Great night out in Amsterdam. (Boom Chicago)

Member Name: paulhanton

Product:	Boom Chicago
Date:	21/04/08 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, hilarious, easy to get to.

Disadvantages: You could become part of the show.

As my wife and I spent xmas in a very cold Amsterdam we wanted to visit as many places as we could, to sample the varied nightlife that Amsterdam has to offer, many friends had recommended Boom Chigao so we thought we would give it a go.

What is Boom Chicago?
Boom Chicago is a comedy club essentially, on Leidesplain, which is in the heart of the nightlife and restaurant area, quite near to other attractions such as the Alto Jazz cafe. Very easy to get to by tram, or by foot. Do not try driving there it is almost impossible to navigate the one way systems in the centre, and even harder to park, you can easily park about a mile away and walk in. Entry is 24 Euro on it's own, or for 36 Euro you get entry plus a meal, though there are some supplements for the more expensive dishes such as Sea Bass. You also get one free drink with the meal, I chose a Dutch Dark beer which was quite strange in taste, pleasant, but like drinking warm juice from walnuts.

I digress. Boom Chicago is run by an American/Canadian/Dutch comedy/acting/singing collective which set up shop in 1993. The shows are performed in English, and the performers make quite a joke of the fact that they are American, performing in English, in Amsterdam, and make a few Dutch jokes too.

The show:
The show we saw was 'Me, my space' and ipod' which was a kind of parody of modern life and had various 'acts' which were very different, and all very funny. There was an interesting take on what people might be listening to on their ipods and how that influences their interactions with others. Then there was a kind of 'who's line is it anyway', but the two funniest parts were firstly; They got a guy up from the audience who told them his 'Facebook' ID (for those that do not know, this is a social networking site), they then got him to 'explain' to his girlfriend (present) who all his Facebook 'friends' were, especially the women, it was hilarious, he cringed and made excuses and his girlfriend got angrier and angrier, it was all okay in the end. Then they 'stole' someones ID from their credit card payment, 'zoomed in' on his house on Google Earth, bought his wife a diamond necklace, booked him a meal out, a limousine, and bought his children expensive gifts, and all this shown on a huge screen to the audience. As it was a credit card the 'victim' had 24 hours to cancel it all, but chose to keep the meal booking and his wifes necklace.

The fact that a whole family was there is quite typical as it is family friendly as well as for adults. I won't say any more or it will spoil it should you choose to go, and you should, I laughed for nearly two hours. Lots of audience participation too, so don't be surprised to get 'roped in'. We will be sure to go again next time we are in Amsterdam.

The Food:
As I said before, you can get a meal in with entry, or pay seperately, we chose the former, much more cost effective. For starters I had Spicy Vietnamese Fish Salad, basically, prawns, and other fish (not sure what apart from Tuna) salad, chillies and sauce, lush. My partner had tuna Carpaccio, tuna and salad on veg'. There were other starters of course. For main course I had Steak and vegetables, cooked just how I liked, my wife had stuffed chicken breast with thyme and roasted veg', all very nice. Desert is not something I eat but Sue had spiced Chocolate Fondant which she loved. There was only a couple of vegetarian choices, but I got the feeling that they would accomodate folk if they asked.

Overall feelings:
For around £25, you get a two hour hilarious comedy show, a three course meal and a free drink, fabulous value and a great night out. They change the show every few months and they also run corporate events such as teambuilding. Have a look on their website for more info, it is very informative and has some good pictures of the shows and aother reviews and articles and even video clips, as well as a full menu and price list.....don't pay by credit card unless you want to be 'in' the show, lol.

http://www.boomchicago.nl/en/

Thanks for reading,

Paul.

Updated version of a review posted on Ciao by myself.

Summary: Boom Chicago comedy club, Amsterdam.