alt=Group of Harold performers acting on a stage|thumb|Harold performance at the [[Washington Improv Theater]]
Harold is a structure used in long-form improvisational theatre that is performed by improv troupes and teams across the world. In the Harold structure, characters and themes are introduced and then recur in a series of connected scenes. They were invited to a high school and decided to do their improvisations on the war in Vietnam. On the way home in a Volkswagen bus, they were discussing the performance, when one of them asked what they should call it. Allaudin (Bill) Mathieu (W.A. Mathieu) called out "Harold", The form was further developed by improv teachers Del Close and Charna Halpern, as well as the Upright Citizens Brigade.
When The Committee disbanded in 1972, improv company Improvisation, Inc. was the only company in America continuing to perform the group's "original" Harold: a 45-minute free-form piece that would seamlessly move from one "Harold technique" to another. In 1974, in Los Angeles, former Committee member Gary Austin co-founded The Groundlings, using improv-as-a-tool. In 1976, two former Improvisation, Inc. performers, Michael Bossier and John Elk, formed Spaghetti Jam, performing in San Francisco's Old Spaghetti Factory through 1983. Spaghetti Jam performed Harolds while also turning Spolin games and Harold techniques into standalone performance pieces (i.e., short-form improv).
The 1994 book Truth in Comedy describes a "training wheels Harold" as three acts (or "beats"), each with three scenes and a group segment. With each beat, the three scenes return. By the end of the piece, the three scenes have converged.
Format structure
The Harold's format is explained in 2013 book The Upright Citizens Brigade: Comedy Improvisation Manual. This long-form is typically performed by a six to nine improvisors and begins with a suggestion from the audience that is dissected for premises in an opening, such as the pattern game, the invocation, or a monologue. found in those previous scenes, and the third beat continues to further heighten the games from the previous beats, but these scenes should be shorter than in previous beats.