Crystal returned to New York City. For four years, he was part of a comedy trio with two friends. They played colleges and coffee houses and Crystal worked as a substitute teacher on Long Island. He later became a solo act and performed regularly at "The Improv" and "Catch a Rising Star". In 1976, Crystal appeared on an episode of "All in the Family". He was on the dais for The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of Muhammad Ali on February 19, 1976, where he did impressions of both Ali and sportscaster Howard Cosell. He was scheduled to appear on the first episode of "NBC Saturday Night" on October 11, 1975 (The show was later renamed "Saturday Night Live" on March 26, 1977), but his sketch was cut. He did perform on episode 17 of that first season, doing a monologue of an old jazz man capped by the line "Can you dig it? I knew that you could." Host Ron Nessen introduced him as "Bill Crystal". Crystal was a guest on the first and the last episode of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," which concluded February 6, 2014, after 22 seasons on the air. Crystal also made game show appearances such as "The Hollywood Squares," "All Star Secrets" and "The $20,000 Pyramid." To this day, he holds the Pyramid franchise's record for getting his contestant partner to the top of the pyramid in winner's circle in the fastest time: 26 seconds.