Tim and tom
Subtitle: an American comedy in Black and white
By: Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen, with Ron Rapoport.
Contributors: Dreesen, Tom.; Rapoport, Ron.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 254
ISBN-13: 9780226709000
Subjects: Reid, Tim, -- 1944-; Dreesen, Tom; Tim and Tom; Comedians -- United States -- Biography
Genres: Biography.
Description: "As the heady promise of the sixties sagged under the weight of widespread violence, rioting, and racial unrest, two young men - one black and one white - took to stages across the nation to help Americans confront their racial divide by laughing at it." "Tim and Tom tells the story of that pioneering duo, the only interracial comedy team in the history of show business. Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen polished their act in the nightclubs of Chicago, then took it on the road, not only in the North, but in the still-simmering South as well, developing routines about race that even today remain surprisingly fresh - and remarkably funny. Most nights, the shock of seeing an integrated comedy team quickly dissipated in uproarious laughter, but on some occasions the audience's confusion and discomfort led to racist heckling, threats, and even physical violence. Though Tim and Tom perpetually seemed on the verge of making it big throughout their five years together, they grudgingly came to realize that they were ahead of their time: America was not yet ready to laugh at what they had to offer." "Eventually their failure to achieve the success they craved took its toll, and bitter arguments led to an acrimonious breakup. But the underlying bond of friendship Reid and Dreesen had forged has endured for decades, years in which their solo careers delivered the success that had eluded them as a team. By turns revealing, shocking, and riotously funny, Tim and Tom unearths a largely forgotten chapter in the history of comedy and of race relations in America."--book jacket.