Beyond the Fringe of, in 1960, by an Oxford graduate, Robert Ponsonby, artistic director for the Edinburgh International Festival. John Bassett, a graduate of Wadham College, Oxford, who was Ponsonby's assistant, recommended Dudley Moore, his jazz bandmate and a rising cabaret talent. Moore in turn recommended Alan Bennett, who had had a hit at Edinburgh a few years before. Bassett also chose Jonathan Miller, who had been a Footlights star in 1957. Miller recommended Cook. Bennett and Miller were already pursuing careers in academia and medicine respectively, but Cook had an agent, having written a West End revue for Kenneth Williams. Cook's agent
Beyond the Fringe show "Not Only... But Also", and the 1967 film "Bedazzled". Cook also launched his club, The Establishment, around this time. Many of the members of Monty Python recall being inspired by "Beyond the Fringe". The retrospective show "Before the Fringe", broadcast during the early years of BBC 2, took its title from this production. It consisted of performances of material that was popular in theatrical revue before the advent of "Beyond the Fringe". The show's success was not limited to the UK. In 1962, it also opened in South Africa. Next it arrived in the US. First the Broadway Company