There, with fellow actors Edward Asner, Byrne Piven and Zohra Lampert,[3] they blended Spolin's improvisational techniques with established theater training.
In 1955, Sills and David Shepherd founded the Compass Players, the first improvisational theater in the United States, where he directed Shelley Berman, Mike Nichols and Elaine May.
[5] With early cast members Alan Arkin, Barbara Harris, Severn Darden, Mina Kolb and Paul Sand, success led to New York (a brief run on Broadway and a long one off-Broadway), London and world recognition.
[citation needed] Sills left Second City in 1965 to form the Game Theater, where he coached improvisational techniques of his mother, Viola Spolin, in performance, and audience participation was encouraged.
The Parents School was co-founded there, with wife Carol Bleackley Sills[6] and others, with a children's curriculum based on group art forms and play.