Crane moved to Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1980s and worked briefly as the director of Universal Studios' Star Trek Adventure.

He was later admitted to the Groundlings comedy school where he wrote and performed with Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Kathy Griffin, Michael McDonald and Chris Kattan, among others.

Between stints with The Groundlings in the early 1990s, Crane co-wrote and starred in Nickelodeon's Saturday night ensemble variety series, Roundhouse, produced by Sheffield and his former spouse, Rita Hester.

In addition to a few minor roles, Crane has appeared on MADtv as Choppy, a semi-recurring character who annoys others with his grating voice, loud boom box, strange dance moves and oversized Big Gulp soda.

In 2010, he wrote a half-hour comedy pilot entitled "Wee Hours" for TNT based on characters created by members of The Second City in Chicago.