The Groundlings

Workshop Origins and Founding (1972–1974)

Gary Austin, who had performed with The Committee in San Francisco, assembled an informal workshop group in Los Angeles in 1972. In January 1974, he announced the formation of a formal theatre company. The founding group comprised approximately fifty members, each contributing $25 toward workshop costs. The company took its name from the 'groundlings,' the standing audience in the pit at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Early Venues and School (1974–1979)

The company's first performances were staged in the basement of 1089 N. Oxford Avenue (the Oxford Theatre, later The MET) near Santa Monica Boulevard and Western Avenue, a 30-seat space. In 1975, the company acquired 7307 Melrose Avenue, a building previously used as an interior decorator's studio, furniture showroom, and bar. Renovation was complicated by building codes and parking regulations and took four years. The Groundlings School was formally established in 1978 with seventeen students.

The Melrose Theatre (1979–present)

The Melrose Avenue theatre opened to audiences in April 1979. A development pipeline was established: students developed material in workshops, with the best work advancing to weekend shows. The company is organised into the Main Company and a Sunday Company. In 1975, Laraine Newman became the first Groundling recruited for television when she joined Saturday Night Live, beginning a pipeline that would extend to Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Julia Sweeney, Cheri Oteri, Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Ana Gasteyer, Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph, Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Taran Killam, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, and others.

The Groundlings' methodology centres on character-based improv and sketch: performers develop strong individual characters with a specific point of view, then build scenes and written sketches from those characters. The workshop-to-production pipeline means that most material performed on stage was developed through the school and the company's own rehearsal process, giving the Groundlings a distinctive relationship between training and production that differs from the Harold-focused institutions of the Chicago-derived tradition. The resulting SNL pipeline has made The Groundlings the West Coast's most institutionally influential comedy company.

The Groundlings produced a higher concentration of Saturday Night Live cast members than any other institution outside of Second City, with alumni including Laraine Newman, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Julia Sweeney, Cheri Oteri, Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Ana Gasteyer, Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph, Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Taran Killam, Mikey Day, and Heidi Gardner. The character-based methodology, focused on point of view and game-within-a-scene, influenced the approach taught at Groundlings-descended institutions including Gotham City Improv, Improvolution, and Annoyance Theatre.