Lifestyle

After 20 years, Zanies provides the escape you're craving

Posted March 21, 2009 11:00 pm

Barbara Vitello

Zanies St. Charles

If there's one thing Zanies Comedy Clubs have - besides a reputation for delivering laughs - it's staying power.

Competitors, including Naperville's Funny Bone, Rosemont's Comedy Cottage, Lyons' Comedy Womb and Chicago's Funny Firm and Improv succumbed to the bust that followed standup comedy's 1980s boom. But Zanies' mini-empire, which began with the debut of the Chicago flagship 31 years ago, has survived more or less intact.

In fact, its West Suburban satellite, which opened in 1989 at the Pheasant Run Resort & Spa and celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, remains the suburbs' longest running comedy club.

St. Charles wasn't Zanies first foray outside Chicago. That honor belongs to the Nashville, Tenn., outpost which opened in 1983. It wasn't even the chain's first incursion in the suburbs. That came in 1987 with the opening of Zanies Mount Prospect, which lasted 11 years until it closed in 1998.

General manger Bert Haas attributes the St. Charles club's longevity to its lineup pairing nationally known comics - including Craig Ferguson, Chelsea Handler, Richard Lewis, David Brenner and Norm Macdonald (who headlines the March 20 anniversary show) with local favorites Skip Griparis, Larry Reeb, Jim McHugh and Vince Maranto among others.

"We bring in name acts. They sell tickets and that helps us stay in business. But we always try to find the next crop of talent," said Haas, mentioning stars like Ferguson and Handler who played St. Charles before achieving TV fame.

"Part of the fun is to try and figure out who is going to be the next sensation," said Haas, who names Jo Koy (headlining St. Charles April 3) and Sebastian Maniscalco (headlining May 1) among the up-and-comers to watch.

The talent of the comedians is what ultimately sustains a club, but success also depends heavily on a venue's relationship to its performers and its audiences. Manager Cyndi Nelson says happy comics, happy staff and happy customers make for a successful venue.

"When Rick Uchwat (owner of the area's three Zanies) hired me to run the club he told me: 'This is a business based on relationships, not numbers.' I've never forgotten that," Nelson said.

"A lot of clubs tried to cash in on the craze and were not run well," said Skip Griparis, a frequent Zanies headliner opining on why the boom went bust. "Zanies clubs are solid."

"Longevity counts for a lot," added the Bolingbrook resident, who calls Zanies his professional home. "That's Zanies' advantage."

Haas and his colleagues have an eye for talent and they know how to run a show, said Griparis. That's especially true at Pheasant Run, which at 250 seats is Zanies mid-size room. (Vernon Hills holds 300; Chicago seats 100).

Back during standup's heyday, when discos and country western bars became comedy clubs over night, some managers took patrons' money but failed to deliver much in return, said comedian Vince Maranto, a Pheasant Run regular for 20 years.

Zanies' St. Charles club treats audiences well, said Maranto, delivering not just a quality show, but quality food and beverages, too.

"I enjoy every time I'm there," said the Algonquin resident, who will emcee there during May.

"We don't do open mic. We don't do amateur night. All our comics are tried-and-true," said Nelson. "You make it to Zanies and you've arrived. It's the top of the line."

Pheasant Run representatives began courting Zanies management about opening a club at the resort in 1988. Preoccupied with the newly opened Mount Prospect club, Haas and company put the proposal on the back burner until 1989.

Initially audiences were older and more conservative than the typical Zanies crowd. For that reason, Haas hesitated about booking "off-color" comedians there. Over the last two decades, the audience has grown younger and more liberal.

From a comedy club that attracted a resort crowd, it's become "a comedy club that happens to be in a resort," said Maranto, a 27-year veteran who sees little difference between downtown and suburban audiences today.

That said, each room has its own personality, said comedian Jim McHugh who has worked at Zanies for 25 years. "The downtown room is tight. Pheasant Run is a barn-type atmosphere and the Vernon Hills room is a typical square box."

"(Pheasant Run) is a comfortable stage and a comfortable room," said McHugh, of Hoffman Estates, who describes experiencing a wave of laughter that begins in the back of the room and rolls across the stage. "You wish you were on longer."

As venues expand to accommodate five, six or seven hundred people, Zanies remains something of a throwback. But it still ranks among the nation's premier venues.

"One of the great things about Zanies in particular and intimate comedy clubs in general is that sense of serendipity and surprise," said Haas. The comedian playing a comedy club tonight might become a breakout star tomorrow.

Standup in smaller venues is "immediate and intimate," said Haas. It offers something people can't get from TV or film.

And these days, it offers respite from hard times.

During recessionary times, people still want to get out and enjoy life, said McHugh. "Zanies certainly provides that escape," he said.

"They're still coming out," added Maranto, "and they're still laughing."

Cheap laughs

Zanies Comedy Clubs keep standup fans laughing with these recession buster shows:

• 8 p.m., Thursday, March 26, at Zanies Vernon Hills, 230 Hawthorn Village Commons, Vernon Hills. Four comedians for $10. (847) 549-6030.

• 8 p.m., Monday, April 6, at Zanies Chicago, 1548 N. Wells St., Chicago. Regional finals of the National College Comedy Competition. Tickets are $10, free with college ID. (312) 337-4027.

• 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, at Zanies Chicago, 1548 N. Wells St., Chicago. Johnny Carson Comedy Festival Auditions featuring top Chicago area comedians. $20. (312) 337-4027.

• 8:30 p.m. Monday, April 27, at Zanies Chicago, 1548 N. Wells St., Chicago. Margot Leitman and Giulia Rozzi bring their sexcapade-centered show "Stripped Stories" to the club. $10. (312) 337-4027.

Gilbert Gottfried

Vince Maranto

Skip Griparis

Jim McHugh

David Brenner

Chelsea Handler

Richard Lewis

Emo Philips

Kevin Meaney

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=278396">Norm Macdonald on humor [3/17/09]</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> Where to get a laugh Comedy Comedy Walter Payton's Roundhouse, 205 N. Broadway, Aurora (630) 906-2277 <a href="http://www.comedycomedylive.com" target="new">comedycomedylive.com</a> The Comedy Shrine Above Bar Louie, 22 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville (630) 355-2844 <a href="http://www.comedyshrine.com" target="new">comedyshrine.com</a> The Improv Comedy Showcase and Restaurant Woodfield Shopping Center, 5 Woodfield Road, Schaumburg (847) 240-2001 <a href="http://www.improv.com" target="new">improv.com</a> Improv Playhouse 735 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville (847) 968-4529 <a href="http://www.improvplayhouse.com" target="new">improvplayhouse.com</a> Laugh Out Loud Theater Streets of Woodfield, 601 N. Martingale Road, Suite 171, Schaumburg (847) 240-0386 <a href="http://www.LOLtheater.com" target="new">LOLtheater.com</a> Midwest Comedy Showcase Clearwater Theater, 96 W. Main St., West Dundee (847) 836-8820 <a href="http://www.clearwatertheater.com" target="new">clearwatertheater.com</a> The Montrose Room Hotel InterContinental O'Hare, 5300 N. River Road, Rosemont 847-544-5300 <a href="http://www.montroseroom.com" target="new">montroseroom.com</a> Zanies St. Charles Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles (630) 584-6342 <a href="http://www.zanies.com" target="new">zanies.com</a> Zanies Vernon Hills 230 Hawthorn Village Commons, Vernon Hills (847) 549-6030 <a href="http://www.zanies.com" target="new">zanies.com</a>

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