THE BRAVEST COMEDIAN
Hyde Park in Chicago was a place for early progressives, leftists, communists and those who believed in integration. The University of Chicago, known as the "the place where fun goes to die" has an architectural style that reminds one of how all architecture would look if the Church and state were one. In the 1950's it was an area surrounded by poverty and one tread carefully away from the college. There was an incredible Chinese restaurant on 63rd Street but one did not walk there. There were blues clubs on 47th street, real blues clubs not tourist traps, but one drove to those as well. There was Jimmy's, a bar where students tried to relax but more often than not chess games and discussions of philosophy dominated. The Point was a spot you could go to- and study while looking at a hill and the lake. The Medici which everyone in Hyde Park mispronounced, MED-E-CHI instead of the Italian family name. It was a gallery and coffee shop at the time. The Museum of Science and Industry, a building left over from the World's Fair of 1893 had a German U-Boat and working coal mine in it. That was just about it. For 90% of the students at the school the work was difficult and grueling. Then there is that lucky 10% who seemed to float through school - who went to Jimmy's to drink, who turned lectures into high comedy and pulled pranks while everyone around them toiled.
No one before or since pulled pranks and got away with them the way Severn Darden did. No one.
The buildings invoke a a Medieval feel, so Darden got himself a cloak ala Sherlock Holmes and marched through the campus. Even among the eccentrics of Hyde Park, Darden stood out.
He had decided to find ways into every building on the campus. This was not easy to do, as the campus police force rivalled Chicago's in size, and guards were in every building. Where to start? Severn had come to Chicago via Vermont, but was born and raised in New Orleans. His dad ran for State's Attorney and promised that he would treat all races equally- which outraged the Klan. Up until then, a black witness could not testify against a white man or woman. This caused many death threats to the family, and might help explain why Severn was sent to school in Vermont. His father was given an award by the NAACP when they discovered he meant what he had said.
Rockerfeller Chapel! Perfect! His cloak on, Severn made his way into the building through an open window, and crept by the sleeping guard.
Into this imposing Chapel he crept armed only with a flashlight looking for his way of showing the campus he had penetrated this structure. The organ! The massive organ that could be heard throughout the campus!
He found it, and sat down to play. Quietly at first, then loud and booming. The sleeping guard awoke, and took a minute to realize what was happening. The sound of the organ was now echoing through the building and out into the Hyde Park night. The guard pulled his gun and cautiously moved towards the organ area. Flashlight in one hand, gun in the other, he came upon Severn in cloak playing a real life Phantom Of The Opera. As the light hit Severn he darted from the organ with the guard in hot pursuit. Running into the chapel he flung himself onto the altar and shouted,
SANCTUARY!
This startled the guard who was confused and did not know what to do as Severn escaped into the night.
Next he picked a target that was considered impenetrable. The girls showers!
Dressed in his cloak he found a way into the building, pass the guards and wandered into the showers where the girls in mass were taking their shower.
EXCUSE ME, IS THIS THE WAY TO CLARK STREET ?
He said deadpan and the girls went from screams to laughter. He got away with it!
There was an expression still in use from early America, "Is the game worth the candle?", it was from the days before electricity when you had to use a candle, a rare item, to entertain after dark. Severn carried a candle on him at all times, should some stuffy Prof or dismissive student say the line to him, he pulled the candle out! There was no comeback. There was no way to top him.
Severn had topped every prank at the College. It was time to find a new victim. He chose Bard College and noted the Dean's house was atop a slope. He gathered some students together, and they built a crucifix , got him a loin cloth and hoisted him on the hill. Because of the slope you couldn't see him until you came up the hill. He was crucified in front of the Dean's house! The Dean expelled him for that one. Severn looked up at him and spoke, but not to apologize,
THAT'S TOO BAD I WAS GOING TO WRITE YOU A CHECK!
Fearless. Improvisational. Quick witted. Eccentric. He bought a Rolls Royce when no one collected them, a 1929 one and drove around with his cloak on.
He decided to become an actor. But he was on a path to meet Del Close.
(Thanks to Encounters and Reflections: Conversations with Seth Benardete for prank information).
