During the 1950s, Preil worked as artistic director in the theaters of Magdeburg and Bernburg, while continuing to perform in sketches with Herricht.
The first -- Hands Up, Or I'll Shoot (1966) -- portrayed Herricht as a mentally unstable detective called Holmes and Preil as an antique expert.
It was banned by the 11th Plenum of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany which deemed that it was critical of the law enforcement system.
In addition to his acting career, Preil also worked as an assistant-director in the Babelsberg Studios of DEFA, and wrote several plays for theater.
[5] After Herricht's death in 1981, Preil stopped appearing in comedy live sketches, but continued directing and playing on television.