Walking into the theater of Boom Chicago is just like walking into an American dinner theater. If you are homesick or just looking to meet some other tourist from the U.S., this is the place to go in Amsterdam.

Boom Chicago is a comedy team that has relocated itself from, well, Chicago. They've expatriated from the U.S. and gotten themselves a pretty big theater on the main square in Amsterdam, and they've done well with it.

The comedy team does shows every night, and twice on weekend nights. The players change every evening, so the show never gets dull. There are also several different shows throughout the week, from a political theme to totally improv.

Boom Chicago has put together a brilliant show. They get the audience involved with a mix of improv and script. When we visited, the show was almost entirely political, but they change it up on a regular basis.

Food and alcoholic beverages for an extra cost with the show. Dinner starts an hour or so before the show, but you can also get appetizers during. The drinks are great - you can get a beer or a frou-frou, girlish drink that tastes delicious! You are seated at a table in the theater, so there is no need to worry about spills if you order something to eat or drink.

If you're looking for a hearty, culturally-twisted laugh, Boom Chicago is the show to see! Visit the Boom Chicago website for details.

Boom Chicago performs in a theatre on the busy Leidseplein. In this location they also run the Boom Bar!, which is open from mid-afternoon on and has English speaking bar staff with good cocktails (hard to find here). The current shows are run 8 times a week and are a mix of prepared skits and improvisational comedy, which involves audience participation. During the week, shows run at 8:30pm and cost 17 Euro. Friday offers the running show at 8:15(19 Euro) or the special late nite show at 11:30 for only 11 Euro. Saturday offers the running show for 19 Euro at 7:30 or 17 Euro at 10:45. In summer months, a Sunday show is added at 7:30pm, which costs 17 Euro. Boom Chicago also has ongoing special deals and other offerings, such as workshops for aspiring comedians and amateur nights. Tickets can be purchased at the Boom Chicago box office starting around noon. While there, be sure to pick up a copy of the Boom Guide!. This irreverent guide to Amsterdam is the best we've found.

There are two ways to get a good seat for Boom Chicago shows, all of which are first-come, first-served. You can arrive approximately 2 hours early and have dinner at the theatre or you can arrive approximately an hour before show time and grab the seats that are left. We did not eat at the theatre this trip, but the food is passable, if a bit overpriced. You certainly will not be unhappy with the service, which is top notch. The closer you are to the stage, the easier it is to interact with the comedians. If you are not interested in audience participation, you may want to sit on the balcony. Throughout the show, waiters will offer up drinks and snacks with quick turnaround. Drink prices are good for Amsterdam and a pitcher of Heineken is a very reasonable 14 Euro! Be prepared for a bit of heckling if you're American, these performers take the piss out of whatever the current Administration is up to -- it's all in good fun and the Dutch aren't immune to some ribbing, either. Overall, I would highly encourage you to consider a night at the Boom Theatre. If you like comedy and fun, you won't be sorry!

The act itself is a combination of improv and planned sketches: both of which were very funny. It's an audience participation thing (with a few audience members picked out for torture!) so underlying the laughs is a sort of cold fear if you're not into that kind of thing!

The only warning I will give is that the show seems to be a sort of unofficial ex-pat/visiting Americans meeting place (i.e. 98% of people there were American). Overall a really good night out.