A LITTLE BIT ABOUT US...
Picture a play being written as it’s performed or sketch comedy whose material is made up before your eyes. Imagine laughing hysterically as your suggestions shape the characters and situations created on a stage. What you’re imagining is improvisational comedy—“improv” for short—and it’s our bread and butter. Seriously, we eat too much of it when we go out to dinner and then our parents get angry at us.
Founded in 1985, the Purple Crayon of Yale is the oldest collegiate long-form group in the country. We use the "Harold" structure created by the legendary Del Close, who taught our founding members at Improv Olympic in Chicago. This form been a hallmark of our repertoire since we began.
Founded in 1985, the Purple Crayon of Yale is the oldest collegiate long-form group in the country. We use the "Harold" structure created by the legendary Del Close, who taught our founding members at Improv Olympic in Chicago. This form been a hallmark of our repertoire since we began.
But what is “long form”? If you’ve seen the popular TV show Whose Line is it Anyway?, then you’re probably familiar with “short form”: improvisers use audience suggestions to create short comedic scenes, usually lasting a couple of minutes. We’ll take audience suggestions and let them inspire much longer structures, lasting anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour at a time.
Sometimes these shows will be collages of scenes depicting various characters, relationships, and places; sometimes they’ll follow more traditional forms, such as an improvised Shakespeare play, a murder mystery, or a musical. But no matter what we do, we don’t plan anything ahead of time.
Sometimes these shows will be collages of scenes depicting various characters, relationships, and places; sometimes they’ll follow more traditional forms, such as an improvised Shakespeare play, a murder mystery, or a musical. But no matter what we do, we don’t plan anything ahead of time.
When school is in session, we perform shows on campus as well as at various venues and festivals around the Northeast. Over breaks, the Purple Crayon goes tours to cities around the country. This year, we’re headed to Chicago in the fall and still deciding on the spring (if you live or work in Chicago, we’d love to talk to you about performing); past tours have included San Francisco, Orlando, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Boston.
Our shows, locally and on tour, are a snap: we don’t require sets, props, costumes, fancy lights, or even a stage. All we need is a place to stand and an enthusiastic audience whose suggestions fuel the content of every performance. This means each one of our shows is different, ensuring that people can come back to show after show and never see the same thing twice. We love what we do, and hopefully you will too!
Our shows, locally and on tour, are a snap: we don’t require sets, props, costumes, fancy lights, or even a stage. All we need is a place to stand and an enthusiastic audience whose suggestions fuel the content of every performance. This means each one of our shows is different, ensuring that people can come back to show after show and never see the same thing twice. We love what we do, and hopefully you will too!