In 1954, he became a member of Chicago's
Compass Theater, America's first theater of
improvisational comedy. Eventually, he worked as producer, director, and performer with the
Compass Players in St. Louis. The company was such a success that he was able to raise money to establish the
Crystal Palace Theater, then the only monthly
repertory stage in the country. In 1959, he wrote the book for and directed the
Broadway musical The Nervous Set.
Fran Landesman provided the lyrics, and
Tommy Wolf the musical score. The show was revived in 2006. In 1960, he established The Premise on New York's
Bleecker Street in a basement venue, where he initially appeared alongside
Tom Aldredge,
George Segal, and
Joan Darling. Over the next few years, openings would be filled by performers such as
James Frawley,
Buck Henry,
Gene Hackman,
Sandy Baron,
Al Mancini,
Garry Goodrow,
George Furth,
Cynthia Harris,
Peter Bonerz,
Mina Kolb,
Michael Howard, and
Sandra Seacat (as Sandra Kaufman). The show eventually transferred to the Comedy Theatre in London's West End. A follow-up improvisational satire,
The Premise in Living Color, targeted racism and featured
Godfrey Cambridge,
Diana Sands, and
Al Freeman Jr. ==Film and television career==