How Seth Meyers got to "SNL" via Amsterdam
Seth Meyers said the Dutch improv theater Boom Chicago gave him and his comedy partner Jill Benjamin a "road map" to create a show that eventually got the attention of "Saturday Night Live."
Updated on: September 6, 2026 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News
You would never think some of America's biggest comedy stars found their start in the Netherlands — a country not known for its sense of humor.
And yet, there's Boom Chicago , an unassuming improv theater in the heart of Amsterdam that helped launch the careers of Jordan Peele, Ike Barinholtz, and Seth Meyers, now the host of NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers."
In an interview with correspondent Jon Wertheim, Meyers said his time at Boom gave him a "road map" to his big break: a job with "Saturday Night Live."
"We were just so ambitious, and wanted to be funny every night… I kind of forgot that they were also giving us this road map of how to do other things," Meyers told Wertheim before a Boom Chicago reunion show.
In 1998, actress and comedian Jill Benjamin arrived at Boom Chicago while Meyers was in his second year with the troupe.