The history of Boom Chicago
Boom Chicago isn’t just another comedy club – it has been a training ground for some of the world’s top comedy acts such as Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele and the creators of Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly).
It was founded by Andrew Moskos and Pep Rosenfeld, childhood friends, who took improv comedy classes in Chicago. Their idea to set up a comedy club was born back in 1992, when the pair was on a trip to Amsterdam. Sitting in a “coffee shop“, they had “the best stoner idea ever”. They quit their jobs in the US to start a comedy club in Amsterdam.
Despite a warning from the City of Amsterdam that their “plan would never work”, they opened the city’s first English-speaking comedy theatre. They chose the name Boom Chicago because they improv came from Chicago and Boom meant “the same thing in every language”. (Unfortunately “boom” means tree in Dutch, which caused some initial confusion).
Over the years, Boom Chicago grew in popularity and moved into larger and larger venues, eventually opening a complex on the Rozengracht with three theaters.
It has become a world-famous comedy institution, and of the 100 or so Boom Chicago alumni, six went on to work for Saturday Night Live, eight worked at MADtv.
Others wrote, starred in or produced shows like Ted Lasso, Key & Peele (Key met Peele at Boom Chicago), Rick & Morty, 30 Rock, Community, Breaking Bad, Portlandia, The Office, Veep, Arrested Development, The Mindy Project, Girls, Broad City, How I Met Your Mother, Inside Amy Schumer, Parks and Recreation, Drunk History, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Have I got News for You.
On Late Night TV, alumni have made their mark on Late Night With Seth Meyers, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live and the Amber Ruffin Show!
That’s quite a list. And tomorrow’s stars are onstage tonight!