Comments on: About this blog http://kevinmullaney.com Theatre, books, improv, poker, food and dementia Fri, 18 May 2012 21:16:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: mullaney http://kevinmullaney.com/about/comment-page-1/#comment-595 mullaney Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:31:49 +0000 #comment-595 We start to get into something like that near the end of the podcast I did live in NYC. I think one could construct a better argument than that is what they do in Chicago. Perhaps that might be a good topic for a post here or a themed version of the podcast. Here are some thoughts about it though. Assume that when I refer to Harold, I'm referring to the traditional structured Harold that is described in Truth in Comedy: Harold is a form that requires you to bring back scenes and do second beats where you specifically explore and heighten something you discovered in a previous scene. Harold has group games built into the structure where everyone is supposed to be onstage working together toward one goal. Harold is a form that forces you to create scenes and characters that are initially not connected to one another and wait to connect them until the third beats. Harold eats everything, meaning it's a form where everything is welcome: serious scenes and funny scenes, performance art, music, poetry, parody, satire, etc. There are a lot of forms which lack almost all of these features, so that if you did montages of two person scenes instead of Harolds, you wouldn't end up practicing all the great things that can go into a Harold. I don't think there is anything particularly magical about the Harold structure. It's kind of like writing sonnets for poets though. You can become a great poet without studying sonnets, but most likely you will be a better poet if you learn how to write sonnets and practice doing them early on. I think the same is true of Harold for improvisors. We start to get into something like that near the end of the podcast I did live in NYC. I think one could construct a better argument than that is what they do in Chicago. Perhaps that might be a good topic for a post here or a themed version of the podcast. Here are some thoughts about it though. Assume that when I refer to Harold, I’m referring to the traditional structured Harold that is described in Truth in Comedy:

Harold is a form that requires you to bring back scenes and do second beats where you specifically explore and heighten something you discovered in a previous scene.

Harold has group games built into the structure where everyone is supposed to be onstage working together toward one goal.

Harold is a form that forces you to create scenes and characters that are initially not connected to one another and wait to connect them until the third beats.

Harold eats everything, meaning it’s a form where everything is welcome: serious scenes and funny scenes, performance art, music, poetry, parody, satire, etc.

There are a lot of forms which lack almost all of these features, so that if you did montages of two person scenes instead of Harolds, you wouldn’t end up practicing all the great things that can go into a Harold. I don’t think there is anything particularly magical about the Harold structure. It’s kind of like writing sonnets for poets though. You can become a great poet without studying sonnets, but most likely you will be a better poet if you learn how to write sonnets and practice doing them early on. I think the same is true of Harold for improvisors.

]]> By: Greg http://kevinmullaney.com/about/comment-page-1/#comment-592 Greg Tue, 07 Dec 2010 05:38:39 +0000 #comment-592 Hi there from a land where we don't have what you have in improv (pretty much everything) but we do have the internet. We were discussing the importance of the Harold in improv and why it is used so much. Is there already a podcast that covers this already? Cause right now my best argument is "that is what they do in Chicago" (maybe not my most thoughtful but it's hard to top). Thanks Greg Hi there from a land where we don’t have what you have in improv (pretty much everything) but we do have the internet. We were discussing the importance of the Harold in improv and why it is used so much. Is there already a podcast that covers this already? Cause right now my best argument is “that is what they do in Chicago” (maybe not my most thoughtful but it’s hard to top).
Thanks
Greg

]]> By: mullaney http://kevinmullaney.com/about/comment-page-1/#comment-591 mullaney Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:33:31 +0000 #comment-591 Email me at ircmullaney (at) gmail. Email me at ircmullaney (at) gmail.

]]> By: Andy Short http://kevinmullaney.com/about/comment-page-1/#comment-581 Andy Short Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:13:16 +0000 #comment-581 Hey Kevin, How might one interested in talking the podcast get in contact with you? E-mail? Twitter? Text message? Let me know, thanks! -Andy S Hey Kevin,

How might one interested in talking the podcast get in contact with you? E-mail? Twitter? Text message? Let me know, thanks!

-Andy S

]]> By: Kevin Mullaney.com » New Improv Class, July in Chicago http://kevinmullaney.com/about/comment-page-1/#comment-535 Kevin Mullaney.com » New Improv Class, July in Chicago Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:24:35 +0000 #comment-535 [...] About this blog [...] [...] About this blog [...]

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