Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols performed with the Compass Players in Chicago in the mid-1950s, where he developed the improvisational two-person form with Elaine May that they would later bring to Broadway. The Nichols and May comedy partnership was one of the most acclaimed satirical acts of its era. Nichols went on to a career as a stage and film director, receiving Academy Award recognition for The Graduate (1967) and Oscars for multiple other productions.
Key Events
Compass Players Dissolves, Its Ensemble Dispersing to Found The Second City and Nichols and May
The Compass Players ceased operations by 1958, ending approximately three years of improvisational performance in Chicago and St. Louis. Mike Nichols and Elaine May formed their duo and moved to New York City, performing material developed during their Compass years. Paul Sills, Bernie Sahlins, and Howard Alk founded The Second City in Chicago in December 1959, carrying the Compass's improvisational methods into a durable institutional form.
Recommended Reading
Books are ordered from the strongest direct connection outward to broader relevance.
Chicago Comedy
A Fairly Serious History
Margaret Hicks; Mick Napier
Fifty Key Improv Performers
Actors, Troupes, and Schools from Theatre, Film, and TV
Matt Fotis
Teaching Improv
The Essential Handbook
Mel Paradis
The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual
Matt Besser; Ian Roberts; Matt Walsh
The Second City Unscripted
Revolution and Revelation at the World-Famous Comedy Theater
Mike Thomas
The Second City Almanac of Improvisation
Anne Libera
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Mike Nichols. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/people/mike-nichols
The Improv Archive. "Mike Nichols." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/people/mike-nichols.
The Improv Archive. "Mike Nichols." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/people/mike-nichols. Accessed March 17, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.