)

Here then are the groups I've just added to the United States, Canada, and World Improv Groups Pages:

• Acid Reflux Comedy Troupe (Batavia, IL)
• ActingOut (Keene, NH)
• The Amish Monkeys (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Attention Deficit Disorder (Los Angeles, CA)
• Blackout (Chicago, IL)
• Bring Your Own Improv (Providence, RI)
• Changing Jennifers (Adelaide, SA, Australia)
• Cheap Sox (Medford, MA)
• Choke Comedy Improv (Limerick, Ireland)
• Don't Break the Streak (Harrisburg, PA)
• Don't Mind Us (Saskatoon, SK)
• Fill in the Blank Improv (Sault Sainte Marie, MI)
• A Fish Called Improv (Brighton, UK)
• Gay/Straight Alliance (Minneapolis, MN)
• Got Jokes? (Tampa, FL)
• Guys In Ties (Rock Island, IL)
• HiJinks Improv Comedy (Salt Lake City, UT)
• Improfessioneel (The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands)
• ImproNow (Willunga, SA, Australia)
• Improsant (Zurich, Switzerland)
• Improvável (Brazil)
• ImprovCity (Tustin, CA)
• The Improv Effect (Jacksonville, FL)
• Improvisaatioteatteri JOO (Jyväskylä, Finland)
• ImproZoo (Riga, Latvia)
• K.A.R.L. Improv (St. Louis, MO)
• Klancyk (Warsaw, Poland)
• Knights of Comedy (Los Angeles, CA)
• Kwik - Kameralna Wielka Improwizacja Kabaretowa (Wrocław, Poland)
• Locked Out Comedy (Dallas, TX)
• Mikomiko Improv (Honolulu, HI)
• No Drama Theatre Improvlova (Dublin, Ireland)
• Now Improv (Los Angeles, CA)
• OKC Improv (Oklahoma City, OK)
• The Ones Your Mother Warned You About (Oklahoma City, OK)
• Out of the Basement Improv (Denver, CO)
• Panda Smackdown (Sydney, NSW, Australia)
• Pitt Improvers (Bradford, PA)
• Portable Reality Show (Poulsbo, WA)
• Positively Funny, Inc. (Birmingham, AL)
• Rosa Parks Improv (Vancouver, BC)
• San Ramon Improv U (San Ramon, CA)
• The Scat Pack (London, UK)
• Search Engine Improv (Rochester, NY)
• See Spot Run (Columbus, OH)
• die Spielzeugen (Freiburg, Germany)
• Spontaneous Insanity (Perth, WA, Australia)
• Steel City Improv Theater (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Teater Liksom (Oslo, Norway)
• Teatro a Molla (Bologna, Italy)
• Tremebundo (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Twisted Gray Matter (San Ramon, CA)
• Unleashed! Improv (Rochester, NY)
• The Wait List (Los Angeles, CA)
• W Improv: Ultimate Improv in Toronto (Toronto, ON)

• Chaos Comedy (Phoenix, AZ)
  
• Fool Disclosure (Fort Collins, CO)
  
• FORK (Denver, CO)
  
• The Box Performance Space (Albuquerque, NM)
  
• Convoy (Los Angeles, CA)
  
• SkyPunch! (Newport, RI)
  
• Sea Tea Improv (Hartford, CT)
  
• USS Rock N Roll (Los Angeles, CA)
  
• Caca Happens! (Croton on Hudson, NY)
  
• ComedySportz Sacramento (Sacramento, CA)
  
• Cult of the Stage Monkey (Lafayette, LA)
  
• Friends of the Museum (New York, NY)
  
• Rhonda (New York, NY)
  
• Helicopter Dance Off (Long Branch, NJ)
  
• ICU - Improv Comedy Underground (Mobile, AL)
  
• The Improv Society (San Francisco, CA)
  
• Village Idiots Improv Comedy (Rochester, NY)
  
• Jonny Whiteboard (Los Angeles, CA)
  
• La Nuit Theater (New Orleans, LA)
  
• Laughter For A Change (Los Angeles, CA)
  
• Improv-Ka-Bob (Tustin, CA)
  
• One Night Stand: An Improvised Musical (Los Angeles, CA)
  
• Portland Playback Theatre (Portland, ME)
  
• Pull The String Productions (Columbus, OH)
  
• Spontaneous Combustion (San Francisco, CA)
  
• The Escapists (Portland, ME)
  
• The Gentleman (Phoenix, AZ)
  
• The Unmistakables (Mount Vernon, WA)
  
• Trapped In A Rumor (Concord, CA)
  
• Twinprov (Oklahoma City, OK)
  

Canada

• Dangerous Portion (Vancouver, BC)
  
• Montreal Improv (Montreal, QC)
  
• KCVImprov (Kingston, ON)
  

World

• W Goracej Wodzie Kompani (Gdansk, Poland)
  
• Belgische Improvisatie Liga (Vlaanderen, Belgium)
  
• The Improvements (Stockholm, Sweden)
  
• The Lunetics (Utrecht, Netherlands)
  
• Taichung Improv (Taichung City, Taiwan)
  
• Stupid Lovers (Bremen, Germany)
  
• The Party Quirks (Islamabad, Pakistan)
  
• The Improvisors (Wellington, New Zealand)
  
• TAP - Theater am Puls (Bern, Switzerland)
  

(via @jose602)

Avian Players Improv Workshop (USA - New York)
Crache-Texte (World - France)
Dutch Blitzkrieg (USA - Pennsylvania)
EXiT 185 Improv Troupe (USA - Arizona)
The Extant Jesters Improductions (Canada - Ontario)
Grand Theft Impro (Canada - British Columbia)
Improv 4 Kids (USA - New York)
Improv Jones Boston (USA - Massachusetts)
ImprovXpress (World - UK)
Istanbulimpro (World - Turkey)
KICASS (Canada - Nova Scotia)
Laiva (World - Latvia)
Left Right TIM (USA - Colorado)
Light Rail Pirates (USA - Arizona)
Mail Order Bride (USA - Arizona)
Pirates of the Dotombori (World - Japan)
Red Dirt Improv (USA - Oklahoma)
Rumor Has It Improv (USA - California)
Theatre By Proxy (Canada - British Columbia)
Underage Sugar Addicts (USA - Illinois)
Under Pressure (USA - Washington)
VAMP Shows (USA - Indiana)
Wingin' It (USA - Pennsylvania)

Trust Us, This is All Made Up, a feature length documentary about Chicago improvisors TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi -- stars of the long-running show TJ and Dave -- will premiere in March at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. There is also a showing scheduled for April at the Independent Film Festival Boston.

(via Coudal)

AV Improv Group (World - India)
The Bit Players (USA - Rhode Island)
The Cellar Dwellers (USA - Pennsylvania)
Chatham Improv (USA - New York)
Code Red Improv (USA - Texas)
Counter Productive Lover (USA - Illinois)
Cubed (USA - Pennsylvania)
The Dog Ate My Scenework (World - Netherlands)
Dubbel en Dwars (World - Netherlands)
entreparentesis (World - Argentina)
Eux (World - France)
Extemporaneous Theatre Company (USA - Alabama)
Froduce (USA - New York)
The HANdsomes (World - Netherlands)
Hustlebot (USA - Pennsylvania)
Illegal Refill (USA - Pennsylvania)
Improvisationstheater Schmetterlings (World - Germany)
InterPlay (USA - California)
IYFI - In Yo Face Improv (USA - Hawaii)
KEK_ (World - Netherlands)
The Laughing Stock Improv Group (USA - South Carolina)
Laugh Olympics Berlin (World - Germany)
Long Story Short (USA - Florida)
Massive Improv (USA - Texas)
Naples City Improv (USA - Florida)
Oh Susanna! (Canada - Alberta)
Paperback Rhino (USA - Iowa)
Power 2 Improv (USA - Florida)
Private Schools Aren't Funny (World - UK)
Safeword (USA - Maryland)
The Super Happy Improv Troupe (USA - New York)
Waterbrains (USA - California)
Yours Truly Theatre (World - India)

9. DON'T COMPETE ON PRICE. Compete on the quality of your shows. People don't buy iPhones because they're cheap. They buy them because they're good and do what they promise, and do it well. You've got to price the show reasonably, but will people come see a show because it's cheap? No they come because it's funny, or a friend told them it about it. Give them a good show and you can charge what a movie charges, or possibly in the range of a traditional theater.

We're celebrating our third year in our cozy space with three days of improv, friends and fun. America's most eccentric city plays host
to improv's most exciting performers and teachers.

Visit www.neworleansimprovfestival.com to apply. Applications are due August 1st, 2008.

Questions call 504-899-0336 or email ian@lanuittheater.com

This is the improv festival you wish you could take home in your pocket!

(via Coudal)