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Mike Nichols and Elaine May revolutionized the landscape of
American comedy. By perfecting the art of improvisation and
introducing it to the public through their appearances in clubs and
on television and radio, they forever changed our expectations of
comedy, and our sense of humor.
Born in Berlin in 1931, Nichols attended a segregated school for
Jewish children. His father, a doctor, fled the Nazis by moving the
family to New York City when Nichols was still a child. May was born
in 1932 in Philadelphia, the daughter of the director, writer, and
principal actor of a traveling Jewish theatrical company. She caught
the thespian bug early, appearing on stage in the roles of little boys.
The two met while attending the University of Chicago, and they first
worked together honing their improvisational skills at the Compass
Theatre, a Chicago nightclub. Together with Alan Arkin, Barbara
Harris, and Paul Sills, they formed the improvisational comedy group
The Second City. Soon after, Nichols and May decided to take their
show on the road. Their meteoric rise as a comedy team began in
1957, when they first performed at the Village Vanguard and the Blue
Angel in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.
Masters of the dead-pan dialogue, Nichols and May created
flawlessly improvised scenes that were outrageously funny, yet
simply understated. Their dry wit and wry satire enabled them to
lampoon faceless bureaucracy and such previously sacrosanct
institutions as hospitals, politics, funeral homes, and even
motherhood. Like other great comedy duos, Nichols and May
perfectly complemented each other. They seemed so attuned and at
ease with each other that the miscommunication they often based
their skits on were all the funnier.
Within a short while of arriving in New York, they were the talk of the
town - - appearing on THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW, introducing a
nationwide audience to a humor unlike any on television. Nichols
and May spent much of the next three years traveling the country
performing together on stage, radio, and television. Their high-
paced satirical sketches played as well over the radio waves as they
did on the screen. In 1960, "An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine
May" had opened on Broadway to rave reviews, but by 1961, Nichols
and May would announce the end of their partnership.
Interested in pursuing individual careers, the two left behind one of
the most popular and imitated comedy acts of its time. Continuing to
work in the entertainment industry, both Elaine May and Mike
Nichols have had exceptional careers. Nichols, who concentrated
primarily on directing, worked often with Neil Simon and has won
seven Tony Awards, for plays including "The Odd Couple" (1965)
and "The Real Thing" (1984). Among his better known movies are
such classics as WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966), THE
GRADUATE (1967), and CATCH- 22 (1970). May, who has written a
number of movies, including A NEW LEAF (1971) and HEAVEN CAN
WAIT (1978), continues to direct, act, and perform stand-up.
Most recently, the two have come together to work on a new version
OF LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. THE BIRD CAGE, written by May and
directed by Nichols was a triumphant return and one of the funniest
movies of 1996. In its perfect timing and over- the-top humor, one
could still see the two comic geniuses that first thrilled audiences
nearly forty years earlier
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