Bob Zany is an Americanstand-up comedian. He is known for performing with his trademark cigar on stage. According to an article found on his web page, he "stuff a cigar into a plastic bag with a couple of Bob Zany original postcards and charge five bucks for the package. call it the Bob Zany Fun Kit." In 1976, he appeared as a contestant on The Gong Show. Between that time and a 1986 appearance on the TV special George Schlatter's Comedy Club, he had gained a significant amount of weight, which he was able to lose by the time he appeared as a contestant on To Tell the Truth in 1990. Zany is an occasional guest on the nationally syndicated radio programThe Bob & Tom Show, and has his own segment called The Zany Report. In recent years, he has also guest-hosted portions of Jerry Lewis' Labor DayTelethon. Zany also had a small role in the film Joe Dirt as the guy at the radio station who pushes Joe down at the beginning of the movie. On September 16, 2006, he appeared on the Comedy Central special, The Friends of the Bob and Tom Show. In June, 2007, he appeared on Last Comic Standing. He made it through the initial interview, but was not passed on to the next round. Zany appeared in the Steven Soderbergh film The Informant, released September 18, 2009. The movie is a dark comedy about a Decatur, Illinois agri-business giant's price-fixing scandal, and the bipolar whistleblower, Mark Whitacre, who is portrayed by Matt Damon. Zany plays Whitacre's lawyer, John Dowd, in the comedian-rich cast. In June 2010 Zany toured Israel with the Comedy for Koby show, hosted by the Koby Mandell Foundation. Zany performed in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Raanana, Beit Shemesh, Haifa, Modi'in and Gush Etzion. Bob is also due to star in the documentary film, Close But No Cigar, directed by Jay Kanzler, which chronicles his thirty-plus years in show business. The documentary has not yet been released, but is expected to contain interviews with Ralphie May, Jimmy Pardo, Andy Kindler, Nia Peeples, Carrot Top, Rick Messina, and others. Zany is a 1979 graduate of West Covina High School and lives in Los Angeles. He is a three-time nominee for Annual American Comedy Awards Best Male Standup Comic.
