To My Great Chagrin: Primary Participants

Eric Bogosian
Writer / Actor

"It was not performance art. It was mongrel theater. Theodore made a major impact on me. He was so highly ironic and so fierce. That was new. Nothing else like it. What I was looking at was a guy who was leapfrogging back in time, past the avant-garde, past the Beat Generation, going back to Weimar cabaret stuff."

Woody Allen
Film director / Writer / Actor / Comedian

"He was kind of an oddball attraction in the 1950's that would give these storytelling performances down in the village. When I first saw him, he was around when I was a teenager. You could go and see Theodore. Sit in the theater and he'd regale you with these stories. He was extremely histrionic and flambouyant. A very, very effective, intense storyteller. He did get quite a few laughs. I was a fan of his like everybody else."

Penn & Teller
Magicians / Comedy Team

"What you have there is a proud freak. This is my world view. You can laugh at me if you want. I know you're laughing at me. And that's okay, because I'm telling you the truth. It was remarkable. I don't know if there's anyone who was more of a pure inspiration in theater than Theodore to us. It was enormous."

Bruce Pandolfini
Chess Champion

"He had that voice. No matter what he said, he could be funny. He knew me because I was part of the chess scene. He was a decent chess player. (He) Could hold his own. I think it gave him much relief to work out any kind of plan and see it realized. In life we settle for a lot of things. In chess you don't have to."

Lydia Stryk
Playwright

"For me there's this sense in this long arch of history in this one man. Then this self-creation. How you can create a radically free identity for yourself. This man who was very old riffing on what that meant. That he was near death. I think one of the beauties about Theo is he had this nihilistic show, yet he was one of the most hopeful, life-affirming, romantic characters in real life. That wonderful paradox."

Harlan Ellison
Writer

"Teddy was mesmerizing. There was a passion, there was a mystical quality, an arcane depth to him that absolutely froze into place an entire audience. He was absolutely the most paralyzing, compelling performer I've ever seen."

Dick Cavett
Actor / Talk-Show Host

"It was goose-pimple-making. He was so dramatic without haven spoken yet. And I began to think this might be a mad man on the brink. And something awful may happen in the next minute. To me that's almost the sessence of good acting in theater – a sense of danger."

Joe Dante
Film director / Film producer

"He was mesmerizing. Just fascinating. There was a lot going on with this guy. We now know the kind of childhood and adulthood he had. And that colored his view on life and pushed him to a rather dark corner. I think he was a pioneer in that. I don't think anybody was doing that. Lenny Bruce was doing stuff, issue-oriented. But Theodore was pushing it, in a performance art direction."

Henry Gibson
Actor

"I made the trip to NY and suddenly found myself watching – Brother Theodore. And I really wasn't sure what I was seeing. And on reflection now, I realize it's like what it must been like with people's exposure to great art the first time.. Perhaps the first audience of Stravinsky or Picasso first dabbling of cubisism. You didn't know what you were seeing, but you knew it was important. And you wanted to know more."

Tom Schiller
Writer & Director / Saturday Night Live Featured Player

"I adore Brother Theodore. He's a mensch. A lot of comedians do material, and it's not drawn from themselves. But you can tell this man has been through serious angst in his life. He's had many failures and disappointments in his life. But he's managed to make this hilarious version of his life."

To My Great Chagrin: Story Participants

Woody Allen
Gretchen Berger
Len Belzer
Eric Bogosian
Fred Casten
Dick Cavett
Oliver Clark
Bob Claster
Joe Dante
Christopher Dodrill
Harlan Ellison
Henry Gibson
J Jack Finelli
Julian Firestone
Henry Jaglom
Michael Jaglom
Penn Jillette
Tom Lonner
Sidney Mason
Adam Mell
Lorca Morello
Robert Morton
Sandra Nordgren
Tom O'Connor
Edith O'Hara
Bruce Panolfini
Barry Richardson
Teller
Tom Schiller
Mark Shulman
Lydia Stryk
Dina von Zweck