A Visit with David Letterman

The limo drove past the long line of people lined up for tickets outside the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway and turned in on 53^rd Street. Halfway down the block, a phalanx of photographers lined up against a metal barrier swung into action, firing off shot after shot as they pulled up. Fans shouted out their names, held up autograph books and took snapshots.

Tim and Tom signed and laughed and posed for pictures before going into the theater Tuesday night to prepare for their date with David Letterman. They ascended the elevator into the small dressing room that was a remnant of the era when the vintage theater played host to some of the biggest stars on Broadway before being turned into a television studio and the longtime home of The Ed Sullivan Show and The Honeymooners before being taken over by Late Night with David Letterman.

Tom has been on the show more than 50 times over the years and Tim once or twice, but this was their first time together and it would have been normal for them to feel a bit nervous, but they didn’t. Their many appearances in Chicago the week before had made them feel very much at ease as they played off each other and found their natural timing, and they exited studio after studio with thanks hearty handshakes from the producers and radio and TV hosts who were delighted with the laughter and touching stories they had offered from an important and fascinating show-business era.

After Letterman’s Top Ten list, and a visit from the lovely actress Julianne Moore, it was time for Tim and Tom to descend the elevator and make their way through the rear of the sound stage that is kept at an almost icy temperature at Letterman’s request. “I learned when I hosted the show once to dress warm,” Tom said. “You can freeze out there.”

And then, there they were, sitting next to Letterman, who warmly praised the book—“A fascinating, great, fun book to read…A great chronicle of the times and their careers”—and elicited some hilarious responses.

“Tom was my first white friend,” Tim said. “Everything I know about white people, I learned from Tom. It’s tragic.”

They also took the chance of using some of their edgiest material as Tom told the story of the night back in the 1970s when they were working on new routines and Tom said if Tim was heckled by a white member of the audience, he might say, “Hey, buddy, leave him alone. He’s mine. Go get your own. You know how hard they are to train.”

Letterman’s audience groaned as Tom said Reid pointed out that could be construed as racist and Tom abandoned the idea.

But that very night, before a black audience, Tom was heckled and Tim stepped forward to say, “Hey, brother, leave him alone. He’s mine. Go get your own. You know how hard they are to train.”

The audience erupted in laughter, just as Letterman’s audience did now in a moment of self-recognition.

“It’s all about context,” Tim says.

“He’s right,” Tom agreed. “It’s a lesson Charlie Chaplin taught us years ago. A pie in the face of the underdog isn’t funny. A pie in the face of a banker is funny.”

They said goodbye to their old pal and soon they were laughing about the fun they’d had over a bowls of soup and sandwiches the size of footballs at the Carnegie Deli. Their star turn on Broadway was over and they were back out on the road again.

(See Tim and Tom's appearance on Late Show with David Letterman on the See Tim and Tom Page on this blog.)