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Remembering Dick Gregory | first met Dick Gregory when he asked me to interview him for 7he Realist in New York. | saw him again when | was in Chicago. He was performing at the Playboy Club and invited me to his show. Two years previously, Negro comedians performed only in Negro nightclubs, and Gregory was no exception. But one evening the regular white comic at the Playboy Club got sick, and Gregory took his place. It made 7ime magazine, and he was invited to perform on the Jonight Show, but he declined unless, after doing his stand-up act, he would be asked to sit down and talk with Jack Paar. The gamble worked, and Gregory became an instant celebrity, breaking through the color barrier with humor. Eventually we became friends and fellow demonstrators. Now he was performing at the Playboy Club, not as a substitute comic but as a star attraction. They had to supply me with a jacket, and a tie that was decorated all over with bunny symbols. Gregory was already on stage. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015390