Does Brown really need another improvisational comedy group on campus? The students in Starla and Sons, a year-old improv troupe, seem to think so - the group has joined the ranks of such campus improv mainstays as Intramural Improv and Improvidence. But Starla and Sons' unique sketch structure and intimate, even revealing, comedy distinguishes it from the crowd - and has gained it a cult following.
"I got to Brown freshman year and didn't do improv at all," said William Guzzardi '09, the group's founder. "I watched some groups on campus, and I felt that none of them were doing improv the way I grew up with it."
The other improv groups on campus mostly practice a form of comedy known as short-form improv. "Short form is typically based on games you create so scenes have a definite trajectory," said William Litton '09, one of the four members of Starla and Sons, "whereas long-form has a much larger structure that can go on for a half an hour."
"Long-form is about explaining different worlds and explaining truths between two characters," Guzzardi said. Long form can be performed in different styles but this group uses it in two ways - Montage and the Harold.
A typical Starla and Sons show consists of two parts. The first, called Montage, begins with an audience member suggesting a word that provides the inspiration for a series of short scenes between two cast members. The remaining two members of the troupe "edit" the scene by directing the action off-stage, by replacing a member on stage or by ending the scene to begin a new one, Guzzardi said.
Though in some respects Montage is fairly unstructured, the Harold follows complex rules and has a rich history. "The Harold is the oldest form of long-form," Guzzardi said. "It was invented by Del Close, who is the grandfather of modern improv."
Like Montage, the Harold begins with a prompt from the audience. Then, each troupe-member performs an impromptu monologue tying that word into his personal life and experience, Guzzardi said. A series of three subsequent scenes reworks and builds on some of the monologues' ideas.
"The idea is to become collective," Guzzardi said. "We all take from each other." Then, after a "group game" where the troupe performs a short gag sketch, another series of three scenes follows in which some elements of the first set of scenes are preserved.
"As a form, the Harold is based off of the rule of three. Each set of scenes is done three times," Guzzardi said. This cycle (of three scenes, group game, three scenes) repeats anther time until components of all three scenes merge into one, thereby ending the performance.
"Long-form focuses on developing relationships. Comedy arises because we're put on the spot and making things up as we go," Litton said. Brown students appear to be enjoying this new structure of comedy. After performing their last show in an overflowing Wilson Hall, Starla and Sons is moving to Salomon 001 for its performance tonight at 9 p.m.
The group is planning to push the boundaries of Brown improv even further - they are holding auditions this weekend and have many ideas about increasing their presence on campus.
"We also have radical ideas about different things. We might do a show with a band, we might travel," Litton said.
