Product Description:

Who would have ever thought that learning the finer points of improvisation could be such fun? The 'Harold,' an innovative improvisational tool, helped Saturday Night Live's Mike Myers and Chris Farley, George Wendt (Norm on 'Cheers') and many other actors on the road to TV and film stardom. Now it is described fully in this new book for the benefit of other would-be actors and comics. The 'Harold' is a form of competitive improv involving six or seven players. They take a theme suggestion from the audience and free-associate on the theme, creating a series of rapid-fire one-liners that build into totally unpredictable skits with hilarious results. The teams compete with scoring based on applause. The 'Harold' is a fun way to 'loosen up' and learn to think quickly, build continuity, develop characterizations and sharpen humor.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: 3.90 out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Great tool for improv and acting
Truth in Comedy starts off with a rather immodest amount of name dropping and self congratulating, but after those first few chapters, things take off.
The book is intended to be a rough guide to teaching and performing "Harold," the signature improvisation form of the Improv Olympic theater in Chicago. While the text focuses heavily on the structure of the form, it also holds page after page of advice and tools for any improviser or actor. The lessons in agreement, trust (in yourself and others), and teamwork can be used in any improv form (shortform or longform). And it definitely can teach us actors a thing or two about performing a scripted show.
One of my few complaints about the book is it lacks concreteness. The author alludes to the phenomenon of group mind, the beauty of ... Read More

Rating:

- A focused, helpful improv manual
So frankly, most acting books, or books that try to tell you how to "do" art make me want to hit myself over the head, repeatedly. The first half of this book is no different.

It spends a lot of time initially setting ideas up, and talking about what a great guy Del Close was (which he was, but still, it gets to be a bit much). But it all starts to pay off in the second half, when we get into the specifics of the Harold.

Harold is a form of improv unlike any that I've ever seen and participated in, and not to be glib, but it takes improv to the level of art. This book clearly sets out exactly how to perform the Harold: what the idea behind it was; how to interact with your teammates on stage; and how to put together the final product. It's no substitute for actually getting ... Read More

Rating:

- Chemical Engineering 403; Prereqs - none;
This book has one major gaff. It tries to squeeeeeeze in the improv basics, while it teaches the advanced "Harold". I mean, improv basics are scaterred throughout this book like debris in an O'Hare downdraft. For example, environment, objects and emotion aren't covered until the end of the book. What's a new improviser to think?

I wish the progression of this book was more logical: Improv basics, short scenes, long form.

Long form improv is made up of short scenes, despite the mantra of disgruntled long formers who blast short form as "jokey". Long form is an advanced skill, with a foundation in the basics of short scenes, like it or not. (Long form proponents who pooh-pooh short form are a lot like haute chefs who scorn vegetables and meat.) Likewise, the authors here become ... Read More

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