Chicago’s comedy landscape has experienced some interesting alterations during the last few years or so. But Zanies has remained constant for 15 years now.
And the legendary Wells Street club is celebrating its 15th anniversary in a big way all this month, with 15 top comics taking the stage at various times throughout November.
Among the talent scheduled to appear are Judy Tenuta, Marsha Warfield, John Caponera (a onetime Zanies bartender), Thea Vidale of ABC’s “Thea,” WLUP’s Danny Bonaduce and prop maniac Carrot Top. Zanies regulars Dale Irvin, Larry Reeb and T.P. Mulrooney also will perform.
“Because this is our 15-year anniversary and we’re the fourth-oldest club in the country, I’m really pulling out all the stops,” says Zanies general manager Bert Haas, who has been with the club for 14 years.
When you consider the longevity of Zanies, you really have to step back and take a long look. When owner Rick Uchwat set up shop at 1548 N. Wells St. in 1978, Zanies was the only standup comedy club within the city limits, and among only a handful of rooms in the country.
Early performers include Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Emo Philips (a onetime house emcee), Richard Lewis, Tim Allen and Sam Kinison, to name a very few.
Zanies has survived the 1980s explosion of standup comedy across the country, which swept through Chicago and brought with it several top-name clubs, including the Funny Firm, Catch a Rising Star, the Improv and Chaplin’s Comedy Club, among others. Meanwhile, established clubs like the Comedy Cottage and Who’s on First were also thriving.
Now, the boom has ended and clubs around the country are either shuttered or on the verge. In the Chicago area, Catch has been closed for a few years, the Firm is in the process of a reorganization, and the Improv has changed its format to mostly variety acts.
Chaplin’s, which claimed to be the largest comedy club in the city with roughly 500 seats, closed after a month. The Cottage is no more, Who’s closed and reopened under a new name and management.
And Zanies? Just like that annoying rabbit. It kept going, and going, and going. . . .
“Everybody got on the comedy bandwagon because they saw it as a lucrative business to be in,” says Uchwat, 46. “So every gin mill in the city decided they were going to go to a comedy venue. And they found out it’s not that easy just to put a stage in there and say, `I’m a comedy club.’ You’ve got to prove your value, you’ve got to produce these shows.
“That’s what we’ve always done at Zanies, and I think that’s been our success factor. To try and produce the shows for what Chicagoans like to see.”
Haas, noting some of the things that have gone on locally in the industry during Zanies’ reign, can’t help but tweak a few noses.
He calls the 15-comic anniversary month “Zanies Presents the Variety of Standup Comedy,” with an obvious nod towards the Improv’s variety format.
“There’s just this premise going around right now that, `Oh, we have to change, there has to be more variety because there’s no variety in standup,’ ” says Haas, 37. “There’s tons of variety in standup.
“If you come in and you see Thea Vidal and Judy Tenuta, you’re going to laugh at both of them, and no one’s going to walk out saying that they were pretty much the same act. I mean, that’s what makes standup special.”
Uchwat took that special aspect and turned it into a five-club empire, with locations in Chicago, Mt. Prospect, St. Charles, Vernon Hills and Nashville, Tenn. Plans are “on the drawing board” for another club in an unnamed location, Uchwat says, with Haas adding, “I don’t think one more club is out of the question in this market.”
One more Zanies club is just fine with Carrot Top.
“It’s one of the top clubs,” says Carrot, 27, who has showcased his many props on “The Tonight Show,” and who has appeared frequently at Zanies locations throughout the year. His appearance on Sunday will mark Carrot Top’s debut at the downtown club.
“You can play year-round in different clubs in different areas, and it’s always nice to go to Zanies, because it’s always a good club (setting), it’s always packed, it’s well-run, the ownership’s nice . . . and they pay in cash.”
“I think it’s kind of neat that in its 15th-year anniversary that Zanies has come back to its roots,” says T.P. Mulrooney, who is doing his one-man show, “Hitch up the Mules,” at the club through Nov. 20. When Zanies opened, it featured “Byrne, Baby, Byrne,” the satirical musical sendup of former Chicago Mayor Jane Bryne.
Mulrooney, 35, who started in comedy at roughly the same time that Zanies opened, is glad to be a part of the celebration by presenting his show, which he says is about Americans’ desire since the 1960s to chase a lifestyle, rather than just surviving.
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“With Zanies taking a chance on my show,” says Mulrooney, “and they are taking a chance with a comedian offering an explanation for American behavior . . . I think Zanies is doing what they’ve always done, by continuing to take the lead in bringing the latest in comedy.”
According to Haas, Zanies has been functioning for 15 years because of a long-term mindset with regards to the comedy business. “We almost take a Japanese approach to it,” he says, “in that we’re not looking for a one-year, three-year, five-year payoff. We’re in it for 15-20 years.”
And if the club is to stay around for another 15 years, the key will be to continue to cultivate young and up-and-coming talent, says Uchwat.
“You can’t sit and ride by on your laurels because you have a 15-year reputation behind you,” he says. “You’ve got to keep finding and developing young talent. That’s the key.”
There’ll be a lot of established talent working Zanies this month, so call 312-337-4027 for details. And while you’re on the phone, wish the old place a happy 15th.
The standup lineup
Here are special Zanies congratulations from comics working other clubs this weekend. Current sets are slated to run through Sunday; new acts begin on Tuesday unless noted. Lineups are subject to change.
All Jokes Aside (1000 S. Wabash Ave.; 312-922-0577): Rexx Garvin, the guest emcee through Sunday: “Stay true to your own mannequins . . . somebody’ll get it.” No doubt. “It’s Showtime at the Apollo” host Steve Harvey appears starting on Thursday.
Funny Firm (318 W. Grand Ave.; 312-321-9500): Rich Ceisler, the headliner this weekend: “Anything that supports live comedy and gets people out of the house and away from cable, I’m all for.” Rick Ashton and Rich Brown open next week for a headliner to be named later.
K.J. Riddle’s Comedy Stop (15750 S. Harlem Ave.-Continental Shopping Center, Orland Park; 708-614-6336): Tim Walkoe, a frequent Zanies act, at K.J.’s through Sunday: “Fifteen years of mayhem. They started it from the thin times to the really thick times, and now Rick Uchwat owns Wells Street.” Ron Shock, the storyteller for our times, is performing starting on Tuesday.