[I’ve posted twice before on improv theater, first a report on How to be the Greatest Improviser on Earth by Will Hines (Pretty Great Publishing Co., 2016) on 10 January 2017, and then I reposted an article, “Unscripted, Unrehearsed & Unflappable,” from the Spring 2022 issue of SAG-AFTRA magazine. This is a little different.
[This post isn’t about improv technique or its relationship to dramatic acting. This post is about an unlikely improv troupe and theater and the people—the improv artists—who populate it. I’ll say no more about it now; I’ll let you see for yourselves. I think most readers will be as surprised—and delighted—as I was when I watched the broadcast last Sunday.]
“IT’S NO JOKE.
BOOM CHICAGO, AN AMSTERDAM IMPROV THEATER,
IS CHURNING OUT
AMERICAN COMEDY LEGENDS.”
by Jon Wertheim and
Michael H Gavshon
[The transcript below is from the 60 Minutes (CBS News) episode of 1 February 2026. The online transcript includes an imbedded video.]
These can be unnerving times for American comedy. The TV sitcom is going by way of the canned laugh track, while the president tries to heckle late-night comedians out of jobs. But funny persists. And funny travels internationally. In the early ’90s, two opportunistic comics decided to open an English language improv joint in . . . Amsterdam? It sounded less like a winning business idea than a punchline given the Netherlands’ reputation as a comic, well, Netherland. But 30-plus-years later, their club, Boom Chicago, has imported American funny folk and then exported them back as future stars – including Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele, Amber Ruffin, and Jason Sudeikis. Could it be that America’s ultimate laugh factory is an improv theater positioned near an Amsterdam canal? Yes, and . . .
[“Yes. and . . .” is, according to the uncredited “Unscripted, Unrehearsed & Unflappable,” the “basic idea” of theatrical improvisation, commonly known as “improv.”
That is, first you must mentally accept and agree with what your scene partner says [the yes]. It becomes an established element of the world the two or more of you are creating. From there, you build upon the idea by adding details of your own [the and] . . . .
[I posted this article on Rick On Theater on 12 June 2022, after posting a report on How to be the Greatest Improviser on Earth.
[Donald Trump [45th and 47th President of the United States: 2016-21; 2025-29] has a long history of pressuring television networks to fire late-night hosts who criticize him. He’s used social media, particularly Truth Social (which he owns) and X (formerly Twitter), to attack the comedians, labeling them “talentless,” calling for their firing, and suggesting regulatory action against their networks. His efforts have ranged from personal insults to inquiring about using federal power to stop the mockery. Throughout 2025 and early 2026, he intensified these efforts by celebrating show cancellations and urging networks to "ax" specific comedians.
[In February 2026, Trump labeled Seth Meyers, host of NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, the “least talented person to perform live in the history of television.” He previously called for NBC to fire Meyers immediately, labeling his criticism “probably illegal” and threatening to “find out” why the network extended his contract.
[When CBS announced The Late Show, hosted by Stephen Colbert, would end after the 2025-2026 season, Trump celebrated on Truth Social, stating, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired.” He later urged the network to take him off the air even sooner, calling the comedian a “pathetic disaster” and suggesting he be “put to sleep” (i.e., euthanized) in a professional sense.
[Trump has frequently urged ABC to cancel Jimmy Kimmel Live!, particularly after a 10-day suspension in September 2025 following controversial comments about the shooter of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. During Trump’s first term, reports emerged that Trump asked aides how to use executive power to stop Kimmel and others from mocking him. He has described Kimmel as having “zero talent” and claimed he was “next” to be canceled after Colbert.
[Despite Jimmy Fallon's generally more apolitical approach, Trump has called him a “total loser” and urged the network to cancel The Tonight Show alongside Late Night, insisting, “Do it NBC!!!”
[Trump has long accused NBC’s Saturday Night Live of being a “hit job” and a Democratic advertisement. In 2019, reacting to a rerun, Trump posted that SNL should be “looked into” by the Federal Communications Commission or the Federal Election Commission, arguing the comedy show’s one-sided mockery constituted illegal campaign activity. (Trump has pushed the argument that anti-Trump jokes are not entertainment, but rather “illegal campaign contributions to the Democrat Party.”)
[Seth Meyers (b. 1973) is an Emmy-winning comedian, writer, and the host of Late Night with Seth Meyers on NBC, a role he has held since 2014. He recently extended his contract to continue hosting the show through 2028. Meyers maintains a monthly residency at the Beacon Theatre in New York City with John Oliver (b. 1977), a British and American comedian who hosts Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO, and he co-hosts two podcasts: Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers with his brother Josh Meyers, and The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast. Meyers spent 13 seasons at Saturday Night Live (2001-14), serving as head writer for nine seasons and anchoring Weekend Update for eight.
[Jordan Peele (b. 1979) shares a long history with Seth Meyers, dating back to their early days in the late 1990s as members of the Boom Chicago improv troupe. He’s a filmmaker, comedian, and actor known for blending horror with sharp social commentary. He first gained popularity as half of the comedic duo Key & Peele alongside Keegan-Michael Key (born 1971; actor, comedian, producer, and writer), before transitioning into directing and producing.
[Amber Ruffin (b. 1979) is an Emmy and Tony Award-nominated comedian, writer, and actress. In 2014, Ruffin became the first Black woman to join the writing staff of a late-night network talk show when she was hired for Late Night with Seth Meyers. She hosted her own late-night series on Peacock for three seasons (2020–2023), receiving multiple Emmy and Writers Guild of America Award nominations. She currently serves as a team captain on CNN's news-based quiz show Have I Got News for You alongside Michael Ian Black (b. 1971), a comedian, actor, and writer, and host Roy Wood, Jr. (b. 1978), a stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Ruffin co-wrote the book for the Tony-nominated musical Some Like It Hot (2022) and contributed to the 2024 revival of The Wiz. Her latest project, the musical comedy Bigfoot!, is scheduled to begin Off-Broadway previews in this month at the Manhattan Theatre Club.
[Jason Sudeikis (b. 1975) is an actor, comedian, writer, and producer who’s recently been seen on the hit series Ted Lasso (Apple TV+ and Warner Bros. Television). Sudeikis began his career in the 1990s with Second City and ComedySportz in Kansas City and Chicago. He joined SNL as a writer before becoming a cast member, famous for his impressions of Joe Biden and Mitt Romney and led several high-profile comedies, including Horrible Bosses (2011) and We’re the Millers (2013).]
Simon Lukacs: The Bush days seem quite good now in retrospect, don’t they?
Kate Nixon: Oh, I know. WMDs, Colin Powell, Condi Rice, what a lark ha ha ha ha!
[The “Bush days” reference is to the presidency of George W. Bush (b. 1946), 43rd President of the United States: 2001-09. Colin Powell (1937-2021) was a U.S. Army general who was the U.S. Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005 (under George W. Bush); Condoleezza “Condi” Rice (b. 1954) served as Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009 and National Security Advisor from 2001 to 2005 (under Bush). During the approach to the Second Gulf War (Iraq War), Powell firmly argued that Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq, possessed active WMD programs and concealed forbidden weapons, and Rice was a leading proponent of the claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD). These claims, later found to be false, were used by the administration to go to war in Iraq even though Hussein had had no involvement in the 11 September 2001 terror attack on the United States.]
Comedy, they say, is hard. Improv comedy? Harder still. Then imagine doing it in a country not, generally, known as a barrel of laughs.
Seth Meyers: Dutch people, not the most giving laughers.
Jon Wertheim: I was gonna ask you about that.
Seth Meyers: Dutch people laugh like this. Ha-ha. And they immediately get quiet.
Seth Meyers needs no introduction. He and Peter Grosz — actor and Emmy-winning comedy writer — were college pals who then developed their comic chops in . . . Amsterdam?
Seth Meyers: They so lovingly tell you they didn’t like things. The honesty. The Dutch honesty--
Jon Wertheim: Withering candor.
Peter Grosz: Yeah.
Seth Meyers: Exactly. Like, it-- it’s so funny. I’ve never been in a place where there’s less malice behind deeply cruel--
Peter Grosz: Yeah. It’s not rude at all.
Seth Meyers: It’s not rude--
Peter Grosz: I think--
Seth Meyers: --at all.
Peter Grosz: “I’m doing you a favor. This part was not good. I did laugh a little bit at that part, so do more of that.”
Seth Meyers: No but we came out and the guy was like, “Hey. Yeah. Can I buy you a drink?” And I was like, “Oh, yeah. Of course. Did you see the show?” He goes, “Yes, I did.” And I said-- “Did you like it?” He goes, “No, I did not care for it.” And I was just-- and I go, “Why are you buying me a drink then?” He goes, “Well, maybe I will like you.”
Laura Maynard (on stage): Are you ready?
Improv is not stand-up. You’re not performing a pre-written routine; you’re working in real-time.
Deshawn Mason (on stage): What’s something you have at home that you care about?
Crowd: A watch! My shoes!
Deshawn Mason (on stage): I heard – I heard a watch right here.
You’re relying on the audience for material and direction.
Boom cast member 1 (on stage, singing): I got a watch on my wrist, it looks so fine.
Kate Nixon (on stage): It helps me when I don’t know what’s the time.
Chicago has Second City. LA has the Groundlings and New York has Upright Citizens’ Brigade. In Amsterdam, there is Boom Chicago. Last summer, hundreds gathered outside a charming Dutch theater, which stands as a national treasure of sorts, though it’s unclear if the true benefitting nation is the Netherlands or the U.S.
[Second City, the Groundlings, and the Upright Citizens Brigade are all improv troupes of some renown. (Will Hines, the author of the improv book referenced above, was a leader of UCB.)]
Jon Wertheim: This is part of your commute.
Andrew Moskos: This is-- this is part of my commute just about every day.
The set-up: it’s the early ’90s. Pep Rosenfeld and Andrew Moskos, recent Northwestern [University in Evanston, Illinois – 20 miles north of Chicago along the shore of Lake Michigan] grads, are struggling to make it in the Chicago comedy scene.
Jon Wertheim: Do I even ask what drew you to Amsterdam when you were-- in your early 20s and--
Andrew Moskos: Oh gosh--
Jon Wertheim: --fresh outta college?
Andrew Moskos: Yeah, fresh outta college, 23 years old. I mean, s-- sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I mean, we--
Pep Rosenfeld: Right, what-- what-- what brings anybody to Amsterdam when they’re young?
Along with a third classmate, Ken Schaefle, they cooked up a half-baked idea, as one does in Amsterdam . . . Man, you know what this town could use? An English-speaking comedy club!
Andrew Moskos: It was probably the best stoner idea ever. You know, “Let’s quit our jobs and move to Amsterdam and-- and start a business.”
Aware that good comic acts often require a straight man — a straight woman in this case — they soon roped in Saskia Maas, a local who, amid the yucks, brings a measure of sobriety and savvy. She also became Andrew’s wife.
Saskia Maas: I mean, these are two goofballs and I’m the businesswoman. So-- but-- that seemed-- that worked out-- perfectly.
Jon Wertheim: I was gonna say, th-- 30 plus years later-- seems like the dynamic still-- still holds.
Pep Rosenfeld: Still holds.
Saskia Maas: Still-- still holds—yes.
Accidental entrepreneurs, they wrote to the local tourist board, asking for advice, seeking validation.
Jon Wertheim: What’d they say?
Andrew Moskos: Said, “This won’t work here. Don’t do it here. That-- it’s not an Amsterdam kind of a thing.”
Pep Rosenfeld: The Dutch don’t wanna see a show in English, the tourists don’t wanna see a show at all. Andrew reads the letter and goes-- “Yeah, I-- based on this I feel like we should definitely do it.”
They named the club “Boom Chicago,” a nod to their hometown. They found a stage in the back of a bar, and eventually their own proper theatre off the Times Square of Amsterdam, the Leidesplein [a square in central Amsterdam and one of the busiest centers for nightlife in the city].
Andrew Moskos: And our little summer project became a year-round business.
As for the small matter of recruiting talent, Moskos and Rosenfeld went back to Chicago and made their pitch to two recent Northwestern grads, Meyers and Grosz.
Jon Wertheim: What was your level of knowledge about the Netherlands?
Seth Meyers: It was so bad that I think my first thought was, “I think ‘Hamlet’ takes place.” Does ‘Hamlet’-- and then I-- the other thing I did was I remember just in my head, I think I pictured just “Sound of Music.” And I was like, “Well, first thing I’ve gotta do is get some hiking shoes. And then the next thing I’ll do is I’ll buy a guidebook.” So it was, like, bought the shoes. And then the next thing was, like, flattest place on Earth.
[William Shakespeare’s Hamlet
takes place in Denmark (after all, its full title is The Tragedy of Hamlet,
Prince of Denmark) and the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of
Music is set in Austria (the “hills”
that are “alight with the sound of music” are foothills of the Austrian Alps).]
Once they assembled a cast, it was time to assemble an audience.
Pep Rosenfeld: So the way it worked was that before the show I’d be there sellin’ tickets. And we didn’t have a bank account, so the money went in one-- in my boots. I wore cowboy boots then.
Andrew Moskos: He was eccentric.
Pep Rosenfeld: I was eccentric. I still am.
Andrew Moskos: I would go out on the s-- on the Leid[es]plein, which is a big square, and-- just tell people, “What are you doin’ tonight?” “Oh yeah, well, we don’t know.” “Now you know. You’re comin’ to Boom Chicago.”
Jon Wertheim: Can we just discuss-- you talked about the finances of this club being stored in his boot without irony. We just glossed over that as-- as a –
Pep Rosenfeld: One-- one time–
Andrew Moskos: Oh this is so funny. I-- I-- I-- I-- I was in my room after a show. It was evening, nighttime. I get a knock on the door. And Pep is over there and goes, “Yeah, I brought this girl home. And-- I don’t know if I wanna leave her in the room with the boot.” And he handed the boot over to me for safe keeping that evening.
Pep Rosenfeld: Business before pleasure.
Andrew Moskos: That’s right.
Back in U.S. comedy circles, word spread. Josh Meyers, Seth’s younger brother, and Ike Barinholtz were hired 25 years ago.
Josh Meyers (on stage): I had extensions put in, Dad. [He runs his fingers through his longish hair.]
Ike Barinholtz (on stage): Oh. My. God.
Josh Meyers (on stage): I’m sorry, Dad!
Today, Barinholtz is an actor in ascent, nominated for an Emmy for his role in the Apple TV show, “The Studio” [satirical cringe comedy television series].
An early Boom Chicago comedy lesson: avoid cheap jokes. The references to the Cleveland Browns [National Football League team] or the Olive Garden [casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine] don’t cut it.
Ike Barinholtz: When you get here and you’re playing for 300 people or so and their, English isn’t all their first language, you have to learn how to be bigger. You have to learn how to own a room and-- and make references that are a little more universal and deal with concepts and themes that someone from Australia or someone from Finland or someone from New Jersey can all relate to.
Josh Meyers: Yeah. I remember in an early show, I said I was gonna key someone’s car. And then our director was like, “People don’t know what keying a car [act of vandalism where a person intentionally scratches a vehicle’s paintwork with a key or other sharp object] is over here.”
Ike Barinholtz: You mean ['sleutel een auto' - mock Dutch for 'key a car']?
Josh Meyers: [You can’t sleutel een auto] here.
Brendan Hunt: If you happened to live here long enough to have, like, one or two Dutch words in your pocket, and could throw one Dutch word into your improv, you were a god to them.
Brendan Hunt (on stage): We want you to know that Americans aren’t about hate, we’re about love.
Brendan Hunt arrived to Boom in the late ’90s. Like many other comedians, moving to Amsterdam sounded like a risky career move. Or maybe not.
Brendan Hunt: When I was doing improv in Chicago in the late ’90s, there was this thing called Boom Chicago that you would hear about. And it was sort of in hushed, mythical tones. Like, “Apparently they do improv in Amsterdam.” “Amsterdam? You ever been there? You ever been there? You ever been there?” No one’s ever been there. Like, wow, that’s cool. But, I mean, no one would ever do it. Right? I mean, some people do it but we-- we can’t do that, right? You’d be gone for a year, and our flourishing careers will be interrupted while-- where we’re making 10 bucks a show-- twice on a Friday.
Then, as now, the 10 or so comedians in the troupe commit to one year minimum and are paid enough to make it a full-time job. Performing six shows a week means a lot of reps on stage, with little time to wallow after the inevitable rough nights.
Stacey Smith is in the current Boom Chicago troupe.
Stacey Smith: Our ensemble works together so often that we can, at intermission, also, like, discuss, like, what’s working, what’s not working, what kind of crowd are they, what are they resonating with, so--
Jon Wertheim: You do that?
Stacey Smith: Yeah. Absolutely--
Jon Wertheim: It’s like halftime? It’s like--
Stacey Smith: Well, because-- yeah, ex-- exactly like halftime.
Stacey also heads Boom’s comedy academy, which teaches improv to more than 200 students. Improv has an unpredictability and reliance on teamwork that makes it the ultimate building block of true humor – less joke telling, than acting and reacting.
Stacey Smith: When you’re working on a team, you do need to come in with the mindset that you’re building that piece from start to finish as a unit.
Jon Wertheim: You wanna be the class clown, go do ten minutes on open mic night.
Stacey Smith: Yeah. Because we do believe that if you are a good improviser, then you already have the tools to be a good stand-up comedian.
To wit: Seth Meyers. In 2000, a touring show he developed with Boom caught the eye of “Saturday Night Live.” He was offered a writing job. It was like a baseball player getting called up to the big leagues.
It was also a Boom Chicago moment of arrival.
Seth Meyers: It was really special to know it was the sort of thing that made people want to see more of you.
Jon Wertheim: That was a great source of success. Right?
Seth Meyers: Totally.
Jon Wertheim: And you can draw a direct line to Boom Chicago.
Seth Meyers: 100%. 100% direct line.
So, too, for Brendan Hunt. At Boom, he became obsessed with European soccer. He and two other Boom cast members — Jason Sudeikis and Joe Kelly — began to develop a partnership.
You don’t need wise Coach Beard to tell you where this story is going.
Jon Wertheim: Does Ted Lasso happen but for Boom Chicago?
[Coach Beard (portrayed by Brendan Hunt) is the stoic, intelligent, and fiercely loyal assistant coach for AFC Richmond, a fictional English professional football (i.e., soccer) club, in the hit Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso; Lasso (portrayed by Jason Sudeikis) is a former Division II (American) college football coach from Kansas who’s hired to manage the fictional English Premier League soccer team.]
Brendan Hunt: No, I don’t think Ted Lasso does happen without Boom Chicago. It opened us up to the view of Americans abroad, and like viewing yourself outside of your own home. You know, one of the rules of Boom Chicago was-- ‘cause we’d make fun of-- of all countries, basically, but like the rule was we make fun of ourselves first. We earn it. And then we go out.
The Boom Chicago footprint goes well beyond the five days of shows each week . . .
In fact, one of Boom’s biggest sources of revenue has long been global corporate events that braid banter with business.
With annual earnings measured in the millions — no longer kept in a boot — the business formed in the ’90s in a haze, well, booms.
In June, Boom Chicago held an alumni reunion.
Brendan Hunt: From the back may we please have a suggestion of another object?
Audience: A can opener.
Brendan Hunt: A can opener! Sex with me is like a can opener . . . you’re better off with the electric version.
Former cast members came back . . .
Jill Benjamin: Sorry, I kind of forgot your name again. What was it?
Seth Meyers: Joao.
Jill Benjamin: Oh! Joao! Like joie de [vivre]?
Not just to reminisce, but to perform . . .
Ike Barinholtz: I’m so grateful for Jeff Bezos.
[Bezos (b. 1964) is a billionaire businessman (currently the third richest person in the world) best known as the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon. He bought the Washington Post in 2013, and his ownership of the paper has been subject to criticism over his treatment of employees, as well as his influence on the paper’s content, in particular 2024-25 interference with the editorial and opinion pages. On 4 February, the Post announced a massive restructuring that includes laying off roughly one-third of its staff, dismantling or reducing entire departments, slashing the Metro desk and closing a number of foreign bureaus, shifting the opinion section toward “personal liberties and free markets,” in an apparent attempt to pivot away from traditional left-of-center perspectives.]
Peter Grosz: Yeah, me too.
Ike Barinholtz: I think it’s cool that he’s sending people up in space to work out their problems.
And, of course, rib each other on stage
Ike Barinholtz: I don’t think you guys look alike.
Seth and Josh Meyers: Okay.
Ike Barinholtz: I don’t.
Seth Meyers: Alright, you’re the one.
Ike Barinholtz: I think you look like a Jewish orthodontist in upstate New York. And you look like you were born on a fjord.
Seth Meyers: Which of those two is handsomer?
Ike Barinholtz: Both handsome, one of you just might be more prone to stomach trouble.
All those laughs, from such an unlikely wind-up.
Jon Wertheim: We’ve heard people say you carry something from this place with you when you--
Ike Barinholtz: Yes.
Jon Wertheim: --leave, no matter what.
Ike Barinholtz: Yes.
Josh Meyers: Yeah.
Ike Barinholtz: Just don’t put it in your suitcase.
Fly home without it.
Produced by Michael H. Gavshon.Associate producers, Elizabeth Germino and Mimi
Lamarre.Edited by Mike Levine.
[Some random details about the improvisers named in the transcript above (in the order they’re mentioned:
Simon Lukacs (b. ca. 1983) – British improv comedian, actor, and coach; studied clowning and improv; worked as a professional improv performer for nine years; seen on BBC3 and Dutch satirical TV news program, Zondag met Lubach Sunday with Lubach]; devised a concept where guests share true, tragic stories that the cast then transforms into cathartic comedy; Tragedy Plus Time had three sold-out runs at Boom Chicago in 2023 and 2024
Kate Nixon (b. ca, 1998) – spent 10 years in Chicago, where she was a prominent member of the local improv community; performed at top-tier venues like Second City, iO Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre; co-founded the Chicago-based improv troupe Unlikely Company in 2013; Since early 2022, she has been a mainstage cast member and instructor at Boom Chicago; known for incorporating music (banjo and ukulele) and high-energy physicality into her improvised comedy
Peter Grosz (b. 1974) – actor and television writer; most recognizable for appearing in Sonic Drive-In’s “Two Guys” commercials; graduate of Northwestern University, where one of his roommates was Seth Meyers; wrote for The Colbert Report (2007-10; Stephen Colbert did improv with Second City in Chicago); has been writing for Late Night with Seth Meyers since 2014
Laura Maynard (b. ca. 1998) – improviser, performer, teacher, and writer; currently a full-time cast member and teacher at Boom Chicago; earned a Comedy Writing and Performance degree at Columbia College in Chicago
Deshawn Mason – actor, comedian, and performer; served as a Level 1 Improv Instructor at the iO Theater in Chicago; known for teaching foundational improv; often billed as a magician-comedian, he provides private magic shows at the “Owner's Table” at Boom Chicago; before Amsterdam, performed improv and sketch comedy at Second City, the iO Theater, Logan Square Improv, CiC, and The Annoyance
Andrew Moskos (b. 1968) – actor, comedian, and presenter; trained in improv at legendary Second City and iO Theater; co-founder of Boom Chicago with Pep Rosenfled and Ken Schaefle; he is artistic director of the company; married to Saskia Maas, CEO of Boom Chicago; co-author with Maas of Boom Chicago Presents the 30 Most Important Years in Dutch History (Akashic Books, 2023); uses improv techniques for corporate training
Pep Rosenfeld (b. 1970) – comedian, writer, and improviser; one of the three co-founders of Boom Chicago (with Ken Schaefle and Andrew Moskos, three high school classmates and Northwestern University alumn)i; an Emmy-nominated writer for Saturday Night Live; author of Work/Laugh Balance (A.W. Bruna, 2025), a manifesto for leaders and employees to inject humor into professional settings to boost engagement and morale
Ken Schaefle (b. 1970) – Northwestern University graduate; high school and college classmates of Pep Rosenfeld and Andrew Moskos, his co-founders of Boom Chicago; Schaefle fell in love with sound and lighting at Northwestern; in the early 2000s, decided to leave Boom Chicago and return to school; entered Columbia University’s two-year intensive program of pre-med courses in 2006 and then entered med school at Albert Einstein Medical College in the Bronx; graduated in 2014; Dr. Schaefle specialized in Global Health
Saskia Maas – native Dutch citizen who was an exchange student in the United States before co-founding Boom Chicago in 1994; co-owner and CEO of Boom Chicago; runs the business side of the company, while Pep Rosenfeld and Andrew Moskos run the creative side; Maas is married to Andrew Moskos; co-author of Boom Chicago Presents the 30 Most Important Years in Dutch History (Akashic Books, 2023), which chronicles the theater’s impact on the comedy world; Jason Sudeikis credits her as a mentor during his early career.
Josh Meyers (b. 1976) – actor, stand-up comedian, and writer; known for being a cast member of the sketch comedy series MADtv; younger brother of Seth Meyers; graduated from Northwestern University; performs improv comedy regularly at the Hollywood Improv as well as stand-up comedy throughout Los Angeles and in Pasadena’s famous Ice House
Ike Barinholtz (b. 1977) – actor and comedian; best known for starring roles in the comedy series MADtv (2002-07), Eastbound & Down (2012), The Mindy Project (2012-17), Bless the Harts (2019-21), The Afterparty (2022), History of the World, Part II (2023); work in The Studio (2025-present) earned him a Critics’ Choice Award and nominations for a Primetime Emmy and two Screen Actors Guild Awards; planned to become a politician but decided to move to Los Angeles to be an actor
Brendan Hunt (b. 1972) – actor and writer; known for roles in We're the Millers (2013) and Horrible Bosses 2 (2014); co-creator of the Apple TV+ sitcom Ted Lasso, as well as a writer and regular cast member; studied with Second City in Chicago before heading to Amsterdam and joining Boom Chicago; returning to the U.S., developed a one-man show based on his time in the Netherlands called Five Years in Amsterdam
Stacey Smith (b. ca. 1987-91) – worked in improv for over a decade; currently a mainstage cast member at Boom Chicago; as of September 2022, she’s the artistic director; has performed in over 60 international festivals across North America and Europe
Joe Kelly (b. 1972) – writer and producer; known for Ted Lasso (2020), How I Met Your Mother (2005) and Saturday Night Live (1975); studied at Second City and Improv Olympic in Chicago; performed with Laughing Matters in Atlanta, Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, and Second City in Las Vegas
Jill Benjamin (b. early 1980s) – performed regularly at Chicago’s Improv Olympic and Second City; moved to Amsterdam as a member of the Boom Chicago; met Seth Meyers and they created their two-person show Pick-Ups & Hiccups, which played all over the world; resides in Los Angeles and produces and stars in numerous productions, including the staged-reading of the movie Clue at The Largo and with the improv group Deep Dish at the Hollywood Second City
[Jon Wertheim, a prolific sports journalist and author, is a correspondent for 60 Minutes, a position he’s held since joining the program in 2017. He’s also a senior writer and executive editor for Sports Illustrated. He has authored or co-authored 11 books, mostly on sports subjects.
[Wertheim is a two-time Emmy winner and received the Eugene L. Scott Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2022 for his contributions to the sport. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Yale University (1993) and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania (1997).
[During his second year of law school), Sports Illustrated was specifically looking for an intern with a legal background to help cover the rise of legal issues in sports. The magazine liked his work so much they offered to pay for his final year of law school if he joined them full-time upon graduation. He started at SI the day after taking the bar exam.
[Wertheim’s début segment
for 60 Minutes was a profile of
Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani, which aired shortly before Ohtani moved
to Major League Baseball. Since his
start, he’s covered an expansive range of topics, from interviews with
political figures like Ted Cruz to investigative pieces on international
affairs and sports business. Wertheim’s legal
training is frequently useful in his investigative work on 60 Minutes
segments.]
