Tom Dreesen returns, and this time he’s ready to be even more delightful

and you are watching the Letterman podcast welcome once again to the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisholm I am Mike Chisholm I am so excited for this episode because it is the return of Tom Dreesen now I the first thing I gotta apologize for is the audio okay something's going on with my little sound board here and I think I'm gonna have to maybe do a replacement on it um Tom came on I tested all the equipment Tom came on and suddenly I sounded like um Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunk actually you know what I'm not cool enough to sound like Alvin I probably sounded like Theodore uh but anyway uh I sounded weird and I realized that it's something to do with my soundboard I don't know exactly what it is but um I did a bunch of uh changing around on the settings and and so I kind of sound like an echoey I don't even know I there's an echo there and something on my end it's my fault it's this soundboard's fault uh figure that out we'll upgrade things we've upgraded the studios we've gone along I think about Tom's first appearance on the Letterman podcast was just in front of that brick wall and I you know didn't know anything about framing or presentation or lighting or anything like that we're moving forward so technologically we'll move forward from this as well um so I can apologize for that but it doesn't matter once you get past that the content is so great and Tom Dreesen is just I just appreciate him so much I I look at Tom as a hilarious Sage really honestly he is um he's so funny and so insightful and so clever um and so intelligent in all of those things um but he also cares for people deeply the only reason he came on the show originally was because he cared for somebody wanting to preserve the stories uh and the impact of of his friend David Letterman and and Tom um loves telling stories I I love listening to the same story from Tom I I you know I just I could sit there and listen to him all day and and and we start the conversation talking about what he does for for Comedians and and some of the workshops and things he puts on for mindset and things like that I love that stuff uh just a great episode with Tom enjoyed it very very much and uh you know what let's just get right to it uh comedy Legend and one of David Letterman's best friends um a guy who's passing on a torch kind of like what we're doing right here he's passing on the torch of Frank Sinatra and I just love that about Tom so much we're trying to pass on the torch of David Letterman and Company um and all these things are intertwined here and you'll see how in the return of Tom Dreesen uh Tom I I love you so much I'm so grateful that you're back here thank you for putting up with our technical difficulties hey everybody I might have a little bit of a echo on my end this episode it doesn't matter we've got Tom Dreesen here again and this is so exciting because uh it's been about a year since Tom came on our show it was June 3rd I believe was uh last year was the first time he came on and um what has happened since then how much we've grown and all these things that have happened one thing that hasn't changed though is is uh how much I appreciate Tom Dreesen so so much I've said this uh many times since meeting him it's like meeting your favorite uncle for the very first time Tom I love you man thank you so much for coming back on the Letterman podcast I'm happy to be here Mike man I got a real slam day but I'm squeezing this in because I you know that'll be a lot of fun I was earlier this morning working out I got also um you know it's a long story but I got a lot of I had to do two other podcasts and and later on today I've got it I'm going into the gym to work out on some stuff and then um so many things happening but I'm happy to be with you anyhow you are that guy um and I just appreciate I I appreciate everything both in front of the camera and then obviously off the camera as well the advice that you've given and and whatnot I appreciate this so much you just met Dawn Giller before we hit the record button you just met Don Giller for the first time I love that uh one of the things that um that that you guys kind of joked about was you said oh hey you've got all these you've got all my all my appearances that sort of thing uh get me some of the big laughs and send it to me one of the big laughs that I still to this day adore um Dave and I this is this is it's going to lead to a question it's going to lead to you burning one of your jokes it's okay you already burned it on Letterman uh I heard you were dating a homeless woman yeah well that's I I I do that sometimes my nightclub ad you know this is the greatest year of my life I'm going out with a homeless woman now it's great after a date you can just drop her off anywhere you know and it's kind of a throwaway line but it always gets a good laugh you know you're on panel with Dave you tell that joke is that plan that you're going to tell that joke or are you guys just freewheeling at that point no you know he he wanted to know questions that he's good in all talk shows would do this I didn't do that was um our guy oh God why the guy who followed David Letterman the guy from uh and I love the guy Ferguson yeah yeah no no not sure Conan no no no the guy was it for the guy who was from Scotland or Ireland or yeah Craig Ferguson yeah yeah he famously would tear up the uh the blue cards and throw them away he would never he never wanted he just wanted to sit down like we were meeting for the first time which is a pretty good idea because he was clever but David and all these talk shows they were Johnny Carson Jay Oliver they want give me questions to ask the guest and and of course they want funny responses yeah you know Johnny Carson said that President years ago it's a comedy show people watch the news all day long they go to work they go through all the problems they come home have dinner with the family there's more problems they turn on the evening news from they go to the second job or whether they come home now they're home at night and and uh and they turn on the news more war and problems but they get in bed and they switch over to Johnny and they're gonna go to sleep laughing so don't come on with you know come on with funny stories it's a comedy show so David was no different all of them give us give your guests questions the the telecoordinators would interview you yep tell them to ask about I hear you got a new dog and you got a funny story you know or uh you had a problem at the airport the other day I understand you know something and that would lead to a funny story however with Dave no matter how much you gave them at any point he may go into a totally different direction you know I had an example of that and I can't remember uh something of one time that he was supposed to ask me a question and he went told me he almost went to the answer before the question was something you know but he would do that he was spontaneous and you had to you had to be on your toes if you're going to do that show you know uh because what I mean it's funny Tom like not through this year I've met um and talked to so many people about this stuff one of the things that that it seems like Dave liked to do whether it was in front of the camera or off camera to to certain staffers he loved to throw little test balloons he loved to throw a little uh uh uh quotes or or anecdotes or somebody's name did you ever know this person that sort of thing he always loved to throw out little things to see if if people would either take the bait or or or understand what he was talking about um and I think that after doing what he did for so long when he had somebody in the chair with him who he could kind of play around a little bit with and throw things at you're certainly an example of that uh where you guys could go off pretty easily and then bring it back on again well he he would go up on me all the time he would be polite enough as a friend to make sure he got the shot in that I'm appearing at such in such a place oh yeah but for the most part uh you you had to be he had to be ready when I went in there I knew but I didn't give a damn because he's my friend and I love that spontaneity you know and it wasn't like you're going on the show and oh my God if this doesn't work I'm never going to get on again I and so I didn't have that pressure yeah it was my buddy oh gosh I gotta shut this off oh I forgot to shut this off hold on one second no problem we're all good man by the way you're on Craig Ferguson uh November 11th of 08 was your appearance I'm sorry say that again no no no no I was I was literally just told the audience you appeared November 11th 08 that's when you appeared on Ferguson on Late Late Show oh yeah and I hosted that show after you know before those guys after David um uh you know one of the guys left I can't remember David Mr Craig left yeah they had guest hosts I hosted that show a couple times that was fun too but anyway I'm going back to Dave you know it sets relaxing for me to go sit first of all he wouldn't see me before the show even if I came in town a day early we didn't go out to lunch we didn't go out to dinner he wanted to see me for the first time when I sat down next to him uh because he like like Johnny Carson felt the same way that sometimes you go in the green room and and you're talking for a half an hour you give away the interview in there you give away the energy so when I walked out to see him I was saying hey Dave good to see I and I really meant that because we shake hands because I hadn't seen him you know uh yeah so we'd go to dinner and we'd hang out you know you're one of the few you're one of the few guys that actually did the uh uh the dinner after the show you know Larry Sanders made the joke about that the idea of the host going out for dinner and and people used to talk about that all the time Dave famously didn't do that very often you're one of the the notable exceptions I want to talk a little bit about right right now uh the flash just came out I know Dave um he talks about his time with Michael Keaton back in the day you would have been around that that as well Michael Keaton would have been at the comedy store at that time right oh yeah wait no I I always go on stage every night at The Comedy Store with all these unknown comedians yeah David Letterman Jay Leno Michael Keaton Robin Williams uh Elaine boozler Gallagher uh we worked at one little Club the girl waiting tables was Deborah Winger you know yeah so uh in 89 and one of my very favorite uh uh uh late night episodes was was Michael Keaton showing up because Michael Keaton's Batman and it makes me just chuckle to think about you guys the the guys that you all ran with and realizing that one of the guys that he ran with who's gonna play Batman and so this all happens and and you guys talk about it back then well now we're here in 2023 and the new tent pull Warner Brothers DC movie The Flash just comes out and there's Michael Keaton playing Batman again I saw it the other day already how crazy is that that one of your boys got to play Batman not once but twice I mean all that if you you know when we were brand new you know all of us spoke like you know we we were heading we were trying to get to the height but I never knew that Jay Leno and David Letterman would be late night talk show host uh I never would have thought that or Michael being Michael was a stand-up comedian I didn't realize what a brilliant actor he was you know he uh all of them you know Robin you know Robin was from outer space the first time you met him because of his comedic skills but they they it's interesting that class our class uh yeah which they went to and the things they did you know um I'm proud of them all you know there's a Yiddish word Val I'm I'm Irish Italian so I'm not Jewish but I can't do that now Jewish Country Club and they spoke a lot of Yiddish and so I I would we'd pick up on a stint house but one of the words I was like was fell you know you see your friends and you swell with pride I fell when I when I saw David when I'd see David on the show hosting a show or or or or or RJ or uh any of that from you guys Michael in the movie or Deborah Winger was playing Wonder Woman and it also became a wonderful actress um I swallowed Pride because we settled out together you know and then of course and I mean we said this is the first time that you you showed up here I I still Marvel at that fact about people in your class yourself with Sinatra and all those people like it's just Bonkers how your class got a chance to do all these things and spread out the way that they have uh last time that that you were on I didn't get a chance to ask you um I know you do a lot of like even just this last weekend you did a a um I call it personal development because I'm a big personal development guy but you do these uh these these these sessions for stand-ups and and and you have all sorts of um it's like a workshop where you can teach them not just about material what not but like the business and all the other things that come out uh and that are necessary I just love that you do this um you obviously have your finger on the pulse of what stand-up is today I'm super curious as to are there Comics that you're watching these days um and and uh you know Stand Up Now versus stand up back then what are some of the things maybe that have changed and what are some of the things that maybe have stayed the same what has definitely changed is the language I mean you you know uh you know first of all I'm gonna digress and answer your first question sure Saturday at the comedy Chateau in North North uh Hollywood I gave a motivational talk to comedians called The Joy of stand-up comedy and how to get there and I also think that at The Comedy Store about a month ago so I this is something I I give motivation talks all around the country to Corporate America at universities and everything on four subjects perception visualization self-talk and develop a sense of humor and I elaborate on those those points and then I have a q a afterward Saturday at the comedy Chateau it was amazing crowd about 110 Comedians and ages they were so excited and and uh and I and I kept through my motivation they were just very responsive and then I had a q a that lasted almost an hour they just had such wonderful questions but most of all it wasn't to teach them how to be comedians although I can give them advice if they ask me but because they they want to be comedians they were there because they want to be comedians yeah it's to motivate them into this wonderful profession that we're in that that enjoy the journey most comedians do not enjoy the journey you know um I always have said and you've heard me say this my 85 of all stand-up comedians I met in my life are insecure neurotic sometimes psychotic uh love starved Rex absolute rights and the other 15 are gifted confident people who say I know how to write a joke and I know how to tell a joke so I try to encourage them into being in that 15 I always say to them I like to think I'm in the latter but never trust somebody that tells you they're sane but yeah but to enjoy the journey you know all the while that I was doing in my career and I'm still working all the time yeah I plan out to I played softball in the past Major League the Show Business League you know I played basketball in the Van Nuys y till I was 47 and I played in the pacificity until I was 57.

I wanted to enjoy the journey you know Christopher Morley once said success is living the life you want you know what's the point of the one thing I enjoy more than anything in the world is making people laugh yeah but you can't do that 100 of the time you got to take some time off enjoy this journey do some charity work um you know do some personal work and I try to convey that to them motivate them that you are in the greatest profession on the planet Bar None not because I'm in it making people laugh a long time ago it was a theory uh laughter was healing it was a theory it's no longer a theory you know we always have known that the brain can't think of two thoughts at the same time so if you're watching a comedian working you're not thinking of your problem so laughter is psychologically undetermined but not because of Norman Cousins the man who wrote the book Healing Heart and he wrote another book called the anatomy of an illness who was dying of a of a heart ailment and the doctors told him he was going to die because of all the stress he had heart problems he laid in the hospital and thought if my if stress negative input made me ill then positive input should make me well so he checked out of the hospital and you'd only watch I Love Lucy reruns Candid Camera Three Stooges Marx Brothers we've been watching Evening News only watch comedians he looked 27 years after the doctors told him he's going to die so like I tell the comedians laughter is psychologically a deterrent we know that and now we know it's physiologically therapeutic because when the human body laughs UCLA did research on this because of Norman doesn't when you have a hearty lap and you laugh as hard as you can endorphins are released from the brain into the bloodstream so after a big laugh you sometimes go on the sense of well-being tears that come down you have a sense of well-being your body's gone through an actual chemical change so laughter is not only psychologically a deterrent it's physiologically therapeutic therefore comedians are Physicians of the soul and I say to them doctors and I applaud them that you're in the great you're going to go around the rest of your life and you're going to help make people healthier yeah you know and that's what I want them to realize what an important profession you're in and then I'll be one more point and then I'm sorry I don't mean to go this long on this but no no this is great here's the next point that insurance companies went around the world for eight years all around the world trying to find out that 10 fears of man death was fourth pain was second getting up in front of an audience was the number one fear of mankind I said if you can get up in front of an audience as a house painter and talk about being a house painter or a lawyer or a doctor for 45 minutes or an hour you're in less than one percent of the population of the world if you can get up and make people laugh for one hour you're in less than one millions of one percent of the population of the world do you know how special you are don't ruin that don't tarnish that by destroying this marvelous thing you have that communities have the brain with drugs alcohol and all sorts of other stress you know you can make people laugh that's a god-given gift you've worked hard to develop that but don't throw that away with drugs and alcohol you know because you're very important to the the health of our society I love this I love that that's who you are if um if I'm looking for uh uh wisdom and and and and and and I hate to use the word Elder but an elder Statesman of of of stand-ups uh you are certainly it uh the wisdom that you're putting out there is is uh it's wonderful that you're able to take again some of these Concepts that that folks use in business or they use to you know improve their lives that sort of thing to channel it so specifically for stand-ups and have a heart that you have because I mean I mean I got a lot of stand-up friends in my life too and I know what you're talking about when you say some of these people I mean the the Neurosis that are there and and the journey to get to where they want to get to is not an easy one the fact that you are helping and and putting a hand out to help people up and and get to that place is is admirable uh when I was asking about the current uh you know landscape first thing you said is is language now um are you you're particularly you're you're pretty much 99 clean aren't you no I mean I I can be naughty you know I think that it's between being dirty and being naughty right being naughty you know that's right because uh uh and I'm gonna elaborate this but it's oftentimes when we go out on stage you know inside is a child they wrote a book many years ago about coheeding the child within them yeah inside all of us is inside of you there's a little mic you know that inside of you he's the little boy he's six years old he loves everybody wants everybody's going to first grade he wants everybody to like him he's just that little boy you know and so sometimes well Mike might say something naughty and he'll laugh you know when the comedian goes out on stage as the man sometimes he lets that naughtiness come out in him and you can be that little boy that's saying those things oh you shouldn't have said that you know now my uh you know I I when I say the language is different I know every Duty joke there ever was or whatever I mean yeah today because I just did an interview with the naval war College who shows for the Navy sometimes and for the Gary Sinise foundation so um anyhow but I I so I was in the military four years there was a dirty joke that I didn't hear or couldn't tell and love them and I'll tell them I've done I've done stag roast with the best of them but when I started out you couldn't make any money with that we're in Show Business that's two words show and business when David Letterman Jay Leno and I and all and and Robin Williams and Michael Keaton as you were talking about earlier all those people on the lane Boozer when we started out there was three networks ABC NBC CBS if you wanted to make it in the business you had to get on The Tonight Show uh so we're in show business so we say okay well how do I get on The Tonight Show you watch Danny Carson and you watch the comedians that were on there you had the right material they can make Grandma and Grandpa mom and dad and the kids laugh you had the right material like that you couldn't go to hell you couldn't say damn and then later cable came along when cable came along oh well God you can say whatever you want to say you know uh you know just go off on everybody sure and there's look there's only one rule in comedy Mike be funny that's the only rule in comedy listen well you can't say this and you can't say that right now the the politically correct police who are so full of who are trying to stifle the mediums yes uh you know telling what you know what we have to see what we can say what we can say you know you know I I'm so angry at them we have the First Amendment thousands of men and women died in this country hundreds of thousands so we have the First Amendment freedom of speech you don't have to listen to us you can turn us off you can walk out the door you can ask for your money back yeah you can't tell people what they must say because when you start telling people what they must say the next step is you're going to tell them what they must think and then communist government and and and the government rules not not a man so anyhow uh so I'm going back to saying there's only one rule in comedy to be funny and and not when comedy clubs came along and cable television came along yeah young kids swarmed to these clubs and all of a sudden they were seeing comedians that were it wasn't a subject that they wouldn't talk about and these young kids going into the club said oh that's comedy when I was growing up you saw Jack Benny Bob Hope Johnny Carson and you said that's comedy but the kids growing up they see you know they sell you know oh that's got me and that's okay because because it's whatever floats your boat you know yeah I I wanted to get into this talk with you today I thought it was going to happen like maybe later on but I'm so glad it's kind of evolved into this uh because I want to bring it back to Dave for for just a second here it is fascinating to me watching Dave uh lately um and I don't even know what the phrase is whether it's different to dip his toe a little bit or or talk a little bit about the current comedy scene um he was on Neil Brennan's podcast uh blocks which was um you know talk about you know a new sensibility Neil Brennan when he goes out and does things it's Chappelle's former uh former writing partner and he talks a lot about mental health and and and and he and Dave and as they were talking back and forth about things uh you know Dave's like oh nobody wants to know about my personal life or things and Neil's like no no that's what everybody wants now it's it's shifted it's gone into this place where everybody is vulnerable and they throw things out there um Dave talks a little bit about Bert Kreischer out there and what a Phenom Bert has become and is delighted when he realizes how much made like 25 million dollars last year and Dave was delighted by that and and I love watching Dave interact with new comedians the guys who are on top Chappelle being on my next guest another example of that Tiffany haddish as well um I want to know with yourself because you came from the same generation um you know you did such a good job as talking about uh what things were like when you were breaking in and then then cable and things evolved and whatnot uh you talk about freedom of speech back in the day you know Carlin and those people and prior and those people were probably pissing off the you know what then would have been considered the conservatives the right now these types of people Chappelle and and some of these people that are that are that are pushing the envelope they're pissing off people on the left the political correctness polices you're talking about and isn't it interesting how we've seen the pendulum swing from one to another so I mean I just threw out a whole bunch of stuff there but I love talking to you about this you are nothing short of an expert and um yeah like like uh are there any comedians today that you're watching that are kind of uh you know that Intrigue you yeah oh yeah but there's so many Bill Burr I work with Bill Burr at The Comedy Store a while back several times I like Bill a lot you know Sebastian maniscal you know yeah yeah see today you can go anywhere you want to go now fortunately some of those guys like Bill Burr he grandpa with his way in there he built this big audience and now they're all coming to see him and if you don't like what he says what the hell did you pay the ticket for you know yeah yeah you know so so uh you can get you know that part you know George Carlin and and Richard Pryor also they had a following and then then they went you know uh someone what Richard you know was a friend of mine and I thought the world of them yeah you know he I I he he was sometimes sometimes Richard was in a dark place and and sometimes he was just a genius on the stage you know but yeah again there's all four there's all kinds of different lap dealers there is no funniest ever ever in the history of Comedy oh that's the funniest because funniest is what makes you laugh one time I was on a show with five comedians in the dinosaur show and they were talking stand-up comedy and she said to me who's the who's the funniest person out there I said Don Paluzzi she said down to Lizzie he's my cousin she said oh is he a comedian I said no but he cracks me up every time I see him he walks into the room and I'm laughing so in my world he's the funniest person so the funniest person in the world is what makes you laugh yeah who makes you know uh there is no funniest or funnier as for David he's you know he's been my buddy for God 45 years or more yeah and we and we we shared some real personal moments in our in our careers and and I think the world and his wife and and his son you know Harry uh he's just a real good buddy and has been there for me whenever I needed him and I've been there for him whenever he's needed me but I noticed him grow through the years you know how hard he worked in the beginning how dedicated it was that show to almost an obsession yeah and when Harry was born you know after and after being with Regina and then Harry how how much he changed as a human being and now he's far more vulnerable and Neil Brennan tried to get him I know Leo real well I like Neil a lot by the way yep very clever and Neil said that's that whole show is about yet to this to your vulnerability yeah I always tell comedians sometimes don't be afraid to be vulnerable in front of an audience you know Kyle Reiner once said to me Tommy you want to make him laugh show me your pain they'd love to see your pain show me your pain you know Frank Sinatra tough guy right everybody thinks I'm this tough guy not in a song he put his guts out there yep because he immersed himself in the lyric and became that he became that lonely guy in the bar whose woman left him he's never going to find love again you know Frank Sinatra is a brilliant actor but people forget that he won the Academy Award so when you gave him a song it was a script writer field the night the writer took Pen in Hand so what comedians don't be afraid to show him your pain now that's what Neil show is all about open up tell us about you Dave always says no one's interested in anybody uh my personal life if you're a fan of David Letterman you damn sure are interested you really want absolutely but there's always a fear and certain people that if I expose myself too much to them yeah you probably still like me yeah some people when they walked on stage have a stage Persona and some people are just a continuation of themselves yeah the guy you're talking to now is the same guy that will get on stage I I'm this is exactly who I am on scene that doesn't make me right or wrong but I I always say the best thing for comedians is the use that tagline Candid Camera had caught in the act of being yourself you know the audience wants to know about you so you know when you go out on stage when you're a new comedian you're doing an option of another comedian because you know that work when you're a new comedian I can watch a new comedian say oh he likes uh Jay Leno or he likes Letterman or he likes uh George Carlin or he likes Jerry Seinfeld whatever they're doing an impression of a comedian but one day you let a little bit of you out and if it gets a lab you're a little bit more of you out and pretty soon now you got about 10 minutes and you're a little more and pretty soon you're become you out there and from that moment on you grow in Leaps and Bounds because now you say it's okay to be me they like me now I can tell them about me and what pisses me off what makes me sad what makes me happy but you know and now I can really be me out there you know yeah anyhow I uh I'm glad that uh I'm glad that you know Neil he's a guy that I have uh personally you know we're similar aged and and and I just uh really appreciate where he uh his perspective and where he comes from um I mean I love everything that uh you know that they Dave puts out there and whatnot but that appearance um when when Dave appeared uh with Neil that's one of my favorite things that I've ever seen him do and I think the vulnerability is a is a big part of it Neil asked many of the questions if not most of the questions like I've already I've already I know if ever I get Dave on the other side of this Zoom If Ever I get him on here I'm not going to talk to him about the past I'm going to just shoot the with him about where things are right now um because I know that he doesn't like to talk about that stuff and I'm also I'm not Neil Brennan but Neil Brennan is Neil Brennan and he was able to kind of ask some of these questions that people would be interested to know like asking him about you know you know back in the day with Jay or how he feels about Jay now all that kind of stuff stuff that I would kind of shy away from he went head first into it and it just it's so interesting watching where Dave's at now compared to where he was back then I don't see Dave doing that interview 10 years ago with Neil and it just shows how much Dave has evolved as well would you would you kind of agree with that yeah because you know what you know you do the show you're in competition you know these guys are competitors I played basketball with Dave Letterman when I played racquetball with David Letterman he's very competitive individual very competitive yeah and and he wants to win and when he had they had those shows in those late night Wars and stuff they were competitive you're looking at the ratings every day and everything and then and and both felt like one or the other offended one another and all that stuff so it got real personal as time goes by yeah you know you look back over your life and you look back over those shows and you go you know what the most important lesson you can learn I'm not that big a deal yeah I worked hard I accomplished some things but you know what it's all going to pass you know what let me give you an example Johnny Carson was huge yeah absolutely huge yep huge on the air for over 30 years I'm out in front of the Laugh Factory one night trying out some new material I come outside a young couple are talking to me he's he's 34 and his wife is 32.

yeah you're talking to me nice people and in the conversation I said somehow we know Johnny Carson and she stared at me I said Danny Carson she said Johnny Carson I said yeah she said is he the guy that was on before Jay Leno now what I realized is Jay had been on for 24 years this girl was 32 years old yeah when she was a little girl she couldn't stay up late to know about any Johnny Carson by the time she was about 15 16 because every Jalen was on or David Letterman was on what I'm saying is is that as big as any customers all the wonderful magnificent things he accomplished and did in Stars he brought up it's gone so in the end all you have are memories so make some real good memories you know make some real good memories but the most the best you can do when you get older is just realize you know I'm not that important I I'm just another person that did the best we could with what we had and and and that's it but what will really matter in the end is gee I remember the friendship I had with Dave Letterman when Dave didn't have a diamond I didn't either and we were played basketball together um I remember you know that's the things you want to remember you want to remember my children and my children what we did and and and the relationship I have with them and and that's where Dave is at now you know I guess when I read years ago of of nurses doctors chaplains who were around people that were dying in combat in war and in older years and they ended all these it took him years what were some of the last thoughts of that person that was dying yeah in combat almost always like 95 out of 100 guys that were dying in combat didn't cry out for God they cried out for their mother they weren't about their mom you know that my mom and as elderly people when they didn't have long to live their last thoughts are on their children you know I might you know my children that I do writer that you know so it wasn't about all your your Awards it wasn't about all the money you have well in you know and and I'll finish with this story I once already and Frank Sinatra's 82nd birthday we were all over the house he died five months later and all these stars were there and they were having dinner and a lot of big names and and we're waiting for the cake to come out dinner was over and Frank was off to the side yeah it wasn't saying much he was still eating a little bit he was off to the side we were all at the big table and we didn't know if he was quite with us sometimes because he just you know he didn't have long to live yeah somebody said Gee where's the best place to live and Gregory Peck said veronique and I his wife Ernie we have a villa in France and we like it there and Robert Wagner Joe St John we have a place in Aspen we like it there and Frank with his head down said the best place to live is where your friends are and everybody went oh yeah wow you know and I told that story on Letterman show by the way absolutely I uh I remember it um I love it my point about here's a guy who amassed Fortune who three Academy Awards um all the things that he did and in the end it wasn't about any of those things it was about relationships friendships he made and David is in that place now I believe in the in the Brennan episode he he brought up the love for Harry and uh because Neil you know famously he talks about this all the time he doesn't have kids and and you know he's trying to work on his own stuff in in his head and and uh but he says to Dave he goes that's the good stuff right everyone tells me that's the good stuff uh when he was talking about hair you know the love for for a child that's the good stuff um I love that we got into this today and are talking about this Tom I want to talk a little bit about perspective and some of these other things that Dave's done he interviewed volada zielinski you know and and and he's going down the path of you know the guy that he he replaced originally he's he's doing the Tom Snyder stuff which which is so fun to see Dave taking all of these things that he has learned and and and and doing this did you watch the interview that he did with uh zielinski not yet no no I you know I I watched some of them you know I love watching David you know he had my friend Tiffany haddish and I I've been helping her since she's 15 years old yep and and they thought she even brought that up you know uh and so I went you know you know he you know the I wanted him to interview a guy named Jordan Peterson oh my gosh yeah I I just saw Jordan Peterson speak actually oh did you I I want and David said David said to me watching me he said he'd eat me up you know and I said no but he wouldn't because he would show respect from him but you know the if there's one thing that I could say about David and I say it in front of him sometimes and he he wants a poo poo and don't even bring that up yeah he does not know how good he really is and nor does he want to know how good he is that's a good okay let's expound on that a little bit he's extraordinary in so many ways yeah he's right he's intelligent he's curious you know uh uh he's opinionated he's got his I know his opinions on a lot of things he doesn't bring that up in an interview he just wants to know your things yeah and he he's yeah he's just you know I mean you know you're talking about a guy from Indianapolis we used to have a radio show in college but he would interview the janitor in in a streetwalker and uh you know he's he you know that kind of curiosity you know he's shy uh he's getting better you know uh and and you know when we go to dinner now you know I find him uh and you know he lets me hug him now you know you're kidding I say hey Dave you know he used to be a guy named Jimmy wink I said hugged everybody yeah he's brand new and God Rest his soul Jimmy's a good comedian he passed away but Jimmy was a hugger hey Tommy and hit again hey you need to hug everybody and we'd be three or four Comedians and we were talking Jimmy would be coming toward us and they would go oh no no no he's gonna hug me no Wiggins was gonna hug him yeah but he's he's better at that yeah oh I love that place oh he's been in Hollywood 100 years yep for more but uh anyhow me and Jeff Altman and Dave and uh and uh and and uh Paul Schaefer and dates agent and Dave and Mary Dave's assistant and it was great how long ago was this too long ago just uh I guess about a month ago but uh yeah fly on that wall okay go ahead yeah we had a great time and we know and we we just talk about things you know yeah you know it I don't know if I can tell this story and I guess I could but you know Dave shocked me the most toward the end I'm on a show one night and I think you saw it but he said to me you remember when red fox what's it you remember that story about red fox I love this story oh please please yep the truth was of course I remember that story yeah let's say well you can't tell the story without swearing and it's got a live audience there yep are you my brain are you talking about the same story I know about red fox coming out to five people in the audience and I said he said you know that story about me and I said well obviously just I'm not going to say those words initial but he did oh yeah went for accident it was true story at the Hacienda you know uh that you know he came out to The Late Show came down from his room in the late show and he's in the wings he doesn't know so the ladies and gentlemen mcmen welcome red fox and Redstone red walks out and he sees five he goes five people I do know silver no five people you know and he said good night and they went again red fox now and they played them up now Dave shouted that out and I'm looking at him he says he said you don't remember this story I said I remember that story but I don't think red used that kind of language of course what did you know but they believed it on on the evening show but oh yeah I would have never thought I'd ever heard Dave Letterman say things like that you know you talk about a guy who uses curse words uh expertly like a ninja like he will like like you know whether it's uh on you know an episode of my next guest where he's interviewing you know Tina Fey or someone like that and he'll he'll let one F-bomb go or he'll just and it's fun to do it like it it's he he uh uses them like they're a calculated uh you know he's so smart you know he would never ever ever overstay the welcome when it comes to that but one or two here and there have maximum effect and and he plays it like uh yeah he plays dialogue like it's a like it's a like Paul plays the piano he's just an expert at it um I've always said that about him that his his vocabulary and his vernacular is it was so brilliant and you know first of all the problem with the f word is it's a noun it's a pronoun it's an adjective it's an adverb anytime you don't have any uh please or you go there and and after you know if you use any adjective too long in a in a monologue or in an image it it loses its effect you know the first time you'd say in your act it people probably get laughing you say it 15 times and after a while it loses its effect and then he told me a while back he saw Ellen the Genesis the generous comedy special and he and he was saying you know how funny it was and he said she only used the f word once in that only but she it was at a strategic moment yep and that was the only time she used it and that's smart comedy that's a smart comedy you know I I told you that one time I was at the lap actually trying out new material a couple years ago I think I told you this mic but I was upstairs waiting to go looking at my notes and around the corner were two young comedians I didn't know they were there and they didn't know I was there one of them said you know Tom dreesen's here and of course my ears perked up oh boy the other community said yeah you know he's old school and the other community said he's old school what do you mean he said well he doesn't use the f word he doesn't use the F word what does he use for adjectives and I said adjectives that's what I use for adjectives you know I uh it is a free form it's a total free form and people can make of it and like you said I I love what you said earlier too that's the attitude I subscribe to as well if it's funny enough you can do it and but it better be funny and and and and that's you know you can you can get across everything but but the broader sensibility um where you know guys like like Leno or Seinfeld or whatever are known to be uh you know clean comic Norm Macdonald when he was on Comedians and Cars Getting Coffee he says to Jerry he goes you know clean comedy is the superior form because it's tougher and I get that uh but when you look today at the biggest ones that are out there and I mean there's notable exceptions of course lots of them um but a lot of these comedians are pushing that envelope and being edgy about things um I I the polarization is something that in my opinion uh you would be able you'd be an expert at being able to kind of not be like you haven't been polarized about anything in anything that that you've done have you like that's that's just not you yeah you know I yeah again I I never wanted to be and I talk about this in the motivation talk I said that you know there's a Hindu proverb but actually it's given credit to Ernest Hemingway and it's there's nothing Noble about being Superior to another human being true nobility lies in being Superior to your former self am I a better friend than I was last year am I a better neighbor than I was last year uh you know am I a better friend am I a better comedian than I was last year yeah I say to the audience when I give the motivation talk I stand before you and I tell you I'm a success I am a success as a stand-up comedian now my critics would say Oh no you're not you're not a success you started out with David Letterman and Jay Leno and Jay's got a 380 cars 167 motorcycles and he's got uh hundreds of millions of dollars in homes all over the world in Davidson Islands you know and I say I was never in competition with David Letterman or Jay Leno my only competition is my former self have I grown in the last year I listened to my tapes I try out new material that's you know because in the end the second you die everything you have transfers nothing is yours you don't own I don't own this shirt on my deck If I Die Tomorrow somebody else will be wearing it I don't own this hat you know we're using I don't know the money the home the cars are like it's all being transferred the second you die so have I grown as much as I could grow have I taken my craft in my personality as far as he could go uh you know so that's all you that's that that's my point about being that um I never wanted to be um anything special I just wanted to be a stand-up comedian and tell you what makes me laugh and and most of the time in comedy it's what pisses you off they want to know what misses you are you know tell us about that you know uh that's all you know you know again candid camera is a great line caught in the end uh don just sent me uh I don't know I hope you can see this but look at these Hooligans right here I don't know if you can see there's you and I guess you're watching Dave here now showing that picture see that's the ice house now they just after the Ice House in Pasadena to show you how long ago that was look over David's head and see what you see what is what is over David's head a paper that's not real what is that that's a pay phone behind David's head that's a pay farm when was the last time you saw a paper we were all brand new at that time George Miller David and I and we'd go over to the ice house uh and and work out over there and uh and now the ice house uh the owner of the Lakers son Johnny bus nice house in Pasadena yeah and I may be working there uh I have a one-man show that I do called the man who made sin after lap it's a 90th of stand-up comedy but a lot of funny stories and and stuff like that and uh and so that's I may be doing it out there one day one day I am going to it's on my bucket list of things that I want to do as a result of this I've got all these little things that I want to do these little things that just for me like you said you you it's not about the money it's about the experience and the joy and the and the memories that you make and all that one of the little things that I want to do is I'm going to hire you I'm gonna I'm gonna book The Kelowna Community Theater where Craig Ferguson has played and and others I'm going to hire you and bring you up here to do that show I I know that we can sell it out and I just love I cannot wait to see that show but I would love to actually book it and promote it and make it happen um everything that you're saying here Tom is so beautiful and I appreciate it so much um oh by the way I taught my granddaughter I I'm almost positive it's a George Miller joke um I've taught my little five-year-old granddaughter to say in your pants because it's really funny hearing a little five-year-old girl say that about random things in your pants that's a George Miller joke right yeah I don't recall it but George had so many friends but explain the joke to me you know oh it's just a thing where you just randomly say in your pants after uh something um man I can't even on the spot I can't even think of something right now it's kind of like one of those jokes that uh you know it's like that's what she said that's probably a modern equivalent to it but I'm almost positive it was a George Miller joke that I learned back on the day of the Lettermen show um because he he would take cliches like that and turn him into great routines he was a good comedy writer a really funny comedy writer you know they roasted me one time it was a Master of Ceremonies it was when we were new I was the first one of that our class to get on The Tonight Show to break out yep so and I had some vein going in so at Mitzi Shore at The Comedy Store I had a roast one night David was the MC and on the Deus was Jay Leno and uh uh Marshall Warfield and uh I think Jada or George Miller and Johnny dark and um Paul Mooney and Eminem when they got finished ripping me they went after my wife who was in the audience at the time I wasn't at that time they went after her but it was some funny funny funny stuff but George Miller had his line on me was he said the LA cops stopped Tom's reason and they said you want to talk here or down at the station and Jason said uh both and in the car if you're ever going to be roasted you better be able to take a joke because they they ripped me up one side and down the other and all all your shortcomings you know and they exaggerate them and so yeah right they were true and then and again like they you know um Paul Mooney you know yeah Paul Mooney you know what I'm talking about yes sir when I was struggling out here in the west coast my ex-wife had separated from me my wife had suffered me at that time and they were living in Chicago and I was out here hitchhiking up and down Sunset Boulevard I didn't have a car I was sleeping in an old Nash Rambler that the front seat came down in and I was you know that's how down and out I was really on my ass yeah and on morning a couple times gave me a ride uh to back to where I I was staying and so he gets up on the Deus you know because now by that time my wife and I are back I'm now I'm doing the tonight shows on yeah two cars I mean all the things we never had anyhow so yeah Tom Gleason yeah he came out here and he didn't have any money he hitchhiking I gave his ass a ride or poor ass over what ride you know and he said his wife left him he said but he started making that money and my wife's sitting right there he stopped making that money now you couldn't get that out of the house with two shotguns yeah my wife laughed it's funny though because um you you say that they they they they take off on your shortcomings at the end of the day you're one of the best speakers I've ever met and and and you do love to speak you're good at it and the joke about uh you know you being yeah I talked to you on the way to the station too in the car that that to me just shows that they're taking one of your strengths and they're making fun of it because you are you're you're that guy you're the guy that had it together you know we talked about the strike the last time you were on um and and the organizational skills are are commonalities with the JC's um and and I mean they take the best of you and they try and make fun of that too and I just I love that you said something a little bit earlier that I want to go back to uh the idea of Dave having a conversation with Jordan Peterson okay so he's now on my list I I had a list of three people I would love to see Dave speak to I never even thought about Jordan that would be fascinating listening to Dave talk to Jordan Peterson and and pick his brain about things um the one that I always had near the top of my list and I don't know how much he's on your radar or not if there is an equivalent to Johnny Carson right now in the sense of somebody who can give a comedian a bump the way that Carson used to be able to if you get on Rogan's Joe Rogan's podcast if you talk to Rogan you know he just opened up the comedy Mothership and Austin trying to take The Comedy Store uh many of the the the the the the best parts about The Comedy Store about developing Talent he just opened up that place uh in Austin a comedian can go on his podcast for the first time having you know very little notoriety whatsoever and their career can change the next day has has Rogan hit your uh your radar at all and how fun would it be to watch Dave talk to him I'm a huge fan of yeah and the show and I don't know why who came out I tried but I'm a huge fan I listened to him he what he's done and he also would like me at the comedy show he almost at one time he became for San Andreas as as I did yeah at one time you know and um but I I you're right he's the only show out there today that if one one appearance on his show and it's going to change your whole career Mike I'm not you know I'm I'm doing this 52 years yeah but I would love to sit and talk with him because I think he's one of one of the brightest minds but he does something better than almost anybody I've ever seen who listens yes listens to what the guest is saying yeah and and he lets the guests you know elaborate he doesn't interrupt he doesn't and he waits for the right moment and he'll always ask a a great question you know yeah I'm a big fan of his family I uh I love when you talk about Elder Statesman when he has Elder Statesman of comedy on it makes me so happy listening to him pick their brains uh you know his episode with letter was really really good Gilbert Godfrey when he was on um there's all sorts of of of of uh people and and you again exactly the same what Dave has as well and the best curiosity curiosity is one of the greatest um uh you know attributes a human can have Joe's got it Dave's got it I think that's something that they're very that they have in common with each other uh oh my God I would love to see you uh at the comedy Mothership I hope I hope I hope you can get yourself booked there soon and I hope that you and Joe could build a relationship it would be awesome to have you on you'd be such a good guest on that show oh that'd be so good in your mouth to God years I would love that yeah because I am a big penis and I would really uh I really enjoy that but anyhow uh you know what are you gonna do no but he's a guy that I want to see Dave interview too like like because again you've got somebody who uh broadcasting has changed late night has changed all of these things are very very different from each other they don't have on network television they don't have the followings that they used to because things have been so fragmented but here you got a guy like Joe who's a lightning rod the way that uh you know with numbers the way that Dave used to be or Johnny used to be um and and people are just discovering it in a different medium I would love to see Dave and Joe uh go back and forth so I'm gonna throw that to you too like I don't know if that's something that that Tom and the staff have had in uh as a as an idea but boy wouldn't that be wouldn't that be a fun conversation oh absolutely because uh like like you said these would be two great minds I would love to see that and they come from two different walks of life you know but and I'm sure they both have a mutual respect for one another you know uh yeah I would like to do that I've hosted shows I've hosted TV shows and video shows and stuff I would I would truly um uh you know love I would love to interview Dave all that time a lot of time but I said I would love before you you and I go to that you know Comedy Store in the sky I would love to uh sit down with you for one hour and just talk about our friendship talk about our relationship how we how long we've known one another and things like that you know uh he would he probably would never do it you know uh again maybe someday when I'm alone with them I can talk to him and ask him all kinds of personal questions but you know he there's a private part of him that he doesn't want people to see yeah I you know and I think you know and and how do I say this as I told you earlier Dave just doesn't know how good he really is but I think inside of a lot of very very successful people uh a lot of creative people is they don't something a voice somewhere in their system I really don't deserve all this you know yes and if I expose myself if I really tell them how I feel inside they'll think you're right you really don't deserve all this but again Neil Brennan is not afraid to go to places like that no and that doesn't make him right or him wrong some people just don't want to go there it's it's too painful to go there or too uneasy to go there and and other people are just free with that it you know that's that's why what makes the world go round doesn't it all these different personalities you know it's not a doubt I I certainly um can relate to this personally this last year I've gone through two or three different little bouts of imposter syndrome um and and uh it's defeating imposter syndrome is such an empowering feeling being caught in the midst of it um is is dark and awful and and uh there's a lot of folks who just they don't give themselves that type of uh of of even permission to go out and do the things that they want to do um this show for me I mean you talk about you know the memories that you've created and all that and how people rate success as far as I'm concerned I'm the most successful person I know because I've reached out to do something that I love with the no outcome whatsoever except to actually do it and the memories that have happened Tom in this last year uh for me the experiences the conversations the friendships that I've built I'm like I'm I'm getting really tight friendships with some of these Letterman writers and some of these people that worked for Dave forever some of the funniest most entertaining people I've ever met and it's because I kind of just sort of dared to take a step forward into what my dreams are and and and the Imposter syndrome that shows up sometimes or the crabs in the bucket that try and pull you down when you even say out loud what you want to do defeating that and empowering yourself is one of the greatest feelings that I've ever ever experienced and and I've I need to tell you this um and not like Dave I know that you can take a compliment I know that you know you will when I tell you this you are a huge part of that Tom like for me like as far as I'm concerned this little experiment that was the Letterman podcast gained credibility the moment you came on as a guest and and I mean it's I just I cannot thank you enough for that I can't thank you enough for the messages that you give to people the the giving spirit that you have um I I can't thank you enough for just being you Tom like I I appreciate you so so much um the fact that I can just text you every now and then a picture or something or or a memory of of something when I watched you on Dave's show growing up I cannot believe it and it was all a matter of just stepping out and reaching out to you that first time and you never know what might happen and I think that people who view or listen to this program here if there's an itch if there's something inside if there's something that you've always wanted to do but maybe you have be even too afraid to articulate it go do it because what's on the other side you may not be able to predict it it may not be success based on what Society tells you but it will be for for you inside and there's nothing there's no greater feeling and so um I I can't thank you enough this is one of the reasons I wanted to have you on again is so I could tell you this a year later I wanted it to be around a year um like Tom you have done that for me and I can't thank you enough for it I appreciate you like you would never believe how much I appreciate you I I say thank you you know years ago I was in an acting class in Chicago and and I did a scene and the husband and wife were complimented me on the scene and I was kind of him and Han and the wife said what's wrong with you I said I don't know I I have a hard time sometimes seeking a compliment but she said why don't you just say thank you and shut up so that's very nice dude so I say thank you I get motivation talks yeah by saying before this talk is over with I'm going to give you the secret you want to know the secret to success you want to have a secret to living a happy life before this talk is over I'm going to give you that secret and when I finish I say and now I'm going to tell you the secret the secret is you you're the secret you know you are far more powerful than you ever thought you could be yeah you know that that and I'm gonna show you how to bring that out in you and I do in the talk but that you know you've got two choices Mike you can either chase your dreams and fail and never be afraid to fail failing it keeps making you get up you know we you know every every failure gets you closer to your success but but never your faithful you can you can either chase your dreams or you can just think about them and never do it and one day be sitting in a bar somewhere with your buddies or sitting around wherever your family and say you know I could have I might have I should have and and they're sitting there thinking if you could have you would have so yeah you got a choice you can also be sitting around and saying let me tell you something I did everything I could humanly possible to read success I felt short but damn it I tried yeah you know if you remember the movie was it One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with Jack Nicholson yeah all them in in the mental institution yeah movie and there was a scene in there about the water found that he decided he bet a guy he could go over the chief yeah East Waterfront and they all laughed and they bet on them and he tried and he couldn't he could not do it and he walked away and they were laughing laughing he looked at him he said at least I tried you son of a at least I tried yes so that that's what it is about in life you know that you you you're the secret you know you're the secret this is your Universe this is your time you're only here for a blink of an eye this planet earth has been here for five billion years yeah 250 000 years Dinosaurs Ruled the planet Earth man in this present form from cro-magnum to now maybe a hundred thousand from Magnum Neanderthal and now maybe a hundred thousand hundred twenty thousand but the plan that's been here for five billion years and it's going to be here for five billion more yes destroys the earth the earth is moving closer to the Sun so one day this planet will look not unlike Mars looks like right now so if you think this planet was here five billion years before I was born it's going to be here five being after I die not thousands not not millions billions that means your lifetime this planet is a blink of an eye how it's over how that you would spend one moment of that blink of an eye bitching and moaning and cursing your lot in life is an absurdity that you would spend one moment I believe but I am not going for your dreams not going for your goals is spitting in your Master's face saying I don't appreciate this great gift of life you know this like you know that you don't chase your dreams if someone knocked on your door every day and as you opened the door and gave you a wonderful gift because like you know how much would you appreciate original gift how much would you appreciate the gifts how much would you appreciate the giver of the gift every day is a celebration every day is a chance to go out and you know you wake up in the morning what life might I change today who might change mine what wonderful did you take get out of bed every morning with that kind of spirit that kind of that if you're religious this is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it you know get upset you know but open up the curtains and say look at this beautiful day wow I wonder what wonderful things are going to happen today that's part of my perception talking I don't want to keep going on about this but perceive this day as if all of life is about perception yes indeed this day as a great day and it will be perceive this life is a great life and it will be receive yourself as something great and you are you know yes you could go on all day um but I know you have a jam day and I want to be very respectful and besides robots I can have you back uh I want to have what okay what do you think of this idea what do you think of the idea of having you and Jeff on one time I mean I love Jeff I mean we know we started out together again oh okay great that's all I need to know I'll tell you this when Jeff phones me I don't like answering the telephone and the reason I don't like answering the phone is because the voicemails uh and particularly the voices that he will use on the voicemails are just some of the funniest things I've ever and it's just everyone's like a little gift and I just appreciate that guy so so much um okay Before We Say Goodbye for uh your second appearance on the Lettermen podcast second of many if I have my way um Don Giller who you just met today for the first time would like to ask you a question before we end up so don if you want to pop on ask me two questions in that there you go that's them two um this is the Frank Sinatra related question when uh when I was 14 uh I was watching uh Sinatra's a man and his music that aired on in 1965 and I remember being mesmerized by his I think it was this debut performance of It Was a Very Good Year because it was released around that time my question is did you and Frank ever talk about his music in particular of that song well you know not only that song but a lot of other songs but you know when I stayed at his compound first of all Frank never went to bed till my son came up around the road or off the road he was nocturnal so whenever after the shows we stayed up we're gone you know in Vegas or where we were when I stayed at his compound down in the Rancho Mirage I see there six times a year or more he would come and get me out of my Bungalow and he'd say come on tell me let's take a ride and we'd ride around the desert Till Dawn and we'd talk about all sorts of things but the wonderful thing about me about being with him then is that when I was a little boy Shannon shoes and all the bars he was on the jukebox his songs were on the jukebox you know and and fast forward here I'm riding around the car with him and and we talk about his his music and stuff like that but he um the thing that I liked the most was when we were in a car there were nights he was not the great Frank Sinatra and I was not this comedian I was a kid from the streets at the south side of Chicago and he was a kid from the streets in Hoboken and we talked about the neighborhood and people like that people from the neighborhood two guys from the neighborhood one of the my favorite quotes and I'm not forgetting your question but a guy from The New York Times we were in a place uh called patches and West 57th Street in New York having dinner the guy from New York Times just walking out and I know he wanted to say something to Frank but he came to me because a lot of times they do that to get to Frank when he said to Frank he said to Frank how come you keep this guy dressing with you all these years on stage and Frank said you mean besides the fact that he's funny and the guy said yeah besides that fact and he said if I'm a saloon singer and I am then Tommy's a sillan comedian by that I mean we're just a couple of neighborhood guys I love that quote uh and I have it on in my book and stuff anyhow but going back to the music so many times I said to him he said to me someone I when I he said Tommy you ever go through a bad love affair and you're hurting you really really hurt me and you're driving along in a car and a song comes on the radio and it gets to your stuff oh oh so you change your station he said and then lo and behold mama said another song comes on and it's you know oh and you change your stations and then another song comes out he said and it Dawns on you those guys who wrote those songs they wrote them when they're feeling like you're feeling right now you know it's quarter to three there's no one in the place except in me when Frank Sinatra sang About A Love Affair since passed and that happened to you and he he lived those lyrics as I pointed out earlier you know that that he was a great actor he he became that lonely guy if you were in a bar and a woman left you and it was three o'clock in the morning and you're in a bar and a song came on that he's saying called if you go away before that song is over you'll put a gun in your mouth that's how bad if you go away on this summer's day and he sings it with set speeding but uh about about the one song that I always wanted him to sing but he would never sing I think it was because of one lyric it was um uh the song by uh the Frenchman and Glen Campbell sang it too and so did Roy Clark um wow um about that it wasn't no it was it was almost like it was a very good year but it was a song It's a song about um oh God but it looking up see if I can find something yeah and you know I wanted him to sing that song um but there was a lyric in there that I think that he didn't like I once I once gave him a song Billy Joel had a song um that I that I thought would be perfect for him uh that when Billy Joel's just sitting at a piano playing and and I thought that song would be perfect but he didn't want to record that that song anyhow we talked about music a lot and and uh and of course um can you think of the lyric uh at least one of the lyrics yeah I'm trying to think of of Glen Campbell song it'll pop on my brain and just a heartbeat here I actually think I have it here um how can I how can I forget that song anyhow another time I was riding around with him and uh and and he he told me a very personal story yesterday when I was young yesterday when I was young there we go there was a lyric in there about all you talked about when you were young was yourself you know and and I know he didn't like that lyric because he said that kind of guy but other than that that song would have been perfect for him as as well you know one night I was riding around with him and he told me something very personal and we were coming back to the compound the sun was coming up and he told me something really personal and then he said to me I shouldn't have told you that and I said well it won't go any further than this car and he said I know I know and he was looking out the window he was in the passenger side I was driving he said but I I shouldn't have told you that I said well like I said it's not going to go any further into his car and besides that it's not like we're strangers you know we're friends and I don't know what made me do it you know I was I looked at him I said Strangers in the Night he said yeah there's a song hidden key he said Strangers in the Night and I said exchanging glances he said wandering in the night I said what were the chances and we stopped doing something about good night I was walking to the Bungalow and I was thinking if I could go back to my own neighborhood where all the guys in a bargain like when I was a bartender and they all loved Sinatra if I could go back to that bar and walk and hey guys you ain't gonna believe this I was just riding around singing Strangers in the Night with Frank Sinatra you know they'd say get the out of here that but it happened and I'll never ever forget it yeah there's something about uh It Was a Very Good Year Nelson riddle I think he arranged it yeah is that right yeah and um just the strings just just how how the how the arrangement would change for every verse uh it didn't it didn't grow it just took you to a different it was an interlude it just took it out yeah I can't um it's one of my favorite songs is that's all machines those chauffeurs would drive when I was 30.

yeah there's lyrics you know and when when you watch Frank singing I'd sit in the Wings and watch them and you would tell that story because that's how brilliant and actor he was you know Charlton Heston once said to him he said he said about Sinatra he said to watch Frank Sinatra sing a four-minute song is like watching a four minute movie yeah because it was I think one of his longest released singles I think it just again you know you know the Sinatra had something I reminded him that in the car one night that years ago one night before I even knew him I heard him on an interview and he was saying and he agreed with me in the car he said yes that's true he was saying in order for a boy singer to be popular now in those days you know the big band era they call the the man and woman on the stage with the Tommy Dorsey Banner or or you know all those other bands I already saw them they call them the voicing or the girl singer so he said in order for a boy singer to be popular number one you know young women he said young women have to love them older women want a mother them little kids wish they were their dad and the guys number four the guys want to hang out with them every singer that I've ever known from the times in England had two or three of those qualities but number four women or young women love them older women the guys want to hang out with them so wherever Sinatra went the guys wanted to be there too that's why in Las Vegas he no one touched him he the high rollers from all over the world flew in to be with him they're dropping them it was enormous and the drop in the pit of course is how much it was gambled by the way that was Paul shaffer's when I first met Paul Shaffer I was talking to Dave in his office and Paul was in the doorway and I didn't know it and I'm talking babe and I'm saying you know when Frank is the drop in the pit is enormous you know that money money gambled and from behind out here wow dropping the pit that's all and I think he's mocking me he's blocking me you know so so I said today what's with this he said oh no time he loves Las Vegas he loves the whole everything you're talking about he he loves that era you know and Paul and I of course are real close now but if Frank Sinatra you know there were people who had a 10 million credit lines that came to see Frank Sinatra people you know Danny Schwartz lost it's in The Beginner's Book of Records want to snipe the fan lost five million dollars in one night cheers you know that's he made they should they should build a monument gym up and down that as the guys wanted to hang out with Franklin young women love the older one mother and the guys want to hang out uh he had all those qualities he didn't work on those qualities he just had them you know but nobody by the way that would finish one thing Steve Lawrence who's a wonderful singer wonderful wonderful singer we were having dinner one night and Steve looked up and dinner he said to Frank you know you ruined it for all the rest of us he said because when they heard you sing it they knew how it was supposed to be some no it certainly beats something stupid yeah oh yeah and yeah that was a huge hit yeah no I think it followed uh Strangers in the Night I think yeah because uh because again it was it was a novelty song you know yeah it was his daughter but he yeah there's so many songs what was the song by Billy Joel um that um in every heart there is a dream where love is living and so I'll share this room with you and you can have this heart to pray uh but it's one of those songs that it's just piano and his voice and Frank used to do songs sometimes with just Bill Miller in him not the orchestra why he loved Bill Miller he said because he plays between the cracks you know there are a lot of there are pianists and there are accompanists I'm saying that yeah yeah the accompanist some people many people can be pianists very few can accompany well you know and and Bill that would have been a great song for frankly saying that song that you know and he's singing about that that about a lover once you've had your heart broken you just keep it inside but in every heart there's a room where lovers go to hide but now he's meeting this girl and he's saying to her he's still heartbroken for something before but he said uh but he doesn't want to be alone so he said I'll share this room with you and you can have this heart to break you know and it's one of those things but but if if you if you go I'll understand leave me just enough love to fill up my hand he said but if you stay I'll make you a day like no day has been you know and it's but in the end it's that she's going to leave him and man you feel that man anyone felt the joy of yourself you know no no one no one on this planet and and I it's he's arguably the greatest pop singer that ever lived known to me I've never heard anybody that could compare many that tried to many that learned from him but he just had a feeling for a song like no one his son Frank Jr by the way is a good singer good singer in the 14 years I told him Frank twice Frank canceled um and J.R junior had to step in and he did a great job as good a singer as he was there's something about praying that you felt that you know you just feel that that heartache that he's feeling or that joy that he's feeling a thousand times you know I've heard it a thousand times um come fly with me let's fly away I heard that before I ever met him one night I'm watching him sing it when I first started and for the first time when I first started touring with him for the first time I said now I know what that song means he's saying Fly Me to the Moon find me to the Moon let me play Among the Stars let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and March in other words hold my hand and you hold my hand darling kiss me all that happens to me when you touch me I had heard it that night for the first time and I had heard of the thousand times you know uh wow I love light bulb moments um and I what's that done let me sign off thank you for that thanks Don anything else you want to ask um nothing I'm prepared for I mean um yeah my mind's a black thanks Don I appreciate everything that you do always um and I think Don's coming on as a guest I think fairly soon which is going to be a lot of fun he famously doesn't do a lot of interviews but he just did one with uh Hey do you remember Alex Bennett Alex radio guy uh he was in Seattle he was at Live 105 in the quake and he would have Comics show up all the time Alex Bennett you know I remember that name and I performed in Seattle not in comedy clubs but you know with different artists you know like Mac Davis and um during you know Gladys Knight of Pips and Natalie called different out of the same service and and and that area I may have done an interview with them I know yeah I've done this thousands and thousands in San Francisco yeah Alex Bennett in San Francisco had his radio station um I think that's where he would have met you he might have met him in New York although I think it was San Francisco um he had a live radio station where uh all radio stations are live he had a studio audience in his radio station where people would come in and he had Comics there every single day he was on the quake and live 105.

um anyway uh he just did an interview he's in his 80s now and and is still doing stuff online whatnot he just did an interview with Don killer so I'm hoping that uh it looks looking like Don will come on here as well there's a guy who is uh fascinating as well in the lures of in the uh the lore of Letterman uh thank you very very much for letting him come on and ask that and I just appreciate everything that Dawn does for us um the one thing that you are doing and as you talked about Frank I'm listening to you and how all of these things that you just cause to come to life as you talk about him and a lot of people have heard of Frank Sinatra but like Johnny Carson you did a good job of talking about how you know these things pass these these moments they pass how quickly our lives are I love the fact that you are a torch Bearer for Frank for that life for Showbiz what things were like at that point I think it's extremely important and it's just I'm akin to it because that's how I feel for whatever reason about this this Letterman stuff this Legacy the the legacy of the greatest body of broadcasting work in history that's the tagline um and I I think that's one of the reasons why I appreciate you so much Tom is that that you you're so you're so Earnest in wanting to pass that torch on to others um that's how I feel about Dave and Company and I just want to say thank you very much for the inspiration that you've given to me uh in wanting to be that and I look forward to to more silliness and going down memory lane and and all of that with you in talking about Dave moving forward thank you so much for for for put me in your day-to-day even like I just appreciate you so much Tom well you I appreciate that Mike I'm glad you do nothing we have is ours it's a way out to pass it on even all the knowledge you've received in your life all the things you have to pass on you you they're not yours to keep you know any lessons I've learned in life uh that help me I'm not supposed to keep them I'm supposed to pass them on so it'll help someone else and and in the same way with memories and and you know people that you you've worked with that might be of interest to other people you've got you gotta pass it on if it's coming from the heart it's never going to be wrong you know yeah I gotta run too uh because I got two more reviews to do yes you do thank you very much for your time I appreciate you so much um I'll hit stop now I'll do a separate intro and we can see our goodbye really quick here thanks very much Tom oh hey Tom if people want to connect with you and they want to see you uh where's the best way to do that what's the best way to connect with on reason.com CN everybody spells my name they always put an extra s in there but it's e-r-e-e-s-e-n.com and you'll find out you know all you want to know about me and where I'm going and yeah I have a book and I would call Still Standing is the movie still being worked on yeah which now we're talking more they're doing it documentary on my life about uh the book from the book still standing and we've already filmed some of that and we're going to be doing I'm going to be interviewing David you know um and and so we're doing that and then we're talking about doing the mini series Tim Reed and I were America team you know uh history shows were the last show that we're now trying to push that I say six one hour miniseries you know so I got so much going on good I'm glad to hear it you got so much going on today as well I'm gonna hit stop now we'll say goodbye real quick uh Tom Dreesen ladies and gentlemen uh we're so grateful for him and and uh that he is a friend of the Lettermen podcast we appreciate him thanks very much Tom okay buddy take care Mike talk to you soon all right how much fun was that um again you know apologies for the audio that was on on me but Tom just the the consummate professional that he is and I mean he really did you know uh uh find a little hole in his schedule for us to do this uh talk and he did it just without even he's like no no I can do this I want to do this and and I think that shows in our conversation I love Tom so much and hopefully uh you know we can do more with him uh sooner than later I just appreciate uh all of his insights the care that he has the love um for people he's just such a such an amazing guy and uh and again a comedy Legend and I think it's important to listen to people like that and and hear um not just be entertained by but but but appreciate the wisdom that they have gained over the years and Tom is certainly a guy that's done that uh just a great heart great great great great heart I appreciate Tom so much so um just one more a little piece of business the Letterman podcast has one sponsor one sponsor only and that is Rupert G in the hello Deli the hello Deli is up for sale now the legendary hello Deli um nestled within the womb of the Ed Sullivan Theater and uh it's bittersweet it's I'm happy for Rupert I'm happy for me uh that it's a Legendary Run they've done well and someone else is going to take over the mantle but the memories of of what they did um tied to the Late Show with David Letterman I mean what a what a unique place in history in in business history in entertainment history hell and soup and sandwich history uh is Rupert and May so we still have time though go to Hello deli.com and uh you can get your late show mug your late show hat your Late Show with David Letterman's shirts of all different types your hello Deli shirts head on over there um send an order in when you send the order send something real nice to Rupert in May and congratulate them for their um just really amazing special career that they have had um that has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisholm coincidentally I am Mike Chisholm thank you and good night overcoat and Underpants