The comedians at Amsterdam’s Boom Chicago restaurant and theatre delivered a dynamite performance at the 300-seat Leidseplein Theatre.
Since 1993, Boom Chicago has "mixed sharp writing, quick thinking and high production values to create fast and funny shows, "their website reads. They tour nationally and internationally, performing at theatres, festivals, and corporate events.
We began our evening in the Boom Bar, located in the front of the building, sipping our reasonably priced Heinekens (though I’ve had cheaper) as the American bartender ironically made jokes about American culture.
We were standing in the back of the bar, next to the theatre and dining room’s entrance doors, which was lucky for us because when the doors opened we were the first ones in and we sat at the best seat in the house—a cushioned, corner booth overlooking all other tables as well as having a perfect view of the stage. Once everyone was in, the theatre looked to be sold out, and from the beads of sweat coming off our waitress’s forehead, I imagine they were busy catering to the full house.
Boom’s menu changes with the seasons, so we feasted off the spring menu. My date, John, and I split an order of hardy nachos. These were quite filling, leaving us little room for the cheeseburgers we each ordered. But we managed to shove down the thick, well-cooked pack of meat on foccacia bread as well as try the vegetable quiche that surprised us on the plate. If only I had more room in my stomach to finish that off too. We had a short breather until our desert came: crepes and apple pie. The crepe was light and refreshing while the apple pie was, well, not. However, it was absolutely delicious. It was tall and packed to the crust with apples and the perfect amount of cinnamon flavoured the layers.
Feeling lethargic and paralyzed, we were unsure if we would stay awake until the show. But soon the lights went dim, techno music started playing, and the show began.
Boom comedian since 2005, Laura Flans opened the show with a powerful welcome. Her voice was loud, and it carried—her petite frame deceived me. Flans explained two basic rules among others at Boom Chicago. First, everything must be spoken in English because the comedians are American and second, it is an improvisation show, so the audience determines most of the comedy. The audience must answer questions politely or just yell randomly, providing the comedians with words and phrases to fill in to their skits.
After this necessary explanation, two actors came on stage, initiating the first skit. Portland, Oregon native Hilary Bauman and Brian Jack from Illinois, two of the newest members to the comedy troupe, acted out a scene from a stereotypical action movie. They left names, locations, and reasons for murder blank, then with the help of one Irish audience member named Peter, they filled in the blanks. Peter yelled names, locations, and reasons for murder that were absolutely absurd and unusual, making the scene a humorous mockery of any action movie.
Other skits portrayed what it would be like if Osama went to a dating service (he ended up singing Celine Dion), Dutch hip-hop groups, and Boom News (which bore a striking resemblance to Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler).
There were four memorable skits that are worth telling. One even involved John and I. Bauman stood in front of John and Ime in the audience and a bright spotlight blinded me. She asked our names, where we were from, what we were doing in Amsterdam, how old we were, etc. Then she said, “You guys are reeallllyy cute. Do you date?” I turned bright red out of embarrassment. Luckily John, an architecture student, answered the questions. She explained “Because you guys are just soooo cute, we decided to tape you.” They proceeded to play the recorded footage on the large projection screen on stage, while two cast members voiced over improvised dialogue that used the information we provided during the interview as material. On screen, while John and I were fiddling with our upper arms—comparing biceps, I suppose-- the actress who was dubbing me said, “You’re like wicked buff, just wicked, you’re so built…” (I am a Boston, Massachusetts native where the adjective “wicked” is overly used). The guy responded, “I’m an architect. I built myself.”
Despite being utterly humiliated, embarrassed, and self-conscious, I laughed so hard my cheeks and abdominals hurt, and tears were streaming down my face.
Another hilarious skit was an improvised debate at a town meeting over the legality of hunting moose in Amsterdam. Two people were moose pro-life, and two people were for the legality of hunting moose in Amsterdam for absolutely ridiculous reasons, such as moose droppings slowing bicycle travel and creating accidents and traffic jams.
A video of the simplification of the European Union was aired as one of the last skits. It proposed what certain countries would be called if they were merged, for example, if the countries Greece and Spain were combined, they would be called Club Med. With each ridiculous combination, an image of what the new national flag might look like was also shown on screen.
And last, but certainly not least, Don’t Worry About Terrorism, Holland: This skit answered the question ‘Will Amsterdam be the next victim in terrorist attacks?’ The answer was a clear, ‘No’ because it’s largest building is only a fraction of the size of New York’s World Trade Towers, because bombs can’t fit on bicycles (the main mode of transportation), and terrorists can’t strike trains because usually the trains are always on strike.
The American comedians were brave to mock another city and its people while living in that city, but nonetheless, it was perhaps the funniest skit of the night, and even the locals were able to appreciate their humor.
The show had a wide variety of excellent, humorous skits. My only concern was Boom Chicago’s News skit: Although plagiarism may be too extreme of a word, it was far too similar to Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. Aside from this one downside, Boom Chicago was a blast of fun and laughs.
Tarik Davis
Since 2004
Tarik is a native of New Jersey, he studied and performed improv at Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in NYC. He performed on the Harold Teams “My Kickass Van” and “Gigawatt,” and wrote his own show “Bringing the Balance.”
Brian JackSince 2006
Brian Jack thinks it is ultra cool that he is a cast member of Boom Chicago! Hailing from the great state of Illinois, Brian is just a little frightened by Dutch people. He is even more afraid of Amsterdam’s trams, bikes, random piles of dog poo and canals. Once he is calmed down, he is excited to make this his home away from home.
Greg Shapiro
Since 1994
Greg came here to join his high school buddies 10 years ago, and now he’s gone native. A local celebrity, Greg has appeared in films & TV (Phileine Zegt Sorry, Down, GTST) years of commercials, and even NOS Journal. His writing has appeared in Expats Magazine, Sum, and The Amsterdam Times. But he’s most proud of maintaining the nightly Boom Chicago News segment.
In addition to Boom Chicago's regular shows, Greg also created the critically acclaimed 2-man shows Going Down: A Comedy Show About Pessimism, and Yankee Go Home: Americans and Why You Love to Hate Us (both performed with Jon Rosenfeld). Married to a Dutch woman Inez, Greg has a 3-year old at home & a new baby boy. Make sure he speaks in Dutch to you after the show.
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