An improv format named after an inside joke might be the most impov-y thing ever. This longform improv structure was first performed and named in 1967 by San Francisco-based improv group, The Committee. (It’s comforting to know that improv team names have always been weird.) The team named the format “Harold” after a line in A Hard Day's Night where George Harrison refers to the name of his haircut as an “Arthur”. That’s some deep layers of comedy right there. The format was then further developed by Del Close, Charna Halpern, and brought to New York City by the Upright Citizens Brigade.
The best way to describe a Harold is that it consists of an opening to generate ideas, three first beats or scenes, (each with its own specific game), a group scene, revisiting the first three scenes in second beats, another group game, then third beats where the worlds all collide. While the perfect Harold can be hard to achieve, and the format itself sounds complicated, it’s actually not. We believe this so much so that we even named our first 4-week Harold workshop, “Harolds Are Fun (and Not That Complicated).” If you want to learn more about this format, sign up for the workshop! If you want to watch a Harold, stay tuned!