Even with an illustrious comedy career that has seen him tour the world with Frank Sinatra for over a decade and make more than 500 late-night talk show appearances, Tom Dreesen still remembers the hard jobs he worked throughout his childhood and well into his 20s. Needing to help take care of his seven siblings in south suburban Harvey, he set pins in bowling alleys, shined shoes in taverns and sold newspapers on street corners just to help them survive.
He then served four years in the military starting at 17 before working an array of construction and other tough manual labor jobs until he finally found his happiness onstage making people laugh. He saw comedy not only as a fun path to fame and fortune, but also a chance to serve humanity through the healing power of laughter.
As a big proponent of “paying it forward,” Dreesen has long given motivational talks to other comedians while in different cities for gigs. He will speak on “The Joy of Stand-Up Comedy and How To Get There” starting at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Zanies comedy club, hoping to inspire his fellow comedians to strive for their creative and personal best in life.
“I’m doing this for free, for my peers, because I love to motivate comedians to be all they can be as a stand-up comedian. I started out and struggled like every comedian has in the past,” says Dreesen. “And I used these principles that I’m teaching them become a successful stand-up comedian.
“I talk on four subjects: perception, visualization, self-talk and developing a sense of humor. And I elaborate on those four points and how to use these principles to be all you can be as a person and as an artist. I really believe wholeheartedly that you have to pay it forward if you gained any knowledge in any endeavor in life, if you can make their load a little bit lighter or make their craft a little bit more artistic. And then I do a Q&A at the end, and they always have really good questions.”
Dreesen, 84, is spending two weeks in Chicago while performing his one-man show “The Man Who Made Sinatra Laugh” in Michigan City, Indiana, and Lake Forest. His stay here also included throwing out the first pitch and singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in the seventh inning stretch at Friday’s Cubs game — an honor he’s been given more times than any other comedian.
His motivational talk fuses humor with serious inspirational points, and will provide scientific insights on the power of laughter to heal people. But above all, he wants to spotlight the fact of how rare the talent to entertain crowds actually is, to make the comics in attendance realize how special their calling is.
“I explain to them why it’s the greatest profession on the planet. They did a survey around the world many years ago of the 10 fears of man,” says Dreesen. “Death was fourth. Pain was second. Getting up in front of an audience was the No. 1 fear of mankind. I told them if you can get up on the stage for an hour and make people laugh, you’re in less than one millionth of 1 percent of the population of the world. You know how special you are. I motivate them on to that goal.”
Comedy has certainly kept him healthy, as he works out often and plays golf courses even more frequently than he does theater nationwide. While he’ll speak about the famed author Norman Cousins and his study of the effects of laughter on the human body, he received great inspiration as well from Clint Eastwood while acting in his 2012 film “Trouble With the Curve.”
“Clint Eastwood is 93 years old now and in the middle of directing yet another film. I said, ‘How do you do it?’ He said, ‘I don’t let the old man in when I get out of bed in the morning,’ ” he recalls. “I thank Clint for that advice and I do the same. I’ve been blessed, I love what I do, and if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. When you find the work you love, life is wonderful, life is beautiful.”
