The Salad in the Pants Theory of Acting
NY Times book critic Dwight Garner was asking for some public speaking advice on Twitter earlier today. Comedy nerds know the best advice comes from improv guru Del Close. (Or, quite possibly, from actor John Brent.)
Here’s the legend, as recounted in Kim “Howard” Johnson’s book on Del, The Funniest One in the Room.
Taking Elaine May’s advice that an actor should have a secret from the audience, Del “decided to fill his underwear with coleslaw, in hopes of adding an extra layer of depth to his performance that evening. The device worked perfectly at first, and gave his performance an edge. But that edge wore off as the coleslaw reached body temperature…”
Johnson goes on to explain what happened after Del forgot about the coleslaw, and also reveals that Del likely “borrowed” this story from John Brent and made it his own. Brent called it his “Salad in the Pants Theory of Acting.”
Good luck, Dwight!
