Comedian Tom Dreesen, Las Vegas Sun, Oct. 15, 2004

Columnist Lisa Ferguson: ‘Joy of Stand-Up’ not lost on Dreesen Lisa Ferguson Friday, Oct. 15, 2004 | 9:06 a.m. After 35 years in the business, you might assume Tom Dreesen has already experienced all of the firsts a comedy career can offer, including the first of dozens of appearances on "The Tonight Show"; his first of a slew of television and movie roles; and the first of countless shows he opened for Frank Sinatra. But you'd be wrong. Earlier today, Dreesen was poised to scratch another first from his list when he led a seminar, titled "The Joy of Stand-Up Comedy," as part of the Las Vegas Comedy Festival, running through Sunday at Golden Nugget. It is, he claims, the first comedy festival in which he has ever participated. "I've been invited to them at different times," Dreesen explained last week from his home in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. "They've invited me around the country to come, and I simply do not have the time." Not that this week has been any less hectic than usual for the comedian: On Wednesday, Dreesen guest-hosted CBS' "The Late Late Show" -- one of a laundry list of celebs to do so while filling in for host Craig Kilborn, who left the post in September. Unlike most of the others, whose stints have also served as on-air auditions in an effort to permanently fill the vacated seat, Dreesen contends his service was all in good fun. "They're looking for a young, hot David Letterman (-type); they're not looking for me," he says, calling that criteria "goofy, because their assumption is that at 1 o'clock in the morning, when it's on, that young, hot people are watching. I think old insomniacs are watching." Dreesen knows a bit about the talk-show business: He's ridden "The Tonight Show" couch a remarkable 61 times -- 50 beside Johnny Carson; 11 with Jay Leno. He reportedly appeared more than four dozen times each on the legendary gabfests of Dinah Shore, Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas; and has chatted dozens of times on as well as guest-hosted "The Late Show With David Letterman." Years ago, Dreesen says, he nearly landed his own late-night show in his hometown of Chicago. Still, he insists, the desire to take over "The Late Late Show" is not his: "Truthfully, I don't want the job, I really don't." If, however, he was assigned to do the hiring, "I would get a guy like Tom Dreesen; I'd get somebody who people could identify with from that era and do that kind of stand-up comedy." Today's Comedy Festival appearance was not the first time, though, that Dreesen has presented "The Joy of Stand-Up Comedy." He's previously lectured before groups of aspiring comics at comedy clubs and universities in L.A., New York and Chicago, among others. "I talk to comedians about ... this wonderful, wonderful business that we're in," he says, and introduces them to "the five P's: preparation, punctuality, performance, passion and pride." "There's so much negativity in our business," he contends. "Eighty-five percent of all stand-up comedians, in my opinion, are insecure, neurotic, love-starved, sometimes-psychotic wrecks. The other 15 percent are gifted, confident people who say, 'This is what I do, and I don't know how to do anything else. I know how to write a joke, turn a phrase, tell a story and make people laugh.' " Meanwhile, citing statistics and medical-research data, Dreesen explains the vital role comedians play in helping maintain the health and well-being of others: "The point is that if that if laughter is psychologically uplifting, and it is; if it's physiologically therapeutic, and we now know that it is, then aren't comedians physicians of the soul? ... That's what I'm there for, to tell them how important they are." Conveying that sentiment is something Dreesen says he witnessed firsthand during his 14 years spent as Sinatra's opening act. The two developed a close bond, playing in upwards of 45 cities a year, and often traveling to and from gigs in the Chairman of the Board's private jet. "He was as loyal to his friends as anybody I've ever known," Dreesen recalls. "I miss him every single day of my life. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him and that I don't miss him." Or, that he doesn't reminisce about him. "It's come to pass that no matter what I do, no matter what I'm talking about -- hosting David Letterman or the Craig Kilborn show -- they'll say, 'Before we go, can you tell me something about Frank,' and I don't mind that at all." Dreesen (who declines to reveal his age) remembers a conversation the two men once had following a road trip, while he and Sinatra were jetting to Palm Springs, Calif. The crooner invited the comic to spend some time the in the desert resort town, but Dreesen was headed to L.A. for yet another "Tonight Show" appearance. Ol' Blue Eyes inquired whether his funny friend held a record for being the show's most repeated guest. "I said, 'No, there's Rodney (Dangerfield), Robert Klein, David Brenner -- they've all done more than me,' " Dreesen recalls. "But I said, 'It doesn't make any difference, Frank. I could find the cure to cancer and my obituary is still gonna say, "The comedian who toured with Frank Sinatra." '(Sinatra) said, 'Well, maybe my obituary is gonna say, "The singer who toured with Tom Dreesen." And we both started laughing so hard at how silly that was. It became a moment I never forgot." A mention will likely also be made in Dreesen's obit about how, in the late '70s, he helped lead the charge and salary talks on behalf of up-and-coming comics -- including Leno and Letterman -- who picketed in front of The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Dreesen, whose career was well-established and thriving by then, says he dropped what he was doing to lend his assistance. "For eight weeks I walked the picket lines with these kids, because in principle what they were asking for was right," he explains. "They weren't getting some money -- they were getting zero money and the place was making two or three million (dollars) a year. They wanted to get something: not a lot, a few bucks a set." Given his career status and some previous experience he possessed in "negotiating and arbitration and stuff like that," Dreesen says he "ended up being thrown into the forefront of that by the request of these kids, and it turned out to be a nightmare in one respect. In another respect, it was something I'm very proud of." And in the end, it all comes down to pride. In his seminars, Dreesen tells audiences, "I've never met a comedian that I didn't like onstage. Offstage, you may have personality conflicts, but I always found some redeeming value about another comedian onstage -- first of all, just that he or she had the courage to get up there and try." "You never hear a doctor say about another doctor, 'That butcher? I wouldn't send my dog to that guy.' They don't do that; they have too much respect for their profession, and you should do the same." Out for laughs A slight alteration has been made to tickets for The Comedy Stop at The Trop: The price of admission remains $19.95 however, effective Oct. 1, that fee includes one drink instead of two. The season finale of NBC's "Last Comic Standing," in which the reality series' winner is crowned, will air at 8 p.m. Saturday on Comedy Central (Cox cable channel 56). Controversy has swirled around the episode since it was reported earlier this month that the peacock network had allegedly canceled the series prior to airing the finale. Still, NBC was slated to announce the show's winner this week during its Tuesday-night programming. In case you miss it, the episode will repeat at 11 a.m. Sunday on Comedy Central. archive