Sep 16, 2008 10:07 am US/Central
Dreesen, Reid Celebrate Groundbreaking Comedy Act
In Decades Past, They Made Up One Of The First Multiracial Standup Teams
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
-
-
Tom Dreesen and Tim Reid sign their book, "An American Comedy Team in Black and White."
CBS
South suburban native Tom Dreesen is celebrating the release of his new book about the groundbreaking standup comedy he performed with Tim Reid in decades past.
The book is about Dreesen and Reid's starting out in Chicago's nightclubs in the 1960s as one of the first multiracial comedy teams in the country. Co-written with former Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Ron Rapoport, the book is called
An American Comedy Team in Black and White.
Dreesen and Reid celebrated on Monday night with a book release party at Gibson's Steakhouse, 1028 N. Rush St.
The pair met in 1968 at a Junior Chamber of Commerce meeting in Dreesen's native Harvey, where they put together an antidrug campaign for the suburb's schools and were told they should go into comedy together, the Chicago Reader reported.
Afterward, Reid and Dreesen performed first in Chicago venues, then nationwide, with what they described as a fresh take on race relations, the Reader reported.
After five years, they parted ways, with Reid finding success in the role of disc jockey Venus Flytrap on the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati," and Dreesen becoming a popular standiup comedian who opened regularly for Frank Sinatra.
"But though they didn't make it as Tim and Tom, they wouldn't have made it without Tim and Tom, either," Rapoport wrote in the Reader.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Jewish Celebrities
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
