easylaughs

Easylaughs began in spring 2005 as a group of improvisers who wanted regular high-quality shows and workshops to build an Amsterdam community. The organisation has held weekly Sunday drop-in workshops since 2004, each focused on a different theme or skill, giving it the longest-running continuous workshop format in the Amsterdam improv scene. From this foundation the Easylaughs School of Improv and Stand-up developed, adding structured foundational courses and stand-up comedy programming. The organisation operates from CREA at Nieuwe Achtergracht 168, Amsterdam's major cultural centre for arts programming.

Easylaughs is structured around open, accessible participation: the weekly Sunday drop-in workshop has been the core format since 2004, complemented by structured courses and stand-up programming. The CREA base embeds the company within Amsterdam's established cultural infrastructure.

Easylaughs has built a rotating repertoire of themed improvised shows performed on Friday nights at CREA. Flagship recurring formats include The Improvised Musical, a fully improvised feature-length show in which every lyric, plot twist, and song arises from a single audience suggestion; Hidden Agenda, in which the cast constructs a fresh conspiracy theory each performance with nothing planned in advance; and Tarantino Unchained, an improvised dive into a world of gangsters, revenge, and long monologues. Other documented recurring productions include Dystopia, a near-future improvised thriller; Comedy Bounce, which pairs stand-up graduation sets with improvised scenes inspired by those jokes; and Meanwhile, Elsewhere, a multi-strand narrative format. The Early Show, held at 20:00 before main Friday performances, regularly features graduating students from the easylaughs School of Improv and Stand-up.

Easylaughs grew out of a group of performers meeting at the Cameleon Theatre in Amsterdam West in 2004, running weekly Sunday drop-in workshops before formally establishing as a company in the spring of 2005. The organisation relocated to CREA, the cultural hub of the University of Amsterdam, and moved with CREA when it shifted from its original site near the Red Light District to the Roeterseiland campus. Over two decades, easylaughs evolved from fast-paced short-form games into full-length improvised plays and genre formats, building one of the first continuous English-language improv schools in the Netherlands. Weekly Friday performances, running uninterrupted since the company's founding year, anchored its identity as Amsterdam's most consistently active improv venue.

Easylaughs became a primary entry point for international residents in the Netherlands, serving both as a performance company and a community hub for expats seeking connection through performance. Its School of Improv and Stand-up has trained hundreds of students across all skill levels, and alumni have pursued careers in comedy, theatre, and education in the Netherlands and internationally. Alumna Emma Wessleus, a former main cast member, went on to perform with The Nursery in London and co-found the show Your Flaws: The Improvised Musical. The company's sustained presence has made it a foundational institution in the Dutch English-language comedy ecosystem.