The Day I Met G. Gordon Liddy and Timothy Leary- And Smoked Pot!
One was a unrepentant Watergate burglar, one promoted LSD in the 1960's. Presiding over this was Del Close, Improv comedy guru. I have my moments!
I was sitting at home watching TV when the phone rang. It was my comedy partner and co-founder of The Chicago Psychotronic Film Society Del Close. Del is famous in comedy circles for his work in long form improvisation, as an instructor at the Second City in Chicago and for discovering a lot of the top comedians who would go on to be on Saturday Night Live and many movies. Pretty much everyone from the early days of SNL he worked with. He usually came over and spent the day with me watching Japanese animation Doug Rice had given me ( back in the days when Japanese animation was not available in the U.S.) and obscure horror movies.
He told me I needed to come over right away because he had history in his apartment. I asked what he meant and he said, "G. Gordon Liddy and Timothy Leary are over right now." I said I'd be right over.
Timothy Leary was famous or infamous depending on your point of view for promoting LSD both when it was legal and when it wasn’t. There is a famous Moody Blues song about him:
Here is a 20 minute bio about him:
Here is G. Gordon Liddy on FIRING LINE:
Here on DAVID LETTERMAN Liddy gives tips on going to prison which he did for his role in Watergate
Follow the Fear: The Influence of Del Close
Del Close's students and colleagues share their thoughts on the improv genius. Featuring Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Stephanie Weir, Robin Williams and Joan Rivers. With comedy historian Kim 'Howard' Johnson.
He was the only one of the leaders of that who went to prison. Everyone else made a deal but he didn't, those who made a deal didn't have to testify against Nixon because Ford pardoned him so they escaped both jail and testifying. Liddy however, chose prison. He knew he was in danger of being killed as he was a former FBI agent, so from the first day he would walk naked to the showers. Everyone thought he was crazy and left him alone! Liddy had a fear of rats which the prison was filled with so he caught and killed one and cooked it in his cell and ate it to get over his fear. Liddy was a true bad ass.
Timothy Leary had promoted taking LSD both when it was legal and not. His slogan caught on, "Turn on. Tune in and drop out". It was actually a brilliant slogan as it tied to something everyone already did. Before remotes, you turned on your TV, tuned in your channel and dropped out onto the couch. It is interesting to note that Wikipedia states: As a clinical psychologist at Harvard University, Leary worked on the Harvard Psilocybin Project from 1960 to 1962 (LSD and psilocybin were still legal in the United States at the time), resulting in the Concord Prison Experiment and the Marsh Chapel Experiment. The scientific legitimacy and ethics of his research were questioned by other Harvard faculty because he took psychedelics along with research subjects and pressured students to join in. - Wikipedia. Actually many students have said he never pressured anyone. The LSD was from the CIA by the way. The Concord Prison Experiment was stunning because the prisoners given LSD under therapy had a return to prison rate that was unheard of at the time. 80% did not return to prison, while 80% of the regular prisoners did.
And I was about to meet both these two men.
Del lived on Wells Street across from Second City where Belushi and so many comedians learned their craft. A few buildings away was the original EXIT, a rough and tumble punk rock bar that bikers liked to hang out at. Del's door was never locked, trust me if a burglar ever walked in there he would be pleading for his life within minutes but I didn't see anyone in. But I could smell the pot smoke so I followed it to Del's bedroom. Del was sitting on the bed, Liddy was in a chair and Leary was cross legged on the floor. Del introduced me as he passed me a joint, I took a hit and did the hippie thing, I passed it to Liddy who said and did nothing and I realized I was passing a joint to a man who could kill me in seconds. So I passed it to Leary and suddenly realized I was smoking pot with Timothy Leary.
Wow.
In front of the man who went to prison for Nixon!
I would embarrassingly made this mistake again just from the habit of passing a joint on and Liddy never said a word about it but he didn't touch it either. It just wasn't there. That is when Liddy blew my mind.
He began asking Del about improvisation and how you could use it in debates (he and Leary were about to do a series of debates on college campuses) and I want you to know that after working with hundreds of comedians he asked the best questions I have ever heard in my life. They say you judge a wise man not by his statements but the questions he asks and I can assure you Liddy was a wise man. No one has ever topped the questions he asked that day and I have directed 19 plays created from improvisation.
When Liddy died there are those whose knee jerk reaction would be "I'm glad he's dead". I was not. Goodbye Mr. Liddy, and I know you were much more than the cartoon your enemies turned you into. You were a man's man. Respect.
Behind the paywall: An actual campus debate between Leary and Liddy!
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