SLIFF 2010 Review: CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

Occasionally I’ll look through the entertainment section of my local free weekly newspaper and notice some familiar names in the ads for the local comedy clubs. I’m sometimes curious about the lives of these names on the signs of “The Ha Ha Hub” or “The Chuckle Hut”. While taking the commuter train I’d look up at a billboard for a local casino and see the name Bob Zany highlighted every few months. Now Bob has chronicled his comedy career with the help of director Jay Kanzler in the documentary CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR.  The title not only references the omnipresent stogie Bob smokes on stage, but his attempts to grab that ultimate cigar of show business super stardom.

Zany is first seen at work delivering zingers at an audience like a counterman tossing deli subs. He decides (along with Jay behind the camera) that the best way to increase his audience is to get a solo stand up special on a premium (HBO, Showtime) or basic (CMT, Comedy Central) cable TV produced on a reasonable budget. Besides the club circuit, Zany is shown being a regular on the Bob and Tom nationally syndicated radio show. The film then delves into his past as his family and friends (Nia Peeples!) are interviewed while old home movie footage plays. As a teenager, Zany was able to get on stage at the old Gong Show until a man dressed as a nun threw a net over him. Making a name for himself, Zany set up several California comedy club venues where he and his pals could perform while landing his own weekly radio show and getting the fifth lead in a low budget movie, UP YOUR ALLEY.

For a time he counted comedy mega-star Rodney Dangerfield as a mentor (Zany relates some great Rodney stories). In 1998 Zany scored a prime spot on a TV roast of Drew Carey until his killer material is disrupted when a guest blacks out and lunges face first onto his dinner plate. This incident illustrates one of several near misses at the brass ring. Appearances on the original Star Search (besting Carrot top at his own prop humor) , The Tonight Show (with Leno and not king-maker Carson), and the Labor Day MDA Telethon (cracking up Ed McMahon and Jerry Lewis) can’t get him to the next level. Ah, but he and Jay have found a way to produce a TV special to be taped in Galesburg, IL. What could go wrong?

The documentary is full of hilarious stories from Zany’s famous comedian pals which offset the sight of him trudging from airports to lonely hotels lugging his travel bags like a modern day Willy Loman. Although Bob can be testy at times(he dismisses advice from a comedy consultant) you end up rooting for him to finally get his well deserved big break. Ultimately CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR is a testament to an optimistic human spirit who never gives up. Oh, and it’s packed full of wonderful, raunchy laughs.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR will play at the 19th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival on Thursday, November 18th at 7:00 pm at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.