JAMIE WRIGHT

I fell in love with improv and satirical sketch comedy from the vantage point of the theater bar at Boom Chicago where I slung pitchers of beer to Kontiki tourists and English hen parties all during my first year in Amsterdam. At the end of that year, I was brought on designing Boom’s first video system for improvising with Ken Schaefle & then wisely pointed out they needed someone to run it. As Boom’s first Video Director, I got to collaborate on & direct content for five flagship shows (starting with Live at The Leidseplein), several duo productions with Pep Rosenfeld and Greg Shapiro (including 2004’s Mr. America Contest), one World Cup show with Brendan Hunt, did three tours of the Edinburgh Fringe, created a pre-YouTube viral hit with the cast & crew of Mr. America Contest, and all of it altered my life forever.

When I got back to San Francisco, I started a production company called Lekker Media in honor of my Dutch video roots, took up producing the SF Improv Festival for 10 years, and most recently joined forces with the educational arm of Broadway improv hip hop show Freestyle Love Supreme to partner in a new company in applied improvisation called freestyle+, bringing the principles of improvisation to the world of wellness and mental fitness. I’m currently in production on a documentary on improv and satirical 60s counterculture heroes, The Committee (www.TheCommitteeMovie.com) and I continue to have a love affair from a distance with the city of Amsterdam and its gorgeously practical folk.

Years Active at Boom

1999-2006

Boom Chicago Show Credits

Live at the Leidseplein: Your Privacy Is Our Business (2000)

Europe: We’ve Created a Monster (2001)

Rock Stars (2002)

Going Down: A Comedy Show About Pessimism (2003)

Why Aren’t You Happy Yet? (2004)

Mr. America Contest: A Comedy Show about the U.S. Presidential Race (2004)

Bite the Bullet! (2005)

Best of Boom (2005)

Kick This: A World Cup Comedy with Balls (2006)

20th Anniversary Best of Boom (2013)

Boom Chicago’s 25th Anniversary Show at Carre (2018)