Ace Trucking Company

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For the British series of comics, see Ace Trucking Co.

Ace Trucking Company
Ace Trucking Company with (top row, left to right) Fred Willard, George Memmoli, Patti Deutsch, (bottom row, left to right) Bill Saluga, and Michael Mislove, in a promotional photo from March 1972.
Medium	Television, stage, audio, film
Years active	1969-1977
Genres	Satire
Former members	Michael Mislove, Fred Willard, George Memmoli, Patti Deutsch, Bill Saluga

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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.

History

The troupe was founded in 1969 by Michael Mislove, who was performing regularly with Saluga and Memmoli at The Bitter End Cafe on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, and Budd & Silver Friedman's Improvisation Cafe (later known as The Improv). 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 Alan Arkin, at the Circle in the Square Theatre's Bleecker Street location.

The name Ace Trucking Company was chosen because one of their regular characters, played by George Memmoli, worked for a fictional Ace Trucking Company. Fred Willard recollected that the name Ace Trucking Company was intended to sound very generic, and they were amused by the idea of a very generic name for a comedy group.

Ace Trucking Company performed on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson dozens of times between 1969 and 1975. They released an album of improvised sketches on RCA Victor records in 1970. They also performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Dick Cavett Show, Burt Sugarman's The Midnight Special, Kennedy At Night, and were series regulars on This Is Tom Jones. They also appeared in motion pictures including Dynamite Chicken, The Harrad Experiment, Harrad Summer, and Cracking Up.

The Tonight Show appearances

Ace Trucking Company appeared on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson dozens of times. Their first appearance was on the May 2, 1969 episode. According to episode guest lists, they appeared 2 times in 1969, 5 times in 1970, 6 times in 1971, 6 times in 1972, 4 times in 1973, 5 times in 1974. Their final Tonight Show appearance was on October 30, 1974.

Discography

• Ace Trucking Company (RCA Victor, 1970)

Filmography

• Dynamite Chicken (filmed in 1969, released 1971)
• The Harrad Experiment (1973)
• Harrad Summer (1974)
• Cracking Up (1977)

External links

• Fred Willard describing the founding of Ace Trucking Company
• Fred Willard describing Ace Trucking Company appearances on Ed Sullivan
• Fred Willard describing Ace Trucking Company appearances on Mike Douglas]
• Biography written by group founder Michael Mislove
• Discography

This article "Ace Trucking Company" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Ace Trucking Company. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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