Zanies' Bert Haas

If the British Invasion is the most revered era of popular culture in the 20th century, then the comedy boom of the ’80s is a close second. Scores of stand-ups are lionized today for establishing their careers at a time when clubs like Caroline’s, Catch A Rising Star, and the Comedy Cellar in New York were rewriting the industry. In Chicago, the venerable Zanies played a large part in the boom, helping to launch household names like Jerry Seinfeld, Robert Klein, Steven Wright, and others responsible for carrying the genre into the 21st century. On Jan. 30, Zanies celebrates its 30th anniversary and will party at its four venues (in St. Charles, Vernon Hills, Nashville, and the original at 1548 N. Wells St.) on the 30th of every month this year. The A.V. Club spoke to Zanies Executive Vice President Bert Haas about his club’s survival, comedy clubs’ corny names, and what the boom owes to Dave Coulier.

The A.V. Club: You came up through Zanies as a waiter and helped open the club in Nashville. Why did you stop after that fourth club?
Bert Haas: If you look at a map of Chicago, we really wanted to ring in the city. But there was a downturn in the industry around ’93, so we never actually got to the South Side. The thing with the Nashville club was that it was an experiment, and it is very successful. But you can’t have a cookie-cutter formula in the comedy industry. With the boom in the ’80s, at one point there were 16 major clubs in downtown Chicago alone. At that time, Zanies had four. The Funny Bone had 18 rooms across the country. Punchline had eight rooms. A couple of years later, all of those clubs in the city were reduced to six when the bust came. But Zanies still had four.
AVC: Is it more or less difficult to fill the house now than when you first started?
BH: It was impossible to fill the house when I first started. In ’78, no one knew what we were all about. I remember this guy called us with a few questions and I told him that we specialized in stand-up comedy. And he asked me if that meant he had to stand up for the show. There was just no real understanding of comedy clubs. To go to a nightclub and see three or more comics on one bill was very rare. But then we had the ’80s. And then there was Seinfeld. Seinfeld was doing comedy on the show. Even Dave Coulier, the guy on Full House, his character was a comedian. That all helped, and it got easier. But it was hard then to get people to come out.
AVC: Why do so many comedy clubs have such corny names: Zanies, Funny Bone, Crackers, Laugh Factory?
BH: [Laughs.] Because not enough people have read The 22 Immutable Laws Of Branding. There’s a chapter in there that says in order to have a successful business name, you have to convey the product without conveying it explicitly. There are two perfect examples: Blockbuster is one because that word says nothing about movie rentals but still conveys all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood movies; and the other is Starbucks. I think Zanies falls right in line with those because it says we’re zany without saying anything about jokes.
AVC: Why do Zanies and other comedy clubs have drink minimums?
BH: Well, we don’t even call them drink minimums anymore. Now they’re item minimums. Mainly we have them because they’re throwbacks to the nightclub era. That used to be the way all nightclubs were. So there is a historical aspect there that we like to keep. But it’s also economical. It’s the bar that pays for everything like the rent, the insurance, the supplies, the cocktail napkins, the payroll.
AVC: What do you think about the generation of comedians performing at non-comedy venues? The Comedians Of Comedy and David Cross, for example, have been doing so for years.
BH: The trend is actually to turn comedy clubs into venues. I’m not going to name any names, but there’s a company out there trying to establish 500 rooms across the country and is hoping to overtake a lot of comedy clubs to make it happen. Basically, clubs that try to become venues try to book the biggest names in the business. That doesn’t work. That’s why Zanies has succeeded for so long. As far as the comics themselves, it’s a financial matter and it’s also a cop-out. These guys are playing larger rooms, and there’s more money to be made by doing that, if they play a Park West, for example, or the Vic Theatre.
AVC: So what’s the future hold?
BH: The downturn we’re seeing in the economy now is a big concern for the industry. We’re going to see some rocky times. But people need to laugh. And as long as that’s a constant, good clubs will succeed.
AVC: After 30 years, is anything still off-limits?
BH: I don’t think there ever was anything. Nothing has ever been sacred in comedy, I don’t think. After Lenny Bruce, it was all gone. Nothing was off-limits from a very early period and that’s the way it should be. I mean, isn’t it the comedian’s job to go after those topics, to go after everything that’s sacred and throw it back in your face? They’re the ones who have to tell the emperor he’s not wearing any clothes.