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.

Quite possibly the funniest thing I've seen all year! This is an American improv comedy group that's been set up in Amsterdam for about 12 years. If you've enjoyed programs like "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", you'll love this. Silly songs and scenes are made up on the spot, based on suggestions from the audience. They also have some scripted sketches about their take on Dutch culture/language, and a Saturday Night Live-ish news update. I can't say it enough--they're really good, really funny. If you're not peeing your pants by the end of it, you've got problems.

I'd heard you could get a discount by bringing a copy of the Boom Guide to Amsterdam with you, so I was happy to have found a girl giving them out by Westerkerk. The guide itself is pretty funny in its descriptions of life in Amsterdam, and it gave excellent suggestions for restaurants. You can get them right at the Theatre, or you'll probably find people giving them away near major tourist attractions. We bought our tickets earlier in the day (you have to buy them before 6pm to get the discount, and the discount is only available Sun-Thurs). Seating is first come, first served, so you may as well go early (seating started at 6:30pm) and get a bite to eat and a few drinks.

You will be seated at long tables perpendicular to the stage; it's a small theatre, so there aren't really any bad seats. We'd had a late lunch, so we just ordered a plate of their nachos; the large portion with chicken was about 15 euros and enough to make a meal for two people! And best of all, the nachos were actually decent--something I haven't experienced in London yet. By all means, don't miss this if you're visiting Amsterdam--it's a fabulous night out!

Simply put: Go See Boom Chicago! This comedy troupe of expat Americans has been providing world class English language comedy in Amsterdam for 10 years now. With a rotating cast of comedians and regularly changing shows, the Boom Chicago crew manages to stay on-topic, relevant, and funny in a very competitive field. A trip to see their latest show is a highlight of any visit to Amsterdam.

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!

We picked up on this comedy act through the guide to Amsterdam's many charms they write (and leave free in hotels, bars, etc). It was funny and more accurate than any of the guide books we brought with us so we went for it. For a start, we went for the pre-show dinner, served in your seats in the theatre. The food was OK, but with not many vegetarian options to say the least! We thought the main veggie meal was pretty bland but the salad was good.

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.

Imagine such an international non-English speaking city where you can even watch a stand-up comediant show in English! Welcome to Boom Chicago, in Amsterdam. Those guys are great: they have a different show everynight, always with the best of improvisation techniques (are there any?). For more than 2 hours you will hear them making fun of everyone, including Europeans and Americans, just like themselves and most of their audience. Their characterization of George Bush is unbelievable, by the way. Besides, between every two laughs you can have some of their delicious food, as well. And be careful: they might be watching you in the dark. Check their website at link