The Purple Crayon of Yale, or the Purple Crayon, is an improvisational theater group at Yale University in New Haven, CT, United States. The group currently has ten members and specializes in longform improv, such as the Harold. Founded in 1985, the Purple Crayon is Yale's second oldest improv group.
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History
The Purple Crayon was founded in the fall of 1985 at Yale University in New Haven, CT, making them the second oldest of the four improvisational comedy groups on campus, the first being the Ex!t Players. The Purple Crayon's creation was followed by that of the other two improv groups, The Viola Question and Just Add Water.
The Purple Crayon was founded by Eric Berg, class of 1987, and a bunch of theater friends. Berg had taken a semester off of his sophomore year to study improv at ImprovOlympic in Chicago, IL. There he learned the Harold, a longer form developed by improvisers Del Close and Charna Halpern. The group came up with the name the Purple Crayon after the popular children's book Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, in which the protagonist Harold wields a purple crayon that allows him to draw his imagination into reality.[1]
Performances
The Purple Crayon performs the most on-campus shows of any Yale improv group. The group also performs at various comedy festivals and goes on tour biannually. Performances mostly consist of one or two 25-minute Harold sets, though the group often experiments with various styles and forms.
On-Campus Shows
The Purple Crayon holds many shows during the school year. During the 2008-2009 school year, they performed:
- The Harold - A longform format developed by Del Close, the Harold consists of three scenes put together in three "beats" that tie together in the end
- Midnight Madness - A midnight show that consists of twelve scenes taken from twelve suggestions. The suggestions are written on pieces of paper and posted on a wall. After each scene, which may be long or short, is done, the corresponding suggestion is ripped down.
- Cagematch - A battle between the Purple Crayon and a visiting improv group from New York, Maybe Sherman, where each group performed a 25 minute long set
- Blind Audio Theater, or BAT - A Harold performed in the dark
- Murder Mystery - A show full of mystery, intrigue, suspicion, where four suspects accuse each other and flashback until a murderer is found
- Improvised Musical - A completely improvised musical based on an audience suggestion
- Improvised Shakespeare - An hour-long, completely made-up Shakespearean play
- Facebook Show - A Harold based on an audience member's Facebook page
Tours
The Purple Crayon tours twice a year, once in fall and once in spring. During these tours, the group performs at various venues, plays with different college improv groups, and holds workshops for students. Past tour locations have been Jacksonville, FL, Boston, MA, Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, and more.
Festivals
The Purple Crayon performs in improvisation, theater, and comedy festivals around the nation. One such festival is the National College Comedy Festival, held at Skidmore College and hosted by Skidmore's improv group, the Ad-Liberal Artists, or Ad-Libs. The festival features improv and sketch comedy groups from colleges around the nation. The Purple Crayon has gone to the festival on and off since its inception in 1990 by current 30 Rock producer David Miner. The group has also performed at the annual Del Close Marathon in New York and Brown University's College Hill Longform Improv Festival, hosted by their improv group Starla and Sons.
The Crayon recently advanced to the finals of the East Coast Regionals of the College Improv Tournament, a competition hosted by the Chicago Improv Festival around the nation. They lost in the finals to Seriously Bent, Suffolk University's improv troupe.[2]
Alumni
- Phil LaMarr - actor, known for his roles in MadTV, Marvin in Pulp Fiction, the voice of Hermes Conrad in Futurama, and the voice of Jack in Samurai Jack
See also
Notes
External links
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