Zanies Comedy Club, located in Chicago, Illinois, was founded in November 1978 by Rick Uchwat.

His father was imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II and was held in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Zanies Comedy Club in Chicago celebrated their 40th anniversary and continues to deliver nationally touring headliners 7 nights out of the week.

Zanies played an influential part in the careers of many comedians including, Jay Leno, Lewis Black, Annie Rauwerda, Emo Philips, Richard Lewis, Jerry Seinfeld, Frank Caliendo, Kathy Griffin, Larry Reeb, John Caponera, Hal Sparks, Bobby Slayton, and Roseanne Barr.

Other notable performers include: Sebastian Maniscalco, Colin Jost, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart, Hannibal Buress, Bill Burr, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Pardo, John Mulaney, Sarah Silverman, Aziz Ansari, Tim Allen, Jeff Garlin, Jim Gaffigan, Chelsea Handler, David Cross, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Daniel Tosh, Gilbert Gottfried, Kyle Kinane, Erik Griffin, Big Jay Oakerson, Pat McGann, Mark Normand, Jared Freid, Andrew Schulz, Jermaine Fowler, David Koechner, Maz Jobrani, Vir Das, Ronny Chieng, Al Madrigal, Marc Maron, Tony Hinchcliffe, and Dave Attell.