Talk:Harold (improvisation)

List of Harold Forms
Why are we listing other improv forms as kinds of harolds? The Armando and The Movie, for example, are unique forms, and not a subcategory of Harold (especially the way Harold is defined in the rest of the article.) Should this be changed to "List of Other Improv Forms?"
 * I have removed these. It was misleading. 50.247.76.51 (talk) 21:08, 19 December 2018 (UTC)

Purple Crayon
When first inserted, the Purple Crayon reference suggested that that the well-known children's book may have been the source of the name. That seemed like speculation, yet the connection, coincidental or not, seemed interesting enough to leave in. (If you've ever seen the book, it is remarkably improv-like.) The improv group here functions as proof that some people have made this connection, that it's not just original research. (I have no connection to the improv group or to Yale--I know nothing about them other than their name.) Nareek 12:43, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Up to his death, Del Close repeatedly said:
 * The name Harold means nothing
 * He regrets naming the form Harold, because it's silly and means nothing. He wondered how Eistein would have felt if the theory of relatively was named "George."

Theories about the Harold would be relevant if it were up to debate. Especially a college improv group's. It's as off topic as posting about the Poughkeepsie Community Players on a David Mamet page. Sandofsky 21:10, 29 August 2006 (UTC)


 * It's not a theory about where the name comes from--it's a connection between the name of the improv form and another cultural artifact that has been noted by some improvisers. It's not unlike the way the wiki article (I assume) notes that the origin of the name is in a Hawaiian taxi stand, but that other people interpret as meaning "what I know is".  It seems like the sort of surprising connection that is appropriate to an article about improv. I think it would make Del Close happy. Nareek 23:14, 29 August 2006 (UTC)


 * One group's feelings aren't pertinant to the Harold. The story behind a Beatles cover band in Tuscon is irrelevant when talking about the Beatles. Start a subsection about its effects on the improv world, and supply more examples. Otherwise, it looks like a plug for a group nobody has heard of or cares about.Sandofsky 02:05, 30 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I think the Yale improv troupe:Tuscon cover band analogy is inapt. A cover band is an imitation of a band, whereas an improv troupe is really doing the Harold; Tuscon is not known for its music scene, whereas Yale is one of the country's most prestigious drama schools.


 * But the claim is not that the Yale improv troupe is notable; the claim is that the synchonicity between the randomly chosen name and the famous children's book character is remarkable. To say that it's not relevant because it's not what Del Close had in mind is like saying that an improv is a failure because it's not what the person who shouted the word out had in mind. The improv troupe functions simply as a footnote showing that some people who participate in improv make this connection, that it's not simply OR. Nareek 12:51, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Mr. Show
Could Mr. Show be considered a Harold based show? It is likely that Odenkirk, having been a student of Close, utilized this style in his show. -DJ1AM (talk) 19:25, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Adding a section for the second group game between the second and third beats?
I think their should be a section for the group game that occurs between the 2nd and 3rd beats. Every other section in the form got its own section in the article. I am not expert on the Harold, when it comes to improv, I am merely an egg... — Preceding unsigned comment added by JPollock412 (talk • contribs) 13:57, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Modified Harolds
The Modified Harolds list looks rather spurious (especially the Applebees reference). Can someone with pertinent expertise clean it up? Sdkb (talk) 08:26, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

What is a Harold?
This article fails in its first and most important job. I doesn't say what a Harold is. While it says it is a "structure used in longform improvisational theatre that is performed by troupes and teams" it fails to say how it is different every and any other longform improvisational structure. It a Harold is any and every longform improvisational structure... then it also fail to state that either. Since this not included, little if anything else can be said to guess at how to clear this hurdle. tahc chat 21:33, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

The above issue is still present. Boil down the article to the actual relevant material and it's basically saying "Harold is way of referring to any improv show, that people who do improv don't like and people who don't do improv don't understand." Predestiprestidigitation (talk) 03:55, 22 April 2020 (UTC)

The previous two observations are still correct. This article does not say what [the] Harold is. Imagine if the article on Marshmallow said "it's a candy" and then the rest of article were about when the marshmallow was invented and the luminary historical figures of marshmallow making. That's as close an analogy as I can think of off the top of my head. Improvisers who've not experienced or learned [the] Harold will not find this article to be a useful description. It needs more. Cernansky (talk) 01:45, 29 February 2024 (UTC)