In 1945, Lewis met a young singer named Dean Martin at the Glass Hat Club in New York City where the two performed until they debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club as Martin and Lewis on July 25, 1946. The duo gained attention as a double act with Martin serving as the straight man to Lewis' zany antics. Along with being physically attractive, they played to each other and had ad-libbed improvisational segments within their planned routines, which added a unique quality to their act and separated them from previous comedy duos.