Longform improvisation with no predetermined structure. No preset opening, no mandated beats, no required group games, no predetermined scene order. The form emerges from the content itself — what the scenes need dictates when to edit, when to return to a thread, when to do a group scene.
What "organic" means: The structure should feel like it grew naturally from the content rather than being imposed from outside. Hines: "If you didn't use an opening, it was called 'organic improv.'" This represents the post-Harold evolution toward maximum performer autonomy.
The Del Close to organic evolution:
- Close's original Harold (1960s) was intentionally loose and experimental
- In the 1980s at iO, Harold became codified into the 3x3 "training wheels" structure
- Close himself insisted: "the first rule is: there are no rules" and "content and the need to develop an organic commentary on the suggestion trump predetermined structures" (Truth in Comedy)
- Post-Close teachers — David Razowsky, Susan Messing, Joe Bill, Mark Sutton — championed organic, be-in-the-moment approaches
- Razowsky brought Viewpoints (Mary Overlie's dance technique, adapted by Anne Bogart and Tina Landau) into improv — nine tenets of time and space used as scene-building tools
- By the early 2010s, traditional Harold nights had largely disappeared from many venues, replaced by organic and custom formats
How performers navigate without structure:
- Emotional commitment (Razowsky method): Start with an emotion, heighten it honestly, let it transform
- Viewpoints awareness: Use spatial relationship, tempo, and kinesthetic response as navigation tools rather than narrative logic
- Internalized structure: Harold training provides unconscious scaffolding — performers trained in 3x3 naturally recognize when threads need revisiting, even without explicit form. Like a jazz pianist who learns scales before improvising
- Group mind: Shared aesthetic sensibility allows the ensemble to collectively sense when to edit, callback, or shift
Who does this well: David Razowsky (primary teacher/evangelist), Susan Messing ("If you're not having fun, you're the asshole"), Joe Bill and Mark Sutton (BASSPROV duo), The Family (Del Close's iO house team).