Tom Dreesen Part 2

welcome once again to the letterman podcast my name is mike chisholm i am your host uh for this program this show celebrating the life body of work of david letterman and company i am excited to be here as always uh this is a lot of fun for me right now i'm shooting a separate intro for the tom recent episode um i've had some very cool conversations with tom since we shot this uh and you know what actually not just tom but a lot of folks have reached out to me i i gotta say i'm blown away by the the the the the plethora of support that uh we have gotten here for this show um hosting this is a dream come true for me uh and and i i really enjoy the fact that so many people are starting to dig it already and we're still in our infancy um i've had some really cool conversations with tom uh i appreciate the fact that so many people that loved part one of tom greeson uh we're gonna get to part two here uh right away uh part two is fantastic we talk about all sorts of stuff so we if you'll remember we finished the last episode talking about the strike the comedy story the early year setting the table for dave to jump on the broadcasting rocket uh that that that shot him into um in my opinion the greatest uh broadcasting body of work the world has ever seen um we talk about the early show uh moving into late night uh and and some of the differences between uh late night and late show and uh and and it's it's a it's a phenomenal conversation the rest of the conversation it's awesome uh going back and forth with tom uh one of the things that he said is hey don't be afraid to pull out some uh you know a couple minute clips of some of the things that he says and he says some awesome stuff he talks about the difference between jay and dave and and and how um in many ways if it wasn't for dave j jay his career would not have um uh gone the way it did to say the least he talked about johnny carson and and with full reverence and respect uh about how uh dave helped keep johnny hip we're gonna we're gonna isolate some of those videos and put them out there and and the fact that tom would take the time to say hey why don't you do this uh we're going to do that it's going to happen um and and just the care that he has it was a it's a dream come true conversation for me i know i say it in the conversation with him but i just kind of i just want to reiterate how grateful i am for that uh hopefully you find it all entertaining um now i i do want to get to a little piece of business before we start part two with tom dreesen uh the man the myth the legend himself tom greeson uh my friend tom greeson how cool is it to say that and a member of the uh the letterman podcast community um i wanna wanna be clear here i am not a letterman historian um there are folks out there who know way more than i do part of the reason i think i'm an okay uh a suitable host for this thing is because i've got a massive enthusiasm but at the same time i was removed from the situation and so there's a curiosity that comes with that at least that's what that's what a couple people have told me um who who enjoy this uh this program so far um now uh there are going to be mistakes that are made i have no problem loading up when when something gets said wrong uh we talked a little bit about when i talked to tom we he talked about how many appearances he made compared to other folks um other comedians that got muddled a little bit uh some some somebody has um given me the true stats of things here so appearances by a comedian on david letterman's programs number one is george miller um i like that um rest in peace my friend uh you know i just feel like i would have been your friend if i'd have known you george miller was awesome uh 41 on late night and 18 or sorry 16 on the late show tom driessen is number two at 43 appearances five on late night and 37 on late show and then a 42 for jake johansen and then jay leno number 40 uh was his 40 was his number all on late night and we're going to get into that of course on the um on the program i'm sure as we go through the life cycle of the letterman podcast hopefully we'll have a very long life cycle and we've got some very cool things planned for you but there we go so that is important to throw that out there uh tom driessen if you think about how many years dave was on the air the idea that tom was on dave's show in some form or another 43 times my goodness uh that just shows right there that's a more than one a year average and and uh this this episode that we get into now we talk about a lot of stuff he tells some don rickles stories uh we talk about how uh he went overseas with dave uh to perform for the troops we talked about that i tried really hard to come up with some things that um you know would be a little bit different for the average fan or enthusiast as i like to say and i hope that i hope that we did that the good news is if we didn't and there are some questions that are unanswered we got tom still who is willing to come back and uh and talk about this stuff we've got some really neat ideas as to how we can bring him back and do some things here so lots of cool things coming up with the letterman podcast we've got some post-mortem episodes coming up uh oh actually tom and i talk about dave's new show that's my time with david letterman on netflix i kind of go through the premise with it i'm going to do a uh a kind of a letter manifesto ish um aside to that because that's where i got this signed you know so again tom driessen claims to be his best friend i got it in writing but you know apparently so do a lot of other people but that's okay i'm in i'm in uh i'm in good company um i'm gonna stop talking now because you're not here to watch with your eyeballs or listen with your ear holes uh me talk you're here to to to see or hear tom dreesen and i would be too and uh i just am very very grateful for everybody so without further ado shall we start part two of tom dreesen's first appearance on the letterman podcast i hope you enjoy oh by the way uh before god damn it i [ __ ] it up i'm sorry about that what i meant to say before was with tom giving me all the ideas of pulling videos out and things like that i decided to take this entire conversation and leave it completely unedited so what part one no edits whatsoever part two as soon as i shut up and start uh start the uh the good stuff which is about to start which i already introduced and then i screwed up the introduction now i'm gonna do it again um there's no edits there either we're gonna take chunks of this stuff and we're gonna throw it out there but uh as as as for tom you thought that was a good idea to do that and i agree with him um but we left this entire thing we just broke it into two chunks and they're completely unedited so just don't think that there's uncut stuff that you're not gonna hear in this conversation with tom you're gonna hear it all i'm done talking now okay without further ado once again part two of uh the first appearance of tom dreesen on the letterman podcast um and and this is where i wanted to segue over uh you talked earlier about the carson bump how how a comedian could show up on johnny carson and and their career is made um it changed and it evolved through the years i want to talk about dave with that i want to talk about late night and comedy showing up on uh comedians showing up on late night and then you go to late show guys like chappelle uh the greats now bill burr um um some of the real greats now that are in their prime got their start on on on late show and then now of course you've got joe rogan who the same thing happens you know i've had on my other podcast i've had a couple people who have guested on on rogan's podcast and the rogan bump is real too it's it's very reminiscent of johnny carson um so so i you know i got lots of meat on this bone that you and i can talk about uh within a few years carson grooms like you say with a a year he replaces tom tom schneider and he's got late night and and and and the uh the inmates running the asylum everything dave of course bringing his friends on the show all the time you guys must have had a ball doing that and a different kind of comedian could show up there's only one or two comedians i think if i have it right only one or two comedians that could make the the jump and be on carson and on letterman mostly it was a different crowd a different type of comedian would be on late night than would be on carson am i am i right about that yeah but you you left out one thing yes sir david before he got to the following johnny nbc gave him a morning show well of course yes the david letterman show is phenomenal as well yeah well it wasn't it was phenomenal but it wasn't right for morning yes and david it didn't work and they took him off the air and david was at the lowest i've ever seen him in all the years i've known him i'm glad we're talking about this yeah it's awesome we jogged together we you know worked out together and i spent a lot of time with him because he he needed a a friend at that time in fact and this is when he stopped drinking too right yeah that that too when i went to um tahoe to perform in lake tahoe and he went up there with me and and we had breakfast together we'd go jack we'd go jogging with breakfast we'd hang out together uh you know we um i'd do my shows he'd come and sit in the wings you know he just needed somebody a friend to be there for him and he really thought that it was over that it was over that he had his shot and that shot was over but it wasn't true you know and as you know he came back and and did the late show and and all the rest was a success you know but um i forgot your question too no no no it's it's good i'm glad you brought up the morning show and i i because it's it's an important piece of comedy um you know you got guys like conan o'brien and and some of these other comedians out there who were like what the heck is this and and and how many people have for it was a six week run or something like that and it's inspired so many people um and then of course you know the show ends he thinks you know life is over but he still had a holding deal it's not like nbc wasn't still interested right london tartakov who really believed in him yeah that he wasn't gonna they weren't gonna they were gonna try something else and it was perfect and then johnny carson owned that second show yes and dave was under contract with them and yeah and it was it was the right thing to do but you're right david because david was a little more quirky and zanier than than johnny would have on that type of comedian or that kind of show that with the craziness of david letterman you know and the the quirks of him and and but the interesting thing is is johnny carson jay leno did the tonight show and he did did okay sure johnny wasn't crazy about him and he didn't get on anymore and and i always say this is my opinion johnny carson's nightclub back in las vegas i saw it several times he had a real funny bit uh he had some funny bits but one of his routines was about why do um ufos always land in the swamps in mississippi and the only people who see there i can spike you know um you know you know billy joe and billy bob were the ones who saw it if they reacted why don't they land in times square or something like what yeah johnny did that bit jay went on the tonight show and did a bit just like that you know why do it and i i personally that's my opinion no one's ever told me but when i i know how comedians are and i think johnny somehow wasn't crazy about that idea and jay wasn't getting back on however dave and jay were friends and david letterman always said jay leno's the funniest stand-up comedian in the world he really is i've seen jay do two hours and never tire or never never repeat them i'm just funny stuff but um in fact we would be at the comedy store george miller me david um you know jeff altman we'd be all outside talking to gavin they said jay's going on and we'd run inside to watch jay you know it's always fun to watch but david starts putting jay on yeah and david puts jay on all the time and david launched jay's career in my opinion you know what's your beef remember that little hook they had absolutely oh yeah well the thing that the panel with those two was amazing because you know there's it's almost like watching uh fencing because i i i watched a lot of those those episodes and those appearances and i mean you know you there's the cam stuff and where where where you come on there and you know that the panel is is just set up for the material you know set the volleyball spike set the volleyball spike but but the problem is is dave wouldn't always set the volleyball sometimes he would spike it right back just to see jay's reaction and you'd see jay almost be taken back and and and it was almost you know they talk about how it was dangerous and i i love that word a little bit because it was uh the the sparring was phenomenal and i just loved watching that night to this day i'll still watch it and it holds up now we're in 2022 the fact that those sparring matches can hold up in 2022 is quite remarkable well and again they they both have respect for one another and and and that's what was fun to watch that going back and forth of course you know but but again i i believe uh jay knows that david was the one to launch him and then uh from there johnny start using them you know and and also and and i say this in all honesty and i and people who know know what's right there were a lot of very clever things that david was doing that all of a sudden johnny was doing similar things you know similar things to take over with jade that what david was doing is some real creative stuff you know but again it was dangerous and a lot of people at first were afraid to go on people who were shy and you know actors and actresses that are primitives and being pampered and treated like like your royalty uh wherever you go uh they would come on david's show and you better be ready if you could handle it david you know if you could have and a lot of women would come on that show and and and and say i don't want to do it anymore and then a lot of women come on and show and scored because they feel right back at dave and that's what he wanted oh absolutely yeah he wanted game day players who were ready that we were ready to mix it up a little bit well you know if you want to succeed in a profession that's been around for 100 years there's one thing if you hope you're different yes be different if you can be different there's a lot of a lot of things that that you know that talk show hosts have done but david you have to admit was different oh god yeah he was dangerous because he'd say you know you know um jack klugman one time when i was on the tonight show he said to me uh and and i've done like 60 tonight shows but but he start describing to me i watch you comedians go out there and you walk out there in front of this audience and you're you're like naked you're like walking a tightrope and the audience is waiting for you to follow up could you [ __ ] he start describing it and i said am i glad i didn't meet you when i first started off i'd have been afraid to go on tonight but that's what were tank that's what david's show was it was you watch because you know dave again the the difference that i said earlier and it bears repeating if you watch jay leno you want to know who the guests were or in a talk show when you watched david letterman you didn't give a damn who the guests were no no the show was the was was why you tuned in it was everything it was it was but but it was it was him being the epicenter of that and all of the things that went on around him and and i do i love that you just said this i've never really said i've said a lot of things i've had a lot of talks with with all sorts of folks about dave and the impact he made and i've got a i've got a huge thing about the idea about him moving over to cbs and it was one of the best things that ever could have happened uh and i mean there's there's all sorts of things but one thing i've never considered before and i love that you brought it up is that dave helped kept keep johnny a little bit younger and a little hip her um and i think about that because i think about all the appearances where dave even just showed up on johnny's show and how the audience would go ape [ __ ] when dave would show up and they did their skits with johnny stealing his truck and bringing on judge wapner and doing all the things that they did and then of course at the end when the switch was happening uh not just the last appearance but the second last appearance and when [ __ ] was making the news and and all of the the turmoil was happening dave would still show up on that show and you're exactly right dave helped keep johnny hip and that is a really really good point that i'm i'm very grateful you brought up today that's really insightful tom and johnny's in johnny's defense after 30-something years oh yeah what haven't you done and done and done and done yes and you see oh that's a new idea that's a spark for a new idea you know um you know again and by the way most people who are going to sit up and watch johnny carson are not gonna should be awake when david came on yeah i mean no that's right very few people were gonna sit through both i knew well and when kids in college would tell me when i was doing college campuses doing colleges circuit around the country they'd say i tape david letterman i can't stay up that late right i've got to study i got to be in school class action but i tape them and i make sure that i get the chances and sometimes like six or seven would get in the room and watch david you know well and i've told this story a few times to anybody who will listen um for me my i would listen for my dad i didn't come from money either and and we had one tv in the house in the family room and i would um i i would drink water okay and drink lots of water before i went to bed because i wanted to wake myself up when i could hear my dad turning off the tv just after johnny or maybe when the maybe after he watched the monologue and then and then he would go upstairs and i would get up because we didn't have a vcr back then i was in you know elementary school junior high and and and i would walk to the tv and i would turn on i had those big thick it was one of those big thick tube tvs and i would sit an inch in front of it with the volume so low you could barely hear it just so i could watch late night uh you know the radiation from that probably uh explaining why i am the way that i am as an adult um it was it was a little bit rock and roll like and then when the vcr came out of course you know tape it every single night and all that stuff but dave was rock and roll and and johnny was big band and um and i think that the audience is uh you know i have reverence for johnny carson total reverence my dad had reverence for him and and right there alone that gives it the translation is made but for me dave was rock and roll and he stayed rock and roll right to the end of the late show run for me um i just appreciate that vantage point though that uh that you just came from i want to talk about when the transition happened i don't want you to tell tales out of school uh this isn't a show about scandals and things like that but at the end of the day um a defining moment in broadcasting and all of tv no one had ever come and competed with the tonight show uh of course at the time dave didn't know how it was going to end um but at the end of the day you were there when dave went through one of the most public um you know taking of a chance that anybody has ever done in trying to build a new franchise one that is trying to do what no franchise has ever done and that is survive against the tonight show you were there when the transition happened um i know that uh i don't know when your first late show appearance was but during the turmoil when that was all happening and dave was working his ass off filming all these remotes uh just busting it to to make c nbc eat their words and eat their deeds um what was that like from your vantage point you mean when dave went to cvs at the time when that was all happening when the turmoil was happening and then the decision was made what was your take what was your uh what was your opinion about that time this is my opinion this is strictly my opinion yes sir about that and and i'm trying to move over here so i get more light it seems like i'm in the darkness here but oh you look great over here man oh okay that's fine yeah anyway uh the this is my opinion warren littlefield was the president of nbc at that time yes i'm going to digress i once took a video i hosted a show in chicago and and this isn't about me this would be about david but i'm telling you so you'll understand feel free to make it about you man yeah yeah all good but i hosted a talk show in chicago um they gave me oprah winfrey studio and at abc in chicago she was going on a hiatus for a week and they gave me one week a guy named joey joe ahern was president of abc at that time he said i'm gonna give you one week show me what you do if you had your own late night talk show and uh wow and i did one week um and and had a great week we we we were on the last half hour of johnny and the first half hour dave just in the chicago market and and yeah the show went great it's a long story but i took video of that to um brandon tardikov long time ago they had peter lasalli uh called my manager after i did about five tonight shows and said we'd like tom the guest host sometime uh we would like to groom him for that and i was very excited about that and i made a dumb mistake i was so excited about that i went and i told dr evanson's manager oh boy uh we were sitting around in a restaurant and he was one of his clients and i said hey they're talking about me getting guests the tonight show and he evidently went back to johnny and said greeson's bragging about the fact that he's going to take over the tonight show i know more said that than the man in the moon but it all of a sudden i was i was i could be on the tonight show and as i told you i did 61 tonight shows but i didn't guest host and one night fred de cordova put me behind a desk bert convey was hosting and and when he went to commercial break he said i got a piece so bad fred dakota said go and don't worry about coming back he put me behind the desk he said tommy you introduced the next guest like you've been here all night long don't say that's funny let's go on to the john this show i said we're back now and my next guest and it was a girl singer you know anyhow so that's a great moment yeah great moment now flash forward i've got my 45 tonight show circulation i brought this tape to brandon tartakov i had a 15-minute meeting with him and i showed him the big ending melinda and he said tommy it's a great you know i met brandon when he was in chicago as a writer on that same station you know now he's ahead of the network you know and she's so now now he's at nbc and i said i would like to guest host the tonight show you know i'd like to be considered to be a guest host not that was before david and before you know any any talk i mean david was already established in nbc new york and and anyhow brandon said to me he said tom i think you'd make a great guest house but i have no authority over the tonight show that's our show and he owns it that's our show yep i have no johnny carson if i want to get somebody from a sitcom one of our sitcoms on nbc you know sally snodgrass or whatever her name is sure on that show because the ratings aren't good i would call johnny would never take my call peter sally or fred decorde would say what is it brandon um i'd like to get sally snodgrass on the show because we need to boost the ratings this is the head of the network he said and i'd get a call back in an hour too johnny doesn't like her thinks he's a you know a airhead or whatever right now or doesn't like him whoever it was a guy maybe sure but but if it was somebody like he like now so in other words this is the head of a network asking to have a guess on a show they own but that's how much power carson had yes now warren littlefield has got a choice this is all my opinion now none of this i never discussed this with dave or with jay or anybody yep if you if david didn't if you asked um johnny carson to do something he didn't want to do it you had to go through the quarterback if you asked um jaina when jay leno said guest hosting the tonight show yep he would go all across the land to all the o o's you know they owned and operates like five six talk to the affiliates and he'd go meet the general manager and shake hands with them i am general i i guess those that once in a while he was master networker he was going to be this teamwork and his team player and this networking guy and dave would you come in would you fly overnight and get no sleep at all and do uh an hour and a half for or for the napty convention or the nbc affiliates he was on his way there now warren littlefield has a choice he's going to take over he's going to the tonight show and he has a choice of getting a guy like dave letterman who really was right for that job you know there's no question that he was right for the job and david wanted the job and this guy who's a real team david letterman was a lot like johnny carson you know yeah and this is my opinion is my opinion david david might might argue with me i never brought up with you but i always feel that choice wasn't made because who is the best for it the choice was made with who's going to work with me exactly i'm the head of the network who's going to play ball yeah and i'm and you know i don't want to have to if i want dave to do something i don't want to have to talk to his assistant you know they called jay directly and told jj this is what we want you to do and all that stuff yeah which was to his credit you know um but but anyhow that's my opinion of what was going down at that time now yeah it happened i think like you just said i think the greatest thing that ever happened was dave was going to cbs 100 totally by the way he was killing him in the ratings he was a king of late night at that time which is which the dac was the deck was stacked against him he on paper shouldn't have been able to be as successful as he was and a lot of people don't realize that and it was when the when cbs you know nfl football and and the landscape changed and stacked the deck even more against him when that uh when that shifted but the fact this is the part where i come back into it and again all the respect to mr leno um all the respect to him you know he talks about being number one and then number one number one when he left and all that stuff the fact of the matter is there was never any competition for the tonight show never mind saying oh well we're we're still number one no no before then no franchise could even touch the tonight show and not only did dave set up his little castle across the street and start ramparting the hell out of that franchise but he competed and not only competed many if not most or or a lot of folks out there would say the superior product and if cbs didn't give dave the deal that they gave him with the ownership and ownership of 1230 and all that we wouldn't have all of the franchises that we have now and and dave might have been the guy as the uh as tv expanded and comedy central and all these other networks showed up and the dilution sort of happened dave might have been the guy to lose the strength of the tonight show so i i go deep on this subject because the fact of the matter is dave actually competed against the tonight show that alone is the hallmark in my mind and and you know what turned it around was what turned jay was in it his ratings were in the number yep turned it around and he was trying out new things and you know the uh the o.j simpson stuff and the the judge dancing edos yeah and all that kind of stuff um i turned it around was uh hugh what's his name you o'brien on hugh grant the night the night that it changed was hugh grant admitting um to the to the to the to the tomfoolery on hollywood boulevard the town fuller he picked up a hooker and that's a nice name for a town anyhow it's all interesting it was all a lot of a lot of uh a lot of hard time sometimes and and by the way that's the other problem you know you you go through that and you're and dave's a fighter he's you know i tell you i played sports against some reason he's not a wuss yeah he's not a worse he's he's you know it'll make you think that you know okay okay but when she once a game starts he wants to win so that took a lot of of uh hours and and stress and through the years of trying to get you know to fighting to be on top when you look back all over it you think about oh my god how much of life did i miss yeah i i never was on that level but i still was out there with a wife and three kids and i was out there night after night missing birthdays graduations because i had to get that money for the rent money and that that takes a lot of wear and tear on you over the years and especially late night ratings oh my god you got to get in every morning and find out what the numbers were and and what you know and you're go pouring over the guests and they want this person wants to be on you want that person on but you can't get them i mean that kind of stress day in and day out day you year in and year out uh that's it takes a lot of wear and tear on you yeah and as you know david had open-heart surgery you know yep um uh you know i guess hosted the show when he had the shingles one time you know and most people get the shingles on their chest which is painful as hell oh they're awful over his right eye you know so there's there's a lot to be said and then you got to go out and be funny every night yeah all that in top of that you got to go out and be funny you know uh yeah it's it's you know you know i i always think of that song that sinatra's saying my way oh yeah but at the end of your life there's one line in that lyric when you look back and you say to think i did all that and may i say not in a shy way oh no not me i did it my way you know david exemplifies that but if i said that to him right now he'd be saying oh yeah yeah yeah yeah you know what what's your cubs doing uh you know well and and to his credit when it comes to that that's uh probably the thing that drove him to be great and to do things better and to reinvent himself and to to not accept that praise um you know is kind of him taking one for the team and and and continually making a better reinvented product for guys like me you know the people who who just admire it so much i just wish for even a moment he could see himself through my eyes and not just mine but an entire community of folks and the people who worked for him et cetera who we've talked about um i want to talk a little bit about late show um and and uh the question that i have i've got so many and maybe one day hopefully one day i can get you back and we can talk because i i literally could do all the time that we have done up to this point completely new material and we could do it again and i i can't tell you how much uh i appreciate you uh giving of your time um i i just want to touch on a couple late show things and then and then uh um and then i got a senator question for you um but uh i i have seen um comedians uh at the comedy cellar and then a couple nights later see them on the late show and i see they're set at the seller uh mimicked at the at the late show but on panel so i literally watched the i've watched an amy schumer set at the seller which killed she went on as a guest doing panel with dave and almost word for word her material from the seller uh just in the form of dave asking her questions again setting the volleyball for spikes um with a little bit of uh uh uh you know here and there added to it with dave's wit uh my question for you is this the knights that guys like you were on uh you and and the crew um from back in the day was there that much preparation where it was panel that repartee or was it just hey tom it's great to see you this is a night off for me let's go out there and catch up what do you plug in okay let's just go have some fun or was it a little bit of both for you well a little bit about david david liked it for david it was yeah let's have fun and i don't care where you're going i may jump over and and you know and and go in a totally different direction and you're going to be ready you know because you never knew what dave was going to do but let me say this part of the things i teach new comedians is i write on the blackboard and i'll say if you don't remember anything i'm telling you remember this conversation not presentation oh i say is it your act you damn right it's your act it's your job to make it look like it's not an act so you you get you it so when you walk out on stage every night it's like you're walking into your living room like your wife said to you i got 22 people in the living room dinner isn't ready yet will you do me a favor or you know comedian your husband's the chef or whatever it is but they say we do me a favor go tell them some of them stories about you going to vancouver or wherever you are they're telling them your mommy never knows go to now you walk into the into your living room you say you know dinner's going to be ready in about a half hour but let me tell you when i was growing up i got to tell you a story and is it your act yes but it's your job to make it look like it's not an act so amy schumer preparing all that stuff then she sits down and it becomes a conversation not a presentation yep you make it look like an act then it looks like an act you know so that's part of it now with me i would go on like any talk show you go on the talent coordinator who books you or who they put in charge of you that time you know will say they'll call you ahead of time tom what do you want to plug i'll say well i'm appearing at the radio city music hall or wherever and that's and then i'll say um and give me some questions say okay tell dave to ask me about and i have a story about that yeah but i always was prepared that david would have asked a story that you know uh he tried to make me tell a story when how i got almost gotten a fist fight with tommy lasorda when minnesota was you know many many years ago i mean he there's you didn't know where he was going to go with you right and that was the fun of it you know and that's the fun of it when you said i had dinner with him in new york i was in new york a couple weeks ago doing a show and um and then we went to greenwich village he and i and paul schaefer when she did it and um and we we sat around and and that's the way it was sitting around telling stories again about when we went to iraq and what happened in iraq i was going to ask you about going overseas with dave that was literally my one of my next questions that yeah because you went overseas with this is powerful dave who did cool [ __ ] like that and big [ __ ] you went over to iraq with him well you know and i i spent 40 something hours in the air i went from here la to new york then we got on david we had a private jet took us to kuwait and then from kuwait we got on these uh um huge aircraft the um oh god why am i blanking yeah i know what you're talking about though the big the big guy yeah and and you know and anyhow and and going from base to base our pagoda and um fallujah and and kuwait all these bases were performing so we talked about that and by the way then we had to fly our way back and i had to go to i would get up from new york and go to l.a i was 40 something hours in here i was i was a zombie for like three days afterward you know yeah but we had such a great time being with paul and biff biff went with us too and that's awesome i got pictures on my office wall i should send you that i'll send you a picture of that too please please please do yeah i i i would appreciate that so much and what i loved was david would walk out he wanted me to do the stand-up comedy but david would go out and and and uh he said time i'm not going to do that but he would say funny things that would have the people just cracking up and they yeah they adored him i mean they all knew obviously were fans i never never forget we land in this godforsaken place first of all in kuwait then we take us the c-130s into fallujah uh and and uh and and he walks out in front of all these military guys and he goes david letterman they're all cheering goes hey anybody here from out of town well i mean his opening line you know and then then he was throwing footballs to some of the guys giving he had a bag full of footballs but what i told him identity and what impressed me was he wasn't throwing flappers he was throwing spirals oh yeah you know you know a cannon absolutely yeah because he's athletic anyhow he would never admit that he's athletic but he is you know oh man okay um okay i got i got i got a question from actually one of dave's long time staff members who was a friend of mine uh like literally he was 30 31 years of the third year running work for him um that that had a question um he's the only really one of the only people that i told that i was doing this uh so that the the story that you were talking about earlier don't tell anybody today that was my day i'm not telling anybody i got tom [ __ ] greeson on my podcast tonight i i was just it was a too good to be true moment for me uh but this is one of the guys that i did tell and i asked him if he had um any insights or questions that might be off the beaten trail a little bit and so uh this one here is it's a really good question in my mind as an enthusiast uh don rickles so one of the things that that don would do when he came to new york to be on the show is he would rent a big room and and dinners and there was always that that joke about how dave wouldn't go or would go for dinner with the guests and all that kind of stuff well that stuff didn't really apply with dawn and how he would get a room and and and there would be a gathering of all sorts of folks and the the staffer asked me to say okay well ask tom if he was ever part of of one of those evenings with dawn and if there's any uh don rickles stuff that uh comes to mind when i what comes to mind when i mention that i spent a lot of time with don i mean don before i ever you know even met frank i i did the dean martin rose who would do with that and and i you know and and and i did charity shows with him and stuff like that and then when i was chilling with frank i mean you know that that frank would have house parties and stuff like that that don would be at and and just he'd be ripping everybody you know he just was that don was done 24 7.

people most comedians off stage have their serious side and and sometimes very quiet and very shy some are more a continuation of themselves you know and and don was funny all the time even i don't know where there was a manic thing with him he thought he always had to be rarely was he ever serious about anything rarely i i remember one night he was talking to barbara sinatra and frank was trying to get his attention i was sitting next to frank and and frank was asking me something oh don would know he goes done done done done and he rickles just kept talking to barbara sinatra yeah barbara and frank's over here going down down and funny don turned around he said frank leave me alone i'm talking to somebody who's coming into a lot of money that's a perfect don rickles joke oh my god you know you know the classic story and and i don't want to bore anybody but it's been told 10 million times it's my show i don't give a [ __ ] i'm not bored at all and i don't think the audience is going to be either you you go man well it's a classic don rickles frank's not the story that that that frank would tell frank told me the story before i ever heard it from don but frank said he met don rickles when don was a new comedian many many many years ago don wasn't married at the time shows how long ago was he was a new comedian and frank met him like one time now frank was in like patsy's restaurant in new york on west 57th street and what he was opening the corner rickos was in in the restaurant with a young girl that he was dating at the time sure and and that's how long it was and the girl looks over his shoulder and said oh my god there's frank sinatra and rickles had only met frank like one time he's gone he said yeah yeah frank comes in here all the time she said you know frank sinatra he said yeah i know frank she said if i could meet frank sinatra i would do anything and she reached across the table she squeezed his hand and said anything the wrinkles gets up nervously and goes up and said frank um oh he said hi now he said rico's um that rico said frank there's a girl i'm sitting was a big fan of yours it didn't mean a lot to me if you'd say a loader and he said well i'm finishing my meal now and when i pay the check i'll come over say hello and frank would tell the story this way he said i got up and rather than go in those days you went to the front to pay the check he said i got and i walked across the room claire across the room and i walked over to the table rickles was sitting with the girl and i said hi don and he looked up and he said not now frank can't you see i'm with somebody you know frank said i wanted to take his head and shove it in the soup you know that is that is a phenomenal moment i love that story uh again like you said not the first time but every time i hear that story it just it harkens back and and it it it brings up nostalgia and all sorts of that like cool feelings inside of a of a different time of show business and i love that i'm going to get to the question here that uh shout out to rob cates rob cates oh go ahead yeah i want to point out something please david letterman right there okay frank sinatra would laugh about that story my definition the greatest gift that god can bestow upon a human being as a sense of humor now a sense of humor is not when you have the ability to laugh at other shortcomings or misfortunes it's when you have the ability to laugh at your own if you can laugh at yourself and all the dumb things that you've done people will love you for it and they want to be around you that's the greatest gift that god can bestow upon you me is be able to laugh at yourself one time i was on hollywood squares and i'm gonna get the back the letterman i was on hollywood squares and the question was up 3 500 women polled what's the number one characteristic they look for in a man and it was a sense of humor a guy who didn't take himself too serious women say oh i i love being with him he makes me laugh he always has a joyful look at no matter how dark things get you know now david letterman in my opinion has a great sense of humor sure dave would laugh at himself before anybody does david would point out to you some dumb thing that he did and share with you and i did you know uh that was another thing that was charming about him yeah david had a midwestern quality i've always thought that the best talk show hosts most of the best out shows came from the midwest you know because midwestern quality wears well over a long period of time on tv you know mike douglas came from the midwest phil daniel came from the midwest johnny carson donnie yeah um dick cavett came from the midwest um uh i'm leaving out people oprah winfrey came from the midwest you know and there were others like new yorkers and stuff that lasted a long time but david had that midwestern um look johnny carson when he walked out he was the star he was a star wound he walked out people got chills oh johnny carter he did his mind along when he went with ed mcmahon disadvised he was a star but after that you were the star i don't care if you're an old guy from an old woman from oklahoma who brought a chicken on the show whatever it was you were the star you were a guest in his home you know and that's what i thought with david when i was with david you know you know it was your turn now you know you you you're the star when you come out but then it's your turn to turn it over and don't be afraid to poke fun at yourself and don't take yourself too seriously uh this is advice for me as i build this uh this new show um and i and i appreciate that and i i can i can definitely uh relate to it um you know you don't ever want to come across high and mighty come across humble and uh and and and a bit of a doofus and i'm very good at doing especially the doofus part i'm very good at that hey there was a apparently one time frank was gonna do a walk-on uh to the late show but he he had a nap and he fell asleep instead were you with him at that point yeah but you know there's another thing that pisses me off and this this always sounds like oh yeah well i came up with it but i originally said to frank years ago i said what i'd like to do is go on dave and i talked today but i'd love to go on david's show and have david say to me you know after doing a little monologue at franklin wings but dave said yeah but tom tell the truth tell the truth uh franks you know i used to say it's frank's world and we're living in it you know but frankly i'd say well david that may be true but not with me not with me because i'm my own boss i mean i am you know frank's who he is but i'm my own boss and then frank would step out and say hey come on we're late for dinner i'd say dave i gotta go you know that's kind of been a great bit yeah that's the bit i wanted to do you know well that was later on i like the big mouth i am i talked about that a lot backstage and when i was with frank and everybody and you know now they were going to do that with rickles you know right they were going to do that with rickles and and but frank didn't frank didn't he fell asleep right he was he was taking a nap and they said if that's the story they tell you know what when it's showtime frank would show up yeah yeah if frank didn't want to do it he didn't want to do it and you know i always liked the people he used to say about frank you know they kept him on too long and and you know like his wife made him work till the end even when he shouldn't work [ __ ] frank sinatra did what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it you're going to take this guy that you talk about i did it my way and on and you're going to say they drug them out there and made them perform the last two years [ __ ] he wanted to perform you know i would watch this guy when he's 78 years old and it's time to go on stage and he always left him alone before he went on and for about five minutes he'd pacing you say oh this poor old guy and jesus should be home with his grandchildren and and just kicking back and enjoying his life and and he you know the orchestra was certainly he'd walk out there and that light would hit him and 20 years would fall off his face come fly with me let's fly away and after the show the excitement he felt when we'd go to dinner and say wow man that's a great show tennis yeah they came to play tommy it was a good night you know how how what you know he wanted to work that long he really did um okay so rob cates uh runs a david letterman page on facebook that has thousands of members he also has a rat pack paige shout out to rob cates hey buddy um he had a question here uh for you about frank uh favorite and least favorite songs for frank to perform in the later years now i'm i'm thinking that based on what you just said frank didn't do anything he didn't want to do were there any songs where he was like ah like i didn't want to do the song and were there any that he was just still had that extra juice for uh even up to the end the last uh seven years of our tour i was within 14 years uh his son frank jr was the conductor and frank jr laid out the music every night but to his dad's approval i'm in the dressing room before the show he'd lay out the songs and say dad this is what i laid out for you tonight and if if frank said ah i don't want to do that tonight you know something else one of the toughest songs i thought was um from my boy bill uh you know what what was that broadway play was it oklahoma uh whatever it was whatever it was but but uh uh that was a the syllabus that's called the soliloquy that was a tough song for frank to sing you know at the end i was like i'll go i would take and see a little bit and i'll dive thank god you know whatever it is yeah show tunes that kind of go all over the place and big are busy and it was exhausting you know but but uh so but i i don't remember him i mean there might have been that a couple of times for the most part he accepted what his son laid out for him and he would go do it you know it was a joy to watch to sit in the years i sat in the wings and watched sammy davis jr and it was like show business 101.

the years i sat with you know dean martin i performed with dean martin chose and frank i mean all these artists that i work with it was like going to school the way they command of a stage you know i learned so much from them when you walk out this is our stage you own this stage you know and you know i always say young artists today young singers and stuff they try to electrify an audience with a lot of laser lights and all that stuff yes sinatra sammy davis and dean martin we're laser lights i saw frank walk out in front of 40 000 people we you know in twenty thousand all the arenas he'd walk out and just in the moment singing a song he would bring it all down right here that guy in the furthest seat way up in the in the audience felt like he was in a bar and frank was singing to him oh my god you know they had that that skill it was magic um charisma a charismatic charisma that is just beyond um beyond measure and and special human beings have that i'm a guy who believes david letterman has that by the way uh as i bring us home here i'm gonna i'm gonna do something a little bit different than what we normally do the normal way that i end this podcast and god damn i sure don't want to end it but but but we're gonna and and i'm gonna ask it would be great if you could be on again um we'd love to i'd love to have you oh you did a few hours oh my my man i i appreciate that i'm a marathon man i could do this all day too um i uh the normal way that we end the podcast is we talk a little bit about my next guest i love that he has talked about tom schneider earlier i love how dave has reinvented himself over the years and now he's into the long form i loved tom's long form and and dave's doing it now and it's very cool to see that and i always ask the question uh if there's three people that you would like to see dave interview on my next guest who would they be but that's not what i'm gonna do with you uh tonight tom um i had the good fortune a few weeks ago to see dave at his new show and and and the the format of the new show and again i just i love it i [ __ ] love it so much it's dave giving back to new stand-ups and giving new stand-ups an opportunity uh to share in dave's limelight and again watching him come out on stage he shot three episodes in front of me he came out did a monologue a new stand-up came out did 10 minutes and did maybe five to ten minutes of panel with dave um and then dave did that three times he went and changed wardrobe and he came out new monologue new comic and he did that three times and i just thought that was amazing um but here's my question for you if there and and number one is going to be you that's gonna be the answer if there were three never mind the up and coming comics if there were three comics that you would like to see do this with dave past present whoever now obviously you're number one if we're gonna see dave you know come out do a monologue please welcome tom driessen and dom comes out does a thing you guys do some panel to me that is a phenomenal light of tv i i'm in who are the other two first of all thank you for that i would love to do one hour with dave with no script no nothing just i love it just going although i would love to do that an hour i do two hours and because because i love the guy and and we're friends and we've been friends a long time we've got a history together take my money i'd come see that show my friend but but that that would be fun for me yeah uh you're saying two other comics or two are there anybody yeah two other comics that that in that format that you would like to see do that and then have a have a have a back and forth with dave after doing a little probably one that would really be interesting in his heyday because he was brilliant was jerry lewis and and also controversial and him would go if david would go toe-to-toe with him uh uh because because jerry i've seen him uh i saw phil donahue one time try to grill him and he jerry was brilliant and you know and uh and also they could talk about comedy and other things but i think that would be an interesting but i would love to see dave in the past interview johnny carson for an hour of course it would be because dave had such great reverence for johnny yeah and johnny for him it would but they weren't huggy guys they weren't funny guys you know and dave's not a huggy guy i hug him you know but it isn't like i'm a hugger you know me too i'm irish italian you know does dave tense up when you hug him not so much now but he but he used to there was a guy named jimmy wiggins who's passed away wiggins hugged stop signs he hugged everybody he just was a hugger and everything tommy you need hug and everybody hug but david this is when we were brand new wiggins would become a tortoise and david would get behind me and say oh he's gonna hug me he's gonna haunt me but but but he's he's really changed through the years but but yeah i went back to sand johnny carson and dave going head-to-head for an hour would really be an interesting if they you know let their guards on that would be again interesting i think jerry lewis because jericho was a tough strong extremely intelligent guy yeah if they went toe to toe you know that would be and i don't mean i don't mean an animosity i mean no no no no no it's that fencing it's the fencing it's the dance yeah i could probably you know and and i and i i i would like to see him and george miller you know george was our dear friend and david and george were real close they they when david first came to l.a he had a little tiny apartment and george had one you know like down the hall they they started out together george was quick and sharp and and also would come back at dave you know even when dave was a big star george we would come back and that would be fun to see but but you're talking about somebody that's alive i keep talking about dead people hey man i'm cool i'm cool going down and talking about that too i think it's i think it's great that we we do that we talk about passing of torches and whatnot if if uh somebody who listens to this goes and and starts looking up the rabbit goes down the rabbit hole and starts looking up george miller i think you and i have done a good night's work so that's that's great but yeah if there is anybody current or not current but somebody who's still around now that could because maybe we're booking a show here will you and i may be literally booking some sort of super show i think there's an audience for that um in this new format it's called uh that's my time with david letterman that's the show um you know yourself on one who are two other guys that are that are alive that i think is something else though yeah i would love to interview david levine i would love if he wouldn't let me the way jerry did a couple years ago seinfeld did that yeah i would love to and not not like not like comedians in a car and all that stuff i want i'd like to sit down and really get in depth with him if you how much he wanted to bear his soul but but but i know him i would love to love to do that but i mean he'd never do that but nonetheless yeah it would yeah i'm trying to think of other people that he that i would like to see him interview or a comic yeah yeah yeah i i i'd have to think about that sure politician whether it be you know um it's always fun to watch david interview people that he has great reverence for yes but i'd like to see him interview somebody who doesn't have reverence for you know uh and not have to be polite you know not have to be and david is by by nature polite for sure his demeanor is polite he doesn't want anybody he's you know but but but i would like to see that would be more fun for me because he doesn't think he's as bright as he really is he would never ever i i say he's an intellectual you know and but he he's very smart and but he would he would never admit to that even you know um we saw it you know that's a charm of david that's a fun way it's fun to be around him and everything you know i i usually a lot of times i'll walk away with more knowledge and i came into that conversation because he'll say something that i'll say oh i never thought of it that way you know yeah uh watching him a few weeks ago it was it was uh it was a tremendous honor i hadn't seen him on stage obviously since that night a month before he retired uh when i had my moment there on the show and and whatnot and seeing that um when you describe frank when he when the spotlight hit him suddenly 20 years melted away i don't see dave as an old guy anyway and i mean he called himself grandpa and does all that when he was on stage and he came out to do that monologue the love that was in that audience for him was was um it was palpable you could feel it the energy was was was amazing but again you know he's like a kid up there a very smart kid but a kid and i think you're gonna like that show because uh when he was talking to these comics that he really didn't have a relationship with their up-and-coming comics um there was some very cool back and forth and and i'm i'm very excited for this show uh i'm very excited for god man it's it's a good time to be a david letterman fan uh he's back on the youtube i hope to see you and him on on on his youtube channel at some point hopefully uh walter kim can get you two together and and uh i think that'd be a lot of fun because he's doing he's he's he's doing his long-form stuff but now he's also doing this little youtube stuff with mary and barbara and it's it's fun to see uh i hope to see you and him um because you on panel with david letterman tom and again it's not lip motion uh one of my very very favorite things uh in when it comes to broadcasting i loved it so much and uh this has been a thrill before i kind of close it up here um is there anything else we didn't cover that we want to cover tonight i just want to say that yes sir you know what the stand-up comedian is and david to me exemplifies this is that you remember the fable about the emperor and his clothing yes sir for those who are watching this and don't know that story it's where the the um tailors were con men and they convinced that everything they designed only fools couldn't see it so when they're designing this wardrobe for the king and they're pretending they're putting this wardrobe and they're saying oh that how does that look who he looks at and the king's not going to say that he can't see it because then he's a fool so the tailors that now the people around the king they'll come and say what do you think of the king's word oh it's beautiful yes your imagination is the rub now he's thinking oh my god i can't see but now pretty soon the whole kingdom is talking about and he's going to walk through the kingdom and and show all the people his new wardrobe so he's walking through with no wardrobe and all the people in the crowd are doing the same oh oh it's beautiful and at the end of this is a little boy and the little boy said he doesn't have any clothes on and did you hear what that child said oh my and the kid said he doesn't have any clothes on finally an adult says you know something i don't see any clothes either and pretty soon he goes that's who the comedian is he exposes you know those who don't have any clothes and then david letterman exemplifies that to me he's that little kid that would have said he doesn't have any clothes on and and that's what david brought to television you know that kind of that kind of uh uh vulnerability being vulnerable you know a lot of people would say frank sinatra was in voldemort [ __ ] in a song he was very vulnerable you know very vulnerable you know in his songs you know but and and that's who the the great entertainers are they're vulnerable you know and david david as a broadcaster was vulnerable anyhow we can go on and on i uh i i i couldn't have asked for a better ending i'm gonna okay i'm gonna throw this out there i wasn't gonna throw it out but i'm going to um i can't tell you how much i appreciate the reverence and the love you have for your friend dave and and i mean i concede even though i've got it in writing i can see the best friend thing i bow to you sir when it comes to that um when i asked you to be on the podcast uh you had no reservations whatsoever saved for one and um you called dave and you asked him if it was cool with him and um i can't tell you how much that made me appreciate you even that much more tom because when you would come across on i mean you talk about comedians and the only reason i'm bringing it up is you you mentioned vulnerability in my men's mental wellness podcast that i host it comes up every episode how men have a difficult time being vulnerable and um i i just can't tell you how much i appreciate it you on the screen you seem like the guy uh on the other side of the screen is the same guy you see on the screen and tonight you have absolutely uh solidified that truth in my mind um i hope that would be the case and it certainly is um the fact that you wanted to make sure that your friend uh was gonna be cool with you doing this um and getting the aok before you come on here um that impressed me that much more about you um tom dreesen you are a hell of a guy and i just appreciate this you you have you have made a dream come true for me um you know you were on my top five of people to be on the podcast here uh on the letterman podcast and and i can't thank you enough and hopefully one day uh you can come back on here first and foremost the community's gonna want it but even more so i hope that we can we talked about you coming to vancouver if you ever come to vancouver uh i'm gonna have a couple of books for you to sign and personalize to mike and it means the world to me that you would come on here and you would talk about your friend dave uh we're gonna do our very best on this program to take all of these amazing stories to archive them solidify them and pass them on to next generations because we're talking about giants and david letterman is a giant that's how we feel um clearly that's how you feel even though like what's it like to be best friends with a giant you've just given us a couple hours here talking about that tom thank you yeah you're you're welcome and i appreciate it very much i appreciate what you're doing for my friend and and and and and i know that one day if if he watches this he will appreciate it too but but uh we both know that's not going to happen tom you'll be embarrassed about the compliment and yeah i gotta run uh you're you're gonna end this and then you and i have a a couple second post talk absolutely um okay so that's what we're doing right now hey everybody that is a very very special episode of the letterman podcast i can't thank you enough for being here and for the support that you've given me uh since starting this i appreciate it so much that's another episode of the letterman podcast my name is mike chisholm thank you and good night