Ace Trucking Company

Ace Trucking Company was an American sketch and improv comedy team formed in New York City in 1969 and active through at least 1977, consisting of Michael Mislove, Fred Willard, George Memmoli, Patti Deutsch, and Bill Saluga.

Mislove also invited Deutsch, who was appearing at The Upstairs at the Downstairs Cabaret at the Plaza Hotel, and Willard, who was performing in Jules Feiffer's black comedy play Little Murders, directed by and co-starring Alan Arkin, at the Circle in the Square Theatre's Bleecker Street location.

[4][5] Before they even had named the group, Ace Trucking Company was recruited to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,[6] on which they appeared dozens of times between 1969 and 1975.

[11] In the fall of 1972, Ace Trucking Company were featured on the 13-episode PBS series The Just Generation, hosted by University of California law professor Howard Miller, that aired on more than 200 public television stations nationally.

Group member Bill Saluga (1937-2023) became known for the rest of his life for his comedy routine as character Raymond J. Johnson Jr., which started as an Ace Trucking Company skit.