R.I.P. Dan

Unless the news I received about a couple of hours ago is some kind of sick prank, a good friend has passed away.

Dan Jagendorf was as good as they come. In a very short time he became a trusted friend and adviser, the kind of person who would come in and save your bacon time and time and time again, without a word of admonition or complaint.  In the most fraught and tense of situations, the extent of his ruffled feathers would be a small, ironic laugh. In my three years or so of getting to work with him off and on I really began to feel that that would have been his reaction to any set-back , any crisis. You’ve been marching through the desert, you’re dying of thirst and the oasis has turned out to be only a mirage? A small shrug – – and keep walking then. Where’s the logic of a big to-do? He was good at what he did, he knew it, and he liked helping people. Also, I think he would have been the first to agree (and admit) that it can be awfully entertaining to watch other people lose their cool.

I first met him at NY Fringe in 2010; he’d long been a pillar and an aid to CR, and he became that to me, as well.  The following year he was combination set/prop/lighting designer, production manager and tech director for my vaudeville show in the Fringe Festival. After that, he bailed me out many a time in much the same capacity, most recently our show in in the Burlesque Blitz at the Kraine Theatre last summer.

What’s particularly poignant is that he was working towards a very specific goal, working to get a Masters Degree through a combination of classes at CUNY and City Tech, as though he weren’t already indispensable with his existing skills. Still he was beefing up his resume. He was moving in a definite direction, and now that’s over.

Ultimately, he was just a nice guy to be around. He was dry and funny and pleasant, and (a word that doesn’t get used enough — because it doesn’t exist enough) he was decent.  It really hurts to lose someone like that.

The day I met him he was wearing a bicycle helmet and sunglasses with small rear-view mirrors attached — a striking first impression. Subsequently I’ve always pictured him with that gear on his head, because he almost always WAS wearing it. He rode his bike EVERYWHERE. It’s unthinkable to me that he wouldn’t be riding it right now, wherever he’s headed.