The Committee
1963-1972 · San Francisco, CA
San Francisco's politically savage 1960s improv company — where Del Close refined his craft and the Harold was first attempted.
Known for
- Opened April 10, 1963 at 622 Broadway in San Francisco's North Beach, in a 300-seat former indoor bocce ball court.
- Founded by Alan Myerson and Jessica Myerson (Second City alumni). Named sardonically after HUAC.
- Original cast: Garry Goodrow, Hamilton Camp, Larry Hankin, Kathryn Ish, Scott Beach, Ellsworth Milburn (later Jessica Myerson).
- Performed the first Harold in Concord, CA in 1967 — improvisations on the Vietnam War.
- Alumni founded/seeded multiple major institutions: Gary Austin → The Groundlings; Del Close → iO/Second City director; Howard Hesseman → WKRP; Rob Reiner, Peter Bonerz → TV/film.
- Ran 9 years — the longest-lived 1960s improv company. Closed 1972.
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Notes
The Committee is the single most underrated node in the improv family tree. Nearly every West Coast improv tradition — the Groundlings, the personal-political style of 70s LA comedy, and the proto-Harold experiments — traces to this troupe. The 2016 documentary ‘The Committee: A Secret History of American Comedy’ is the best primary source.
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