Jerry Wainwright’s Trunk

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There are two separate strands of inquiry that lead us to this trunk.

The first was inspired by Larry Hankin’s reference to a Tarot Card deck that featured members of The Committee. He couldn’t remember the name of the photographer. We chased this around for a while, but hit dead-ends and abandoned the search.

Our second, more direct, route was revealed via the tapes that we received from John Brent’s son Jeremy Paz. These tapes consisted of recorded interviews conducted by Peter Elbling in 1985 with members of The Committee, in remembrance of John Brent, who died that year.

Elbling’s interview with Howard Hesseman shed light on a production company that Howard ran with photographer Jerry Wainwright in 1970-71. Dubbed “Narcissistic Purposes Productions”, the company’s output included a series of theatrical still-lifes, featuring Committee members, that were used as artwork for the theater lobby. (We already had an example of this work on-hand: an 8×10 image of John Brent as mad scientist Dr. Servo de la Lune which was provided to us by Ruth Silveira. For some time we mistakenly took this image as an ad for a John Brent solo performance. This link from a year ago also shows how off the mark we were.)

Jerry Wainwright (1926-1997) was a prolific photographer who documented The Committee extensively. Wainwright later helped to bring to life the ethnic/hippie fashions trends of the day with his and Alexandra Jacopetti Hart’s book Native Funk and Flash.

To make a long story short, after a great visit with Jerry’s widow Ann, we left with the trunk pictured above.

Ann has entrusted us with a significant piece of history.

The trunk holds an overwhelming amount of negatives, a few printed photographs, a few contact sheets here and there. All are from the late 1960s/early 1970s.

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Most of the negatives are 35mm, in paper sleeves. A few  negatives are 4×5, and one appears to by 7×9. After crudely separating Committee-related material from his other work, here are some highlights.

  • 19 4×5 negatives of Narcissistic Purposes stills, featuring Don Sturdy, John Brent, Ruth Silviera, Gary Austin, Julie Payne, Morgan Upton, Alan Myerson, and many more. The stills read like silent movie posters, with titles, loglines, etc. These are from 1970. (example)
  • The Tarot Card photo series, featuring members of The Committee.
  • studio portraits of John Brent, Larry Hankin, Morgan Upton, Ruth Silveira, Diann Hendrickson from the early ’70s.
  • Action shots of The Committee 1983 reunion/Bread and Roses benefit.
  • Action shots of The Committee at 622 Broadway
  • Country Joe and the Fish photographs, including Narcissistic Purposes Productions album cover
  • Congress of Wonders photos.
  • fashion photography

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We took the Narcissistic Purposes negatives to the lab to be scanned immediately.

For the archive, our priority to make sure the material is safely stored (smaller boxes, new sleeves). We are determining the cost of developing the Committee-related negatives to contact sheets, but will soon start developing the material that intrigues most.

We intend to work closely with Ann and Wainwrights’ estate as we move forward to make use of the treasures in this trunk. If you have question or tips email samshaw@sfimprovfestival.com.

Wanted: Everett Cornell

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“Everett Cornell, a dropout from both Roosevelt University and The American Conservatory of Music, comes from Chicago’s ‘middle ghetto’, where he was a member of The Blackstone Rangers. He gave up a serious study of the saxophone to study drama with The Committee Workshop. He joined the ranks of the review this past summer when Committee member Melvin Stewart left the company to start his Bantu Theater in the Hunter’s Point area of San Francisco..” – San Mateo Times, Nov. 8, 1968.

Cornell was one of four African-American members of The Committee ensemble. The pic below is from an extensive photo shoot that The Committee participated in when putting together The Music Scene television show.

Cornell was in The Committee for a couple years, but other than a few newspaper mentions and photos, we’ve completely lost his trail. If anyone has information about this actor, please let us know.

KPFA Profile on The Committee, circa 1965, Now Online.

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Last year we discovered some recordings related to The Committee in the Pacifica Radio archives. We shelled out a small fee to digitize them, and found them to be quite the treasure trove – enlightening and inspiring (and hilarious). One of the segments that we selected, a 30 minute profile of The Committee from 1965, has been posted online in its entirety and it’s a must listen for students of improvisational theater and modern satire.

Described as An evening with the San Francisco repertory theatre company “whose forte is comic improvisations and set pieces”. Narrated and produced by Jack Nessel, technical production by John Whiting. 1965, this recording really has everything: successful and less than successful games and spot improvisations, the song “I’m Not The Least Bit Prejudiced”, and extensive commentary from Committee director Alan Myerson. It’s an incredible piece of comedy history. We love it. Give it a listen and check out John Whiting’s KPFA History page for more gems.

The 2015 San Francisco Improv Festival.

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In addition to our Committee project, we are also part of the team that produces The San Francisco Improv Festival, an annual celebration of improvisational theater at The Eureka, at the foot of North Beach in San Francisco. It’s coming up next month, and features cutting edge work by companies near and far. This year, the program includes visits from Matt Besser (UCB, improv4humans), WeirDass (Stephnie Weir & Bob Dassie), Susan Messing, and many many more. If you want us to recommend some shows, message us. We’d love to have you join the party.