12 Responses

1. John says:

   February 21, 2008 at 10:10 am

   Not that surprising. Chicago (the city proper, rather than the suburbs) already has Zanies, two Second City stages, Improv Olympic, The Lakeshore Theatre, and several established alternative rooms, like Chicago Underground Comedy. As a longtime Chicago comic, I’m not surprised that a brand new club wouldn’t succeed without a heavy advertising budget, and I’m sure the club was being staffed by existing D&B wait/bar staff. If it isn’t making, money, not much point for the host location to keep it open. And to out bid Zanies, which has been a part of the Chicago scene since 1978, and is only ten minutes by car away from D and B’s, the Zone would have had to book superior talent , which, no insult intended to their booker, they were not.

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2. comedypace says:

   February 21, 2008 at 2:33 pm

   Here is the dealThere was a rap concert on a Thursday night 2 weeks after we were open. Someone at that show was stabbed. The City told Dave and Busters no more outside promoted shows.That is why “The Comedy Zone” was shut down.Joe is a great guy and is working hard to find a new location.BTW…the 2 weeks we were open all shows sold out. (or close to it)

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3. Steve Heisler says:

   February 21, 2008 at 2:35 pm

   We changed the opening graf online once we found out the club was closed. It didn’t appear like that in print. But yes, you’re right. Puzzling indeed.

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4. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

   February 21, 2008 at 3:49 pm

   John commented that Chicago “already has Zanies, two Second City stages, Improv Olympic, The Lakeshore Theatre, and several established alternative rooms, like Chicago Underground Comedy.”Second City is improv. Improv Olympic is, too. As is, I believe, the Lakeshore. So we can’t really compare them to the straight standup rooms, nor can we include them in the tally when we’re making the case that Chicago already has enough comedy. So the notion that the room at D & B’s closed down because it couldn’t compete for the comedy dollar in Chicago is ridiculous.Also: The latest available stats for Chicago show that the CMSA has over 9 million people and that the city proper has 2.8 million. Three or four major clubs could prosper in Chicago with ease.There’s no need to outbid Zanies. All any club in Chicago need do in order to book talent that is equal to or superior to the talent that works Zanies is pick up the phone once in a while and aggresively book the room. There are only 52 slots per year. Surely there are more than 52 comics with solid credentials and lengthy club experience who would love to headline a room in Chicago. But getting through the ossified bureaucracy that is Zanies prevents it.Regardless of whether the acts were superior at D & B, there are plenty of other ways for a club to compete.

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5. John says:

   February 21, 2008 at 9:20 pm

   The Lakeshore Theatre is not improv. It books standups, major standups like Margaret Cho, Janine Garafalo, Patton Oswalt, Louis CK, etc. And the comedy dollar in an improv-centric town like Chicago is indeed split by those improv rooms. That is how Chicago works. They are proud of their local art form and it does indeed take a huge amount of the audience and publicity dollar that would normally go to standup in a different city. Chicago is unique in this, joined perhaps by Toronto, but nowhere else, really. I began my career there, I grew up there my whole life, I still perform numerous shows a year in the city and I know how the comedy scene in Chicago works. It is an uphill struggle to book a room in head to head competition with the only Chicago institution recognized throughout the city and city media for standup comedy within the city limits. The Lakeshore does it with big name acts. It is not possible to do it with acts of equal or lesser stature than the Zanies acts, especially acts with no history in the market. Since you bring in the outlying metro area into the picture, then I will remind you that Chicago has two more Zanies clubs in St. Charles and Vernon Hills, an urban room at Jokes and Notes on the South Side, and and Improv in Shaumburg. The notion that the Zone couldn’t compete for booking and publicity reasons is not at all ridiculous. I am sorry to hear of any stabbing at any entertainment event, and if that is why they closed it is sad and unfortunate, but even if they were to reopen, I would be surprised if they could expand their audience base beyond those who were done with playing Skee Ball for a while and wanted a diversion without out booking the comedy institution that sits a mere 15 blocks away. And there is no “ossified bureaucracy” at Zanies. It is booked, and booked well, by Bert Haas, who makes his decisions based on talent and fitness for his audience. I stand by everything in my original statement, and feel your comments reflect an unfamiliarity with the Chicago comedy scene.

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6. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

   February 21, 2008 at 10:33 pm

   Lakeshore Theater is a theater! Got it. Wasn’t sure what it was and didn’t take the time to Google it.Thanks for the clarification.As to the other matters:If Improv dollars are taking away from “comedy” dollars, then there is a failure on the part of the proprietors of the standup venues to differentiate the product. They are two different forms of entertainment.(The Lakeshore effect is happening in all markets and we think it’s a good thing that large theaters are bringing in big names. It heightens the awareness of standup in general and it merely forces standard club owners to expend a little energy and find talented club comics– not impossible and often it re-invigorates the clientele.)We’ve always been puzzled as to why the press goes gaga over improv– often while looking askance at standup! It is especially bad in Chicago. Doubly puzzling since venues like Mr. Kelly’s brought standup to the city 40 years ago. The city has a rich history of standup (and can claim Shelley Berman and Shecky Greene among the natives), and a comedy club could possibly cajole the local entertainment press into writing about standup more frequently than they do– head-to-head or not, “institution” or not.As for D & B’s not being able to “expand their base beyond those who were done playing Skee Ball,” there have been comedy empires built upon more tenuous circumstances.The talent that the Zone booked, we suspect, was competent, professional and, as far as the vast majority of Chicagoans could discern, just as capable of delivering a quality show as those in any other venue in town. Your automatic dismissal of the acts that the Zone booked is pure knee-jerkery. (And, it is hoped that Chicagoans have at least a tiny bit more ability to discriminate than you seem to.)Even the guy from Time Out Chicago said that the headliner “killed.” So, obviously, the folks at D & B’s that weekend didn’t really care if the comic they watched was local, imported, new, old or vetted by the powers that be on Welles St.) Zanies may be associated (at least in the minds of hardcore, repeat customers) with “quality” standup, but this would represent about half of a percent of Chicago’s population– in other words, there’s plenty of room for someone to come into the market, promote a room, provide a pleasant experience and make a go of it.To put it another way: “Big Improv” and Zanies are not, by any stretch of the imagination, insurmountable impediments to the successful launch of a standup comedy club in Chicago.As for the ossified bureaucracy of Zanies: You may well be familiar with the market. We are too. We’ve attended three festivals there, we worked in and around the area a few times over the past 15 years. But we’ve also heard one story after another about just how hard it is to get in front of someone who can make a decision.Headliners, from all corners of the country, can’t seem to crack Zanies, can’t seem to get in front of someone who can say “Yes,” or audition in front of a decent house. The sentiment is from solid headliners, not wannabes or embittered cranks.Haas himself has commented on the pages of this very publication about the predicament he and other club owners find themselves in. He seems to be dealing with it in an honest and forthright way.But the impression of Zanies as a “fortress,” as a venue that is tough to crack, that rarely brings in new talent persists.Other clubs and markets seem to be adjusting to the changing comedy landscape better.Perhaps “ossified bureaucracy” is a bit overstating it. But there seems to be other venues in other cities who are more willing/able to find new and capable acts.And, if other clubs in other cities can do so, then a club (or two!) can come into Chicago and do the same.And, as an aside, when we re-read your commments, they sound more and more like the words of someone who is trying desperately to convince someone <>not to open a comedy club in Chicago.<> So defeatist! You have swallowed the line fed to you by the local media! Throw off the chains! Be optimistice!We wish Mr. Doria all the luck in the world. (And, as soon as he finds a new venue and starts booking the room himself, we fully intend to send him a press kit.)We appreciate your comments.Thanks!

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7. John says:

   February 23, 2008 at 1:49 am

   If anyone has read this thread and would like to hear Bert Haas explain both the Improv-Comedy relationship in Chicago, and his booking process in detail, here’s an interview with him on The Bastion, Chicago’s sort of home grown comedy web site. He directly addresses the issues that have been brought up, and the state of Chicago comedy today.

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8. John says:

   February 23, 2008 at 1:50 am

   Forgot link:http://www.thebastion.org/

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9. Steve Heisler says:

   February 23, 2008 at 8:38 pm

   I encourage you all to start reading the Time Out Comedy section on a weekly basis. There’s so much going on in Chicago—stand-up, improv, sketch and eeeeeverything in between. Things are only going to get better in this city. You’ll notice also that the art forms are starting to blend together (Nick Vatterott, Team Submarine), which, also, means nothing but good things for Chicago talent.How hard is it to get into Zanies? I dunno. How hard is it to break into anywhere? Here’s the real question: If you were to get a gig at Zanies, then what? If you don’t, what else can you do?timeoutchicago.comI love these kinds of discussions.

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10. Steve Heisler says:

    February 23, 2008 at 8:39 pm

    Also Second City is sketch, not improv. Sketch created through improv.

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11. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

    February 23, 2008 at 8:53 pm

    Heisler comments:<>Here’s the real question: If you were to get a gig at Zanies, then what? If you don’t, what else can you do?<>To which we reply:We are like cats in relation to doors. A cat simply must know what’s on the other side of the door. The same applies to a club (or a major market)– we simply must “get in.” It’s that simple. All those clubs in all those cities must be gotten into. All those markets must be broken into. It is, for many, the way we earn our living. The more markets, the more clubs, the better off we’ll be.Indeed, once we get into a club in a market, we are intent on getting into the other clubs <>in that same market<> (if there are two or more)! And if there are “rules” against playing both clubs, the comedians must be compensated for narrowing our focus to just one.It is what we do. It is not such a simple matter to write off a city. A city or a club that is not easily cracked is like a stone in the shoe. (To use yet another analogy.) We like the city of Chicago. We’ve had very good experiences there. It follows that we’d like to perform there.Large city, lots of club patrons, good bucks, great shows. Who wouldn’t want it?

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12. Bert Haas says:

    February 26, 2008 at 1:15 am

    Two comments if I may.Zanies brings in more new acts than any comedy club in the history of the city. Zanies introduces Chicago to national acts as well as promoting Chicago talent. I am always amused when people suggest that Chicago needs more comedy clubs. Chicago had a lot of comedy clubs. They all closed. For anyone who is interested I will be happy to provide the names of 35-40 Chicago area venues that have tried standup comedy in the last 30 years and closed. Zanies is celebrating its 30 year anniversary this year (the 5th oldest comedy club in the country in its original location) so we must be doing something right. As frustrating as it must be for a new comedian who cannot get booked at Zanies, it is even more frustrating for me to be unable to book a comedian I have known 20 plus years. I cannot book every comedian when that act wants to be booked.Bert HaasZanies Comedy Clubs, Inc.

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