Second City grew out of the Compass Players, a 1950s cabaret revue show that was started by some undergraduates at the University of Chicago. The group is credited as being "the first theatre company to use improvisational techniques to create the current-events-driven, sketch-comedy format," according to the Chicago Tribune. Among the Compass members at the time were Mr. Sills, Nichols, May and Harris, who later became Mr. Sills' first wife.