Get Zany with 'Friends of Bob and Tom' at the Turning Stone
An interview with Bob Zany
By DAVID DELLECESE
Observer-Dispatch
November 16, 2006
VERONA - The son of a house painter, the aptly named Bob Zany thought painting was his future until he had a brush with show business at age 15 at an audition for "The Gong Show."
"They paid me to stand there and tell jokes even though I was horrible," he said.
That experience whet his appetite for a career in making people laugh.
"I was pulled off stage by a man dressed like a nun with a net."
Other appearances on the show didn't make the cut, including Zany as a member of a band called "Bobby Arm and the Pitts," and the Unknown Comic's half-brother, which consisted of wearing a paper bag over everything but his head.
He auditioned for other talent shows and comedy club gigs whenever he could, even trying for one talent show six weeks in a row, and coming in last every time. On his seventh try, he came in first.
"I wasn't as funny then as I was on the first time," he said. "I asked the judges, and they said, 'Because you didn't give up. You came out here with a dream'."
His perserverance paid off later as well, getting him radio job in Los Angeles doing features for a morning show, something he said trained him well for the "Bob and Tom Show." He's been doing that for almost a decade now.
"The Friends of the Bob and Tom Show" will be at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino Saturday, Nov. 18. As a comedian and performer, Zany often finds himself doing a lot of traveling.
"It's the worst part of the job," he said. "I don't think performers are paid to perform. They're paid for everything else beforehand - the publicity, the writing of jokes, a day in baggage claim, a hotel."
He also pointed out the vulnerability that comes with performing in front of an audience.
"You can't bat three out of 10 times. You have to bat nine out of 10 times. Or more than that.
"There's an old saying among comedians," Zany said. "Did you hear Buddy Hackett killed in Cincinnati? Did you hear he destroyed in Cleveland? He just bombed in Utica, and the person says 'Oh, I heard about that.'- The bad will always magnify the good."
The perks?
"Once the show's done and you know you made people laugh, that's the best part," he said. "You've allowed them for forget about their problems for a little while."
Observer-Dispatch
November 16, 2006
VERONA - The son of a house painter, the aptly named Bob Zany thought painting was his future until he had a brush with show business at age 15 at an audition for "The Gong Show."
"They paid me to stand there and tell jokes even though I was horrible," he said.
That experience whet his appetite for a career in making people laugh.
"I was pulled off stage by a man dressed like a nun with a net."
Other appearances on the show didn't make the cut, including Zany as a member of a band called "Bobby Arm and the Pitts," and the Unknown Comic's half-brother, which consisted of wearing a paper bag over everything but his head.
He auditioned for other talent shows and comedy club gigs whenever he could, even trying for one talent show six weeks in a row, and coming in last every time. On his seventh try, he came in first.
"I wasn't as funny then as I was on the first time," he said. "I asked the judges, and they said, 'Because you didn't give up. You came out here with a dream'."
His perserverance paid off later as well, getting him radio job in Los Angeles doing features for a morning show, something he said trained him well for the "Bob and Tom Show." He's been doing that for almost a decade now.
"The Friends of the Bob and Tom Show" will be at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino Saturday, Nov. 18. As a comedian and performer, Zany often finds himself doing a lot of traveling.
"It's the worst part of the job," he said. "I don't think performers are paid to perform. They're paid for everything else beforehand - the publicity, the writing of jokes, a day in baggage claim, a hotel."
He also pointed out the vulnerability that comes with performing in front of an audience.
"You can't bat three out of 10 times. You have to bat nine out of 10 times. Or more than that.
"There's an old saying among comedians," Zany said. "Did you hear Buddy Hackett killed in Cincinnati? Did you hear he destroyed in Cleveland? He just bombed in Utica, and the person says 'Oh, I heard about that.'- The bad will always magnify the good."
The perks?
"Once the show's done and you know you made people laugh, that's the best part," he said. "You've allowed them for forget about their problems for a little while."
