my ideal harold night highlights thread

zomby sneakers

i got thrown away
#1
my ideal harold night highlights thread would have lots of responses, and i wouldn't look like a lone, crazed fan, dribbling quietly over the internet at things i found particularly brilliant and funny. also, people wouldn't ask me if my highlights were 'highlights or just a summation of everything that happened, or like, what', because... well, again, i wouldn't be the sole, crazed fan and everyone else would find other awesome things to add to the thread that i had forgotten. also, it wouldn't take me an hour and half to get ready because my stupid accounting job wouldn't keep getting in the way of important stuff like improv!


also the harold night i would be writing about would have been awesome.

oh shit this is that thread!

i sadly missed the first two harolds as i have class on tuesdays, so i stumbled in just in time for fwand, which was a real blast. the opening was fantastic (way to break the door more, ozeri) and i really enjoyed the energy and support throughout. fwand's always been one of the most supportive teams, and i just saw that so clearly last night. gil hunting the bat springs most clearly to mind. also greg's honey dance blew my mind. so smart and committed. kevin's reactions to gabrus' secrets (or just the one secret really) had me dying. and dom's drinking through a straw i loved; such a clear character from such a small little action. katey luff fwand.

85: fucking super fun show. (way to almost break the projector, pally). funny and smart (if weird) beats, but 85 plays stuff that would very easily go to whackycrazytown grounded and real and therefore it works. porter continually astounds me; the 'i'm an adult' scenes had some crazy shit and he always knows how to play the scene and his character and the game to the most effect, almost instantly. i admire that deeply. erik as a monkey; fucking great, of course. i always appreciate when improvisors as animals resist the temptation to start talking. gavin playing that honestly killed me; 'clarence bought this for me for CHRISTMAS!' really fun show; birch's naming of the horse, and porter's later arrival with the 'nuts'; just so great. i can't remember the context now, but ben's reaction in one of the later scenes to just stop moving and stare at his scene partner was great; the pole was in my way, but i think it was pally.

bastian's ideal harold. fucking brave moves all around. i loved the support brandon's initial edit got, and that they didn't drop it partway through. brian's clarification of frucci's 'it only makes me stronger!' line into making him 'some kind of vampire' really got stuff moving, i felt. it was a brave, bold and supportive show; everyone really contributed in equal parts to that and i really enjoyed that harold all around.

and then i stayed for rawhide presents the raw harold and i got my mind consumed by hellfire and shat out by angels. seriously, so.much.fun. such committed, talented players. it was chaotic and real and great improv. and it pushed the definitions of improv. which i loved. my two highlights: 'FUCK YOU BRIAN!' and greg's unwavering commitment to his points 'point of view', even if his opinion on the value of points was changed by the end. i seriously couldn't stop grinning after this show. so awesome.

contribute to my ideal harold night hightlights thread! tell me about the first two teams's shows plz. kthxbai.
 

MichelleD

i declare shenanigans
#4
in my ideal harold night highlights thread, i would not have pounded two red wines during DeCoster! (the railroad track scene was charming. There you go!)
 
#5
I missed all but Bastian (and Raw).
Bastian - "You said you wanted to be cool and funky and I panicked."

Raw - Blew my mind again.
"I want to apologize for making fun of a show that is actually pretty funny."
 

DougGordon

Not my real name
#6
The Raw Harold was really amazing. Just the simple idea of reacting to EVERYTHING that happens on stage allowed the performers to take the show to such interesting, different places. Nothing was ignored and even the smallest comment or movement were given value and responded to, rendering them incredibly important. It was a great lesson in how there are never mistakes in improv, only choices about how to respond.

Also, I loved that each player was always involved even when he or she wasn't the focal point of the scene and that there was no traditional back line. (Although the two sets never had what anyone could call a traditional "scene," giving the Raw Harold another interesting wrinkle.) It was another great lesson that I've heard Gethard give: even on the back line it's YOUR team, it's YOUR Harold, and you should be an active participant at every moment, even if all you are doing is hanging back and listening.

I felt that both groups really achieved what all good improvisers aspire to achieve: having the audience think the GROUP was amazing and not any one individual scene or performer.

Well done. If you haven't seen this yet, don't miss it.
 

CurtisR

Internet User
#7
I missed everything but Bastian and the Raw Harolds. Was it worth 5 bucks? You're goddamned right, it was.

Anyone who hasn't seen the Rawhide Presents: The Raw Harold, needs to see it. Walking away from the theater after the show, Melissa Regan, Ben W, & I talked excitedly about how we all had that "holy shit, I need to go improvise right now" feeling. How often does that happen? The answer: not very often.

It was far from perfect, but that doesn't really matter too much. Both shows were very confrontational (as they were last week), there were many times when improvisors talked over each other excitedly, trying to get his/her idea to the forefront, and the second group only did 3 scenes, each of which were about 15 seconds long; the rest was essentially an extended organic/group game thing. But both shows were fucking hilarious, and, as I said, exciting. As DougGordon mentioned, each group acted together as one solid unit.

My girlfriend spilled red wine on me she was laughing so hard. And I was laughing hard enough that I didn't care.

Highlights:

Berrebbi, sitting in a chair. Zed decides to act as a surrogate for the chair Berrebbi's sitting in. Berrebbi: "Chairs don't grab my balls."

Chris' "party quirks" scene. Dave Bartin: "I grow potatoes. (wink to audience) And I'm from Idaho." Chris: "You're an Idaho potato farmer!"
 

zomby sneakers

i got thrown away
#9
my ideal harold night highlights thread would have more responses than this! also i wouldn't be having an anxiety attack at work!

and the pet shop boys* would be more obviously involved.

*the national
 
#11
(I wish I could talk about Harold Night proper more but whatever.)

Raw: When the four men picked up the abandoned chair baby, so gingerly, and handed it to the audience member who had aborted their child.

"Starkisses!" "Burgers!"
 
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