We'll just tell them we're sorry we were a little bit late, but we stopped on the South Side for soul food. When Tom told me where we were appearing that night, I looked at him like he was crazy.ĭREESEN: So, on the way down there, I said, Tim, here's what we do. REID: No, not on the northwest side of Chicago at that time. SIMON: Tell me about playing a poker club, because that's not a place that you would often turn up, Mr. ![]() REID: One day you come outside your high rise, you open the door, you see the whole neighborhood's been integrated by the National Guard. REID: In Harlem overlooking the Apollo Theater, one of them high-rise units. And one day a little girl said, you guys are funny. It became very successful, teaching elementary school children the ills of drug abuse through humor. We worked together on a drug education program. DuPont recruited him into Chicago as a marketing rep. Tim had graduated from Norfolk State College. ![]() How did you meet?ĭREESEN: We actually met in Harvey, Illinois. SIMON: You know, we usually ask newlyweds this question, but let's try it on you. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being with us. SIMON: An American Comedy in Black and White." Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen join us from Chicago. And Tim Reid became an actor and producer who created the honored series "Frank's Place," who's probably still recognized almost everywhere in the world today as Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati. Tom Dreesen became one of America's premier standup comics, a long-time opening act for Frank Sinatra. Each had to go on to very successful solo careers. But their failure to burst through to the top rungs of comedy often frustrated their working relationship. SIMON: Tim and Tom toured the country, staying popular in Chicago, drawing laughs in New York, New Orleans, and many other places. TIM REID: Let me see you walk like a brother. (SOUNDBITE OF TIM REID & TOM DREESEN COMEDY ROUTINE) Here's a routine in which Tom asks Tim for lessons in how to act black. They became a comedy team in Chicago in the late 1960s, a black man and a white man making jokes at a time of riots, bloodletting, and bruised feelings in America. Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen were a duo when most of America was divided.
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