Oliver's final instructions regarding what is to happen to his skull after his death are a reference to a story about Chicago actor and improv instructor Del Close, who requested that after his death, his skull was to be donated to the Goodman Theatre for use as Yorick in its subsequent productions of Hamlet. After his death, Close's executor did indeed donate a human skull to the Goodman, and she claimed that it was Close's; but several years later, she admitted to The New Yorker that although she tried to carry out Close's wishes, the morgue wouldn't allow her to remove Close's head, so she instead bought a skull from a medical supply house and passed it off as Close's.