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BOOM CHICAGO ACADEMY

AMSTERDAM IMPROV COMEDY CLASSES & TRAINING

Don’t just sit there and watch. Why not learn improvisation yourself? In addition to making you laugh on stage, our actors are expert trainers and they want to teach you. No experience is necessary, just a desire to have fun! We are proud to offer a six-level curriculum and endless comedy electives and workshops! Our core classes are three hours long for eight consecutive weeks.

And here’s the exciting part – it’s not just about learning, it’s about making lasting memories with your fellow improvisers. Picture this: after a session filled with laughter and learning, why not extend the fun? Stay for a drink with your (new) friends at our Boom Bar! We believe that the joy of improv shouldn’t end when the class does.

Not convinced? Try a Taster Class! This class runs for two hours and costs only €25. If you decide to join a full class – we’ll deduct this from your fee! Spoiler alert. Most people want more!

Session Dates for 2024
Term 1: January 8 – March 3
Term 2: March 11 – May 5
Term 3: May 13 – July 7 (on sale April 5)
Term 4: Aug 12 – October 6 (on sale June 21)
Term 5: October 14 – December 8 (on sale Sept. 6)

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Unsure about improv? Let us give you a taste! This 2 hour class shows you what improv is all about. Sign up alone or with friends and meet new fun people!

This is where it all starts! An exciting eight-week course for beginners of all backgrounds. Join to increase your confidence, performance skills or join a fun community.

This class focuses on initiating and sustaining long-form improvisational scenes. The course starts with a focus on scene fundamentals, acting in improv and an introduction to playing the game.

Continue your development! This course focuses on giving students the tools to develop interesting and well-rounded characters. Various frames of reference will be used including physicality, emotion, status, and music.

This level expands on the students’ previous scene work experience and delves deeper into building dynamic and supportive scenes. Topics include starting scenes organically, exploring support moves and understanding opening devices.

In this course, students will explore the concepts of game and point of view, and how they can use them to drive scenes. Concepts like shiny objects, gift-giving, justifying and straight-manning.

A sweeping overview of long-form formats that will give students an introduction to iconic forms including the La Ronde, the Pretty Flower, the Living Room, and many more.

This course focuses on learning the voice, connecting to the music, and learning basic song structure. This level is aimed at beginners in musical improv. It is taught by Boom Chicago cast member Stacey Smith and accompanied by Jules Dekker. This class is 6 weeks long.

The course covers a wide range of techniques and styles to help you discover your own comedy voice along with exercises to boost confidence, creativity and imagination.

Interested in stand-up, storytelling or writing content but don’t know where to start? Let’s get writing! Finding compelling material through prompts and exploring the humor within. We will focus on how to ‘find the funny’, how to edit your material and putting different joke formats to the test!

Louie Cordon aka “Boom Chicago’s Cast Cutie” invites you for a night of mischief, fun, and really good times by doing the unthinkable – uniting the theater’s cast, alumni, and staff to create an evening extravaganza like none other.

Boom Academy students and instructors join forces on stage on the first Sunday of the month. A unique improv comedy Jam once a month!

Join the Boom Chicago House Teams, Season 6 making their debut! These Boom Chicago Academy graduates were selected from an intense audition with an eye towards future stars.

Enjoy monthly stand-up comedy in Amsterdam! Watch some of the greatest comedians throughout the Netherlands test out some of their newest material at Boom Chicago’s newest monthly open-mic night.

We’re keeping the Pride party going with an evening of queer comedy every 3rd Friday of the month. This open mic is open to anyone who identifies as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Standup, music, drag, puppets, PowerPoint- anything and everything goes.

Two teams enter. One team wins. Experience the heat of comedic roasts as our fearless comedians take aim at each other with affectionate jabs and playful burns.

In the new community night, scripted comedy and characters create a fast-paced and dynamic experience for the audience.

TASTER CLASS

COMEDY CLASSES

Continue your development! This course focuses on giving students the tools to develop interesting and well-rounded characters. Various frames of reference will be used including physicality, emotion, status, and music.

This level expands on the students’ previous scene work experience and delves deeper into building dynamic and supportive scenes. Topics include starting scenes organically, exploring support moves and understanding opening devices.

In this course, students will explore the concepts of game and point of view, and how they can use them to drive scenes. Concepts like shiny objects, gift-giving, justifying and straight-manning.

COMMUNITY NIGHTS

Louie Cordon aka “Boom Chicago’s Cast Cutie” invites you for a night of mischief, fun, and really good times by doing the unthinkable – uniting the theater’s cast, alumni, and staff to create an evening extravaganza like none other.

Two teams enter. One team wins. Experience the heat of comedic roasts as our fearless comedians take aim at each other with affectionate jabs and playful burns.

We’re keeping the Pride party going with an evening of queer comedy every 3rd Friday of the month. This open mic is open to anyone who identifies as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Standup, music, drag, puppets, PowerPoint- anything and everything goes.

Join the Boom Chicago House Teams, Season 6 making their debut! These Boom Chicago Academy graduates were selected from an intense audition with an eye towards future stars.

Enjoy monthly stand-up comedy in Amsterdam! Watch some of the greatest comedians throughout the Netherlands test out some of their newest material at Boom Chicago’s newest monthly open-mic night.

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InterActing

InterActing is a non-profit theater program that encourages teenagers and students with autism through improvisation skills to break out of their patterns of ritual and routine to embrace the unexpected. These life skills will help young people with autism to become more confident and enjoy interacting with the (non-autistic) world around them.