In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Wilson toured regularly through nightclubs with a black clientele in the so-called "Chitlin' Circuit." During the 1960s, Wilson became a regular at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. An unexpected break came in 1965, when comedian Redd Foxx was a guest on "The Tonight Show" and host Johnny Carson asked him who the funniest comedian at the time was; Foxx answered, "Flip Wilson." Carson then booked Wilson to appear on "The Tonight Show" and Wilson became a favorite guest on that show as well as on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Wilson later singled out Sullivan as providing his biggest career boost. Wilson also made guest appearances on numerous TV comedies and variety shows, such as "Here's Lucy" (in which he played the role of "Prissy" in a spoof of "Gone with the Wind" with Lucille Ball as Scarlett), "Laugh-In", and "The Dean Martin Show", among others.