Timothy “Speed” Levitch and the Art of Guiding a Tour

None who have seen the 1998 documentary The Cruise can forget its funny, eccentric, chattermouth star, Timothy “Speed” Levitch. He was a Gray Line tour guide in New York City who elevated the job to a form of avant-garde art, and his romantic monologues on art and sex and violence and depression in the big city filled the film from end to end. The director of that movie, Bennett Miller, would go on to direct the big-budget features Capote and Moneyball. But what happened to “Speed” Levitch?

It turns out that he moved to Kansas City and now leads barbecue-themed tours. But, according to the New Yorker, he was recently back in New York to film one of the episodes of a new series called “Up to Speed,” directed by the filmmaker Richard Linklater. The series is airing on Hulu. To read the story of a recent filming session, and Levitch’s musings on “the ancient craft of tour-guiding,” click here to be taken to the New Yorker‘s site. Or click here to go directly to the show’s page on Hulu.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2012 at 7:00 am. It is filed under New York City, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.