Improvisation Inc.

When The Committee disbanded in 1972, its workshop arm, led by Cindy Kamler and Hal Taylor, became the basis for Improvisation Inc. The company performed at 149 Powell Street in San Francisco and, uniquely among the three Committee successor companies (The Pitchell Players and The Wing being the others), continued to perform the Harold, Del Close's long-form structure, rather than returning exclusively to shorter formats. Two former Improvisation Inc. members, Michael Bossier and John Elk, left in 1976 to form Spaghetti Jam, which performed both short-form improv and Harolds at San Francisco's Old Spaghetti Factory, extending the Harold lineage further. Improvisation Inc. dissolved at an undetermined date in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Improvisation Inc. was the only company in America that continued performing Del Close's original Harold after The Committee disbanded in 1972. While the other Committee splinter groups (The Pitchell Players and The Wing) pursued different directions, Improvisation Inc. preserved the 45-minute free-form Harold format, moving seamlessly between Harold techniques in extended performances. The company was co-founded by Cindy Kamler and Hal Taylor (a former member of The Wing) and operated from a space above a Sav-On drugstore at 149 Powell Street in San Francisco.

The company's core output was the original Harold as developed during The Committee era, a 45-minute free-form improvisation piece. Two former Improvisation Inc. members, Michael Bossier and John Elk, went on to form Spaghetti Jam in 1976, performing short-form improv and Harolds at San Francisco's Old Spaghetti Factory through 1983. That successor company extended the Harold tradition Improvisation Inc. had kept alive into the next decade of Bay Area improv.

Improvisation Inc. emerged in 1972 when The Committee's workshop arm, previously led by Cindy Kamler and her partner Hal Taylor, relocated from a Berkeley space to a room above a Sav-On drugstore at 149 Powell Street in San Francisco and adopted its new name. The company's founding was directly tied to the dissolution of The Committee after nearly a decade of operation, and it became one of three successor groups that carried The Committee's legacy forward. What distinguished Improvisation Inc. from the two other successor companies, The Wing and the Pitschel Players, was its continued performance of the Harold, the 45-minute long-form structure developed by Del Close and first performed by The Committee in 1967. At the time of The Committee's closure, Improvisation Inc. was the only company in the United States still performing the original Harold format.

Cindy Kamler, who had trained directly under Del Close and was regarded as his protege, was the central figure in preserving the Harold in the Bay Area during a period when the form might otherwise have lapsed entirely in San Francisco. The company's two-act shows featured Story Story, Emotional Symphony, two-person and three-person scenes, transformations, and theater games alongside Harold performances. In 1976, two former Improvisation Inc. performers, Michael Bossier and John Elk, founded Spaghetti Jam, which performed at San Francisco's Old Spaghetti Factory through 1983 and continued the tradition of blending Spolin games, Harold techniques, and short-form improv. Improvisation Inc. thus served as a critical transmission point for long-form improvisation on the West Coast between the closure of The Committee and the later revival of the Harold under Del Close at ImprovOlympic in Chicago.