An exciting history of the improv group you've never heard of that
changed comedy in America--this is the story of Boom Chicago in
Amsterdam as told by its founders and most famous alumni
"It's kind of crazy, the impact on culture so many Boom Chicago alums
have had. Boom was where I became my best comedic self: the excitement
of Amsterdam, the freedom of that environment, the letting loose--it's
magic. There's no better training ground." --Jordan Peele
"Boom Chicago should have ended up on the scrap heap of 'Terrible Ideas
Americans Have While Stoned in Amsterdam.' But when you stubbornly love
one thing (comedy) as much as another thing (Amsterdam), you just
believe they should be together. And here we are--thirty years later,
Boom Chicago is alive and kicking." --Seth Meyers
"Working at Boom Chicago was an unbelievable experience. Thank goodness
someone was smart enough to write it all down! You're lucky 'cause you
get to read about THE most exciting, fun, and illegal time I've ever
had!" --Amber Ruffin
Featuring interviews with Meyers, Peele, Ruffin, Jason Sudeikis, Ike
Barinholtz, Greg Shapiro, Kay Cannon, and many more; and a sixteen-page,
full-color insert with both behind-the-scenes snapshots and images from
live performances.
What do Ted Lasso, Get Out, Late Night with Seth Meyers, 30
Rock, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Breaking Bad, Saturday Night Live,
Girls5Eva, The Colbert Report, Inside Amy Schumer, Pitch Perfect, Key &
Peele, The Daily Show, MADtv, Rick and Morty, The Amber Ruffin Show,
Horrible Bosses, Portlandia, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Suicide
Squad, Superstore, How I Met Your Mother, Wicked, The Pee-Wee Herman
Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Broad City all have in common? They all
feature writers, creators, directors, or stars who got their start at
Boom Chicago.
Having risen roughly to the middle of Chicago's cutthroat comedy scene,
Andrew Moskos and Pep Rosenfeld decamped the Midwest for Amsterdam,
Netherlands in 1993 to start their own improv comedy troupe, Boom
Chicago. In a foreign land with zero tradition of English-language
humor, Moskos and Rosenfeld unwittingly created the finishing school for
some of today's most groundbreaking comedic talents. They (along with
coauthors Matt Diehl and Saskia Maas) document this journey in the
definitive oral history Boom Chicago Presents the 30 Most Important
Years in Dutch History.
From its stages, Boom Chicago went on to launch cultural game changers
like Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele, Amber Ruffin, Jason Sudeikis, Brendan
Hunt, Ike Barinholtz, Kay Cannon, and Tami Sagher (and that's just a
partial list). At Boom, these young upstarts honed their craft in front
of unsuspecting foreign audiences and visiting dignitaries like Burt
Reynolds, Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay, Dutch royalty, and the Netherlands's
prime minister--all while navigating a world with legal weed and
prostitution, annual holiday celebrations involving blackface, cookies
with weird racist names, and football that has nothing to do with the
NFL. From this culture shock, this collective created a more topical,
inclusive, tech-savvy humor that would become the dominant comedy style
of our time.
Praise for Boom Chicago:
"The Groundlings. The Harvard Lampoon. Second City. These comedy
institutions have been supplying Hollywood with a steady stream of
talent for decades. Well, there's another name--almost as
influential--that you've never heard of: Amsterdam's Boom Chicago.
Huh?"--GQ
"A small theater in Amsterdam became the most influential American
comedy factory you've never heard of . . . Boom alums have had a
significant hand in many of the shows that defined the past two decades
of comedy." --New York
