John Kieswetter, the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s TV/Radio/Media reporter heralded the arrival of one of Cincinnati’s favorite TV personalities, comedian and actor Tim Reid, with a nice post to his blog last Thursday. His posting touches on Reid’s historic career in comedy, and details his recent itinerary, which brought him back to the city he once fictionally inhabited as radio DJ Venus Flytrap on the late 70’s sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. According to Keiswetter, Reid was scheduled to host the local Emmy Awards dinner and to throw out the first pitch at the Reds-Astros game. In his post Kieswetter remarks: “I bet he’s surprised at how often he’s recognized here, and how fondly so many of us remember ‘WKRP.'”
But while most people recognize Reid from his hit TV show, fewer remember his earlier work in the pioneering stand-up act “Tim and Tom” with comedian Tom Dreesen—the first interracial comedy team in the history of show business. Now with Reid’s forthcoming book, Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White, co-authored with Dreesen and Ron Rappaport, the fascinating story of this ground-breaking comedic duo is revealed—from their beginnings in the nightclubs of Chicago to to their acrimonious breakup after 5 hard years on the road.
The book is set to publish this September and Dreesen and Reid are scheduled to make quite a few appearances in support of the book’s release. Navigate to the Tim and Tom book page to find out more about the book or to place an advance order. Also, see our author events page to find out more about the upcoming events.