Rapid-Fire Reading Recommendations: "Tim & Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White"
If I’m going to offer up at least one new post a day here on ye olde Substack newsletter, then I’d better start creating a few new features. As such, I decided to utilize my love of alliteration as well as my all-too-substantial library and deliver unto the readership a little something I like to call…
RAPID-FIRE READING RECOMMENDATIONS
Why are they rapid-fire? Because I figure if you’re taking the time to read this newsletter, then you probably already have at least a certain amount of trust in my tastes when it comes to pop culture, so I shouldn’t have to offer up a lengthy treatise. As long as I offer up a little tidbit or two about the book in question, then either you’ll be intrigued enough to search out the tome I’m talking about and see if it’s something that’s worth your hard-earned cash or you won’t.
Makes sense, right? Hopefully so, because we’re moving on to the recommendation!
Tim & Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White is the story of standup comedians Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen, told - as you can see from the cover - by the gentlemen themselves, with a little help from Ron Rapoport. Now, if you came of age in the ‘70s or beyond, then you likely know Tim Reid less from his stand-up work than his efforts as an actor, since he’s been part of several notable TV series over the years, along with a few…less-than-notable programs, let’s just say.
In case you need a little joggin’ of the old noggin', though, here’s a few moments that ought to help remind you…
If that foursome of programs doesn’t remind you of the greatness of Tim Reid, then you simply can’t be helped. Meanwhile, Tom Dreesen has spent his career following his one true love - stand-up comedy - and it’s paid off handsomely for him, most notably when it led to him serving as the longtime opening act for none other than the Chairman of the Board himself, Frank Sinatra.
Before Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen found individual fame, they’d already been a pretty big deal as a duo. Billed simply as Tim and Tom, the twosome actually met in 1968 when Reid, a marketing executive with DuPont, and Dreesen, an insurance salesmen, were teamed together as a result of a Junior Chamber of Commerce meeting to promote an anti-drug program in local schools. Some kid told them that they’d make a great comedy team, and that child’s name might as well have been Nostradamus, because the next thing you know, they were a comedy team. Mind you, an interracial comedy duo wasn’t necessarily the easiest act to book in the late ‘60s, but damned if they didn’t pull it off…not that it was easy, mind you.
Which brings us back to Tim & Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White, which Reid and Dreesen released in 2008 and promoted on an episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, as you can see below.
It’s a rare book that’s more expensive to buy on Kindle than it is in physical form, but that seems to be the case at the moment. Still, you can click on that link and pick up a copy in the form of your choice if you’re of a mind to do so, and if you a fan of the lesser-known sides of pop culture history, this is definitely a book that’ll provide you with a fascination education about a stand-up duo who broke barriers and left laughter in their wake.
Want proof? Here’s 43 minutes worth.