Long Form Improvisation and American Comedy: The Harold by Matt Fotis (review)

Matt Fotis’s thorough book shines a light on the largely neglected field of long form improvisation, particularly the Harold—a long form structure that develops interwoven scenes from a single word—and makes a valuable contribution to the relatively small canon of texts on improvisation. Fotis addresses the history of improvisation, the emergence of important companies and figures, the development of the Harold and its many variations, and its impact on television and film. The methodical analysis and breadth of information that Fotis provides is impressive when weighed against existing books on improvisation, particularly for presenting a genealogy of companies and artists, as well as for the detailed chapter notes. These elements place the book among the top theoretical works on improvisation.

Although the first chapter is titled “Introduction,” it provides more than just a context for later chapters. After a brief description of his own background as a performer, Fotis questions the place of improvisation in theatre history, noting its limited discussion in scholarly texts. The Harold in particular is often completely ignored both in theatre history texts and books about improvisation. To better prepare the reader to understand the Harold, Fotis uses this chapter to review what improvisation is, the difference between short form and long form, the basic rules that make up the philosophy behind a Harold, and an explanation of the traditional format. Fotis ends the chapter with a literature review of the major texts about improvisation, of which, he claims, only two serious scholarly entries exist and hence the need for this one.

While the inclusion of a literature review is unusual in this kind of text and proves interesting, it also at times reaches to make its points. Although most would agree with the basis for Fotis’s argument—that there are too few books on improvisation theory, and improv is often relegated to a boutique skill or rehearsal technique—the author takes certain claims a bit too far. For instance, claiming that the Harold is the most important theatrical innovation in America since the musical, Fotis quotes an MFA thesis rather than an important figure in improvisation or a well-acknowledged text. Nonetheless, this first chapter successfully establishes the basic argument that the Harold is an important tool in comedy performance and writing and therefore worthy of more serious study.

Chapter 2, on improv’s historical roots, begins with a discussion of Commedia dell’Arte, which Fotis suggests is the basis of contemporary improv. He then leaps forward 400 years to the work of Viola Spolin, a theatre educator who created and popularized acting exercises called Theatre Games during the 1950s and ’60s that would become the basis for much of modern short form improvisation. Finally, Fotis examines the work of the Compass Players (cofounded by Spolin’s son, Paul Sills), the St. Louis Compass Players, and Second City. While much of the information in this chapter duplicates other improv texts, the material about the St. Louis Compass Players represents a new contribution. This group is overlooked in most historical accounts of improvisation, yet Fotis argues compellingly for its influence on the development of what would become long form and the Harold, particularly in the ways that the company laid the groundwork for iO (originally ImprovOlympic), an improvisational theatre that rivals Second City in terms of prominence in the United States. It pushed away from a meandering style popular in Chicago for a “louder, faster, funnier” approach that is indicative of short form today.

Later in the book, Fotis spends significant time on the emergence of famed performer and teacher Del Close and the creation of the Harold. Significantly, he refutes with detailed accounting the inaccuracy of long-held notions that Close created the Harold single-handedly and that it was first developed at ImprovOlympic. Fotis also spotlights the various groups and teams influential in both developing and popularizing the Harold, including the Committee, Baron’s Barracudas, and the Family. His detailed account of how one group affected another...