Thursday, February 27, 2014

Tim Wilson

When I was invited to take pictures in Lincoln, NE for the Bob and Tom Comedy Tour, Tim Wilson was the comedian I was most curious about. I wasn't sure if his exquisite Southern personality was actually his personality or part of his act. I arrived at the theater and was brought up to the green room to meet everyone. Tim was in the back of the room on a couch. When I was introduced, Tim stood up from the couch, stepped over to me and shook my hand. He said in his wonderful drawl, "Hello, Jim. A pleasure to meet you."

I watched him through out the night. He interacted with fans at the meet and greet, answering all their questions and was the last one to leave. Back stage, he and I discussed his book; how long it took him to research it, how the publishing worked and other details I was curious about. He answered every question I had with genuine interest in the conversation.

When Tim went out on stage to perform, I stepped out to watch him. I took several pictures of him but found myself watching him instead of snapping photos. Tim took requests from the crowd and in one song, broke off to go into one of his lengthy lectures about Abbie Hoffman, Vietnam war protestor, and what we may or may not have known about the guy. It must have worked because I still remember that guy's name! But the entire time, he had the audience in the palm of his hand. With one final George Jones finish to a song, Tim left the stage that night to tremendous applause; my own clapping part of it.

I didn't get the chance to talk to him after his act and left for home shortly after. When I got home, my friends and family wanted to know every detail about my time with the comedians. I told them, "All of them were great and all of them were nice but Tim Wilson blew me away. He was such a Southern gentleman! He was so nice and so funny. He's got a new fan for life!"

I am a Tim Wilson fan and will be for the rest of my life. He was taken from he world too soon but I count my self lucky to have been able to spend what little time I had with him. I am thankful I got the pictures of him that I did too. Looking at those photos, I will always remember him as kind, funny and an all around great person.