Jim Belushi now has another excuse to come back to Chicago.
The Wheaton native and former “According to Jim” star is a co-owner of The Comedy Bar, the 150-seat River North comedy club he co-owns with his son Rob and his son’s friend, Kyle Lane. The Comedy Bar, which Belushi believes has a “Rat Pack” kind of feel to it, celebrated its grand re-opening Thursday with a midnight blues performance by Belushi and Rob Stone and the C-Notes.
“My ambitions are small,” Belushi said Friday over the phone. “I want a place to hang. And it gives me a reason to come to Chicago. ‘Oh honey, I’ve got to go back to Chicago. The club needs me.’ It’ll probably coincide with ‘Monday Night Football’ and Blackhawks games. It’s an excuse to get out of L.A.”
Belushi said he plans on performing a Blues Brothers concert at the club at some point with Dan Aykroyd and will take the stage several times a year with the improv troupe he started with Rob Belushi, The Chicago Board of Comedy. What are the drawbacks of performing with his son?
“Sometimes I’m on stage in a scene with him and just go into this father mode,” Belushi said. “I’ll stare at him and will forget my line. I get so lost. He’s such a joy and so talented.”
What would Rob say are the drawbacks of performing with his old man?
“He’d probably say I don’t pay him enough,” the younger Belushi said.
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