Del Close left us for Whatever Comes next on March 4, 1999, leaving behind a theatre (the iO), a partner (Charna), and countless friends and improvisers. He is no longer a living legend, but he’ll never be forgotten by those of us who were lucky enough to know him and study with him. His life and career are way too long to do them justice in this post, but it isn’t hard to discover him via Google (or even in my own book “The Funniest One in the Room: the Lives and Legends of Del Close”). There are few people who have improvised in the past few decades who don’t owe him a debt of gratitude. He was one of my best friends, and I was lucky enough to know him for 16 years. It’s now been 16 years since Del has been gone, but his legend hasn’t diminished one iota.