Media

Greg Shapiro photo by Adrie Mouthaan

PHOTOS

Greg Shapiro Press Appearances

PRESS

Welcome to a gallery of Greg Shapiro press appearances.

Vanity Fair, 2017 – The ‘Netherlands Second’ origin story
De Telegraaf, 2020 for Leaving Trumpland
Greg & Inez in VARA gids, 2020
Het Parool, 2018
‘Boom Chicago Celebrates with a Scarily Real Fake Trump’
Greg & Inez in VARA Gids, 2016
Pep Rosenfeld & Greg Shapiro in Int’l Herald Tribune, 2003
New York Times, 2017 ‘Netherlands Second’ video inspires copycats
Greg Shapiro in De Volkskrant, 2020
Het Parool, 2020 – Op het Klapstoel
Greg Shapiro in Holland Media Combinatie, 2020

Some text:

 

VANITY FAIR (February, 2017)
‘Meet the Men Trolling Trump in Those Viral European Videos’ – by Hillary Busis

Greg Shapiro and Shaun Streeter have ace Trump impressions—and they’ve been lending them to a variety of European countries.

It took a full five years after George W. Bush’s inauguration for a comedian to utterly rip apart the president with his words. By contrast, the comic outrage inspired by Donald Trump and his White House rogues gallery has been swift, unrelenting, and thoroughly vicious—and U.S.-based comedians aren’t the only ones getting in on the fun.

Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, a Dutch answer to The Daily Show made the new president a pointed welcome video that quickly went viral, inspiring imitators from across Europe, and, eventually, the globe. (Hello, Morocco!) The clips share an impish sensibility, a tagline (“America first; [insert country here] second”), and narration done in the voice of Trump himself. What you may not know is who’s behind said narration: Greg Shapiro, a comedian from Chicago who’s been living in the Netherlands since the mid-90s, did the voice heard in the very first European parody video.

 

Shapiro European Origin Story

Greg Shapiro is one of the founders of Amsterdam’s Boom Chicago, a comedy theater similar to New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade and Chicago’s Second City. For years, the theater has served as an informal Dutch finishing school for American comedians—including names like Jordan Peele, Ike Barinholtz, and Seth Meyers.

Since making his move across the Atlantic, Shapiro has written books with names like Going Dutch and How to Be Orange; he also hosts a web series called United States of Europe, a satirical take on European current events. Even so, the comedian has never forgotten his American roots. His resume includes Bush-spoofing Boom Chicago shows called Bye Bye Bush and 9/11 Forever—and, of course, that ace Donald Trump impression, which Shapiro is currently showing off in a new Boom show called Angry White Men: Trump Up the Volume.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/02/donald-trump-trolling-videos-america-first-netherlands-second-greg-shapiro-shaun-streeter 

Click here for Greg Shapiro’s column in Hello Zuidas magazine: ‘Green Cred Makes Dutch People Red in the Face.’
https://gregshapiro.nl/blog/green-cred-makes-dutch-red-in-the-face-my-final-column-for-hello-zuidas/

Greg Shapiro Reviews

REVIEWS

Book Reviews

‘So funny you’ll hardly be able to put it down’ – I AM EXPAT

‘Chuckle away the hours …plenty of entertainment here ‘ – DutchNews

‘Recommended on all levels’ – ArtsTalk Magazine

Book Review: THE AMERICAN NETHERLANDER
‘Sharp eye for detail …hilarious point of view’
Access Magazine, April 2021
by Giulia Quaresima

“With a sense of humour and sharp eye for detail …this is a good starting point to understanding life in the Netherlands. This book tells the story of Shapiro’s personal cultural adventure and assimilation in the Netherlands. …[it’s] a manual to understand the country, using the author’s personal anecdotes for a subjective and hilarious point of view.

The second part of the book is a Dutch assimilation test. [it’s] a collection of all the questions that should be included in the inburgering exams. According to Shapiro, these reveal more than the exam ever intended.
Give it a try and see how Dutch you are!”
(edited from the original)

For full review, click here:
https://gregshapiro.nl/blog/access-magazine-reviews-greg-shapiros-third-book/

BOOK REVIEW – Greg Shapiro How to Be Orange (Nov., 2013)

‘Humorous, funny, hilarious. Very nice book’
– NBD Biblion Dutch Library Administration

“In 1994, American comedian and columnist Greg Shapiro came to Nederland to perform and write. …He reports having had a bit of culture shock, to say it mildly. In this book, he describes his confrontations with Dutch culture and society. …and how he experiences it as an American Netherlander. This book consists of humorous columns …[and] all elements of Dutch society are thoroughly teased.

He begins with the Dutch identity …and he takes on cheapness, bikes, and our ‘striving’ to be average. …and finally [there’s] a list of questions from the actual Dutch assimilation exam.
Includes funny illustrations and color photos with hilarious observations add value to this very nice book.”
J. Kroes, NBD Biblion Dutch Library Council
(edited from the original)

Theater Reviews

‘Sharp Satire of America Under Trump’ – Theaterkrant NL

‘A very sharp and dangerous edge’ – ArtsTalk Magazine

‘Razor Sharp Humor with a Personal Touch’ – TheaterParadijs NL

‘Superior Trump Bashing’ Theater review Lock Him Up (Boom Chicago)

FOR REVIEWS OF THE MADNESS OF KING DONALD (2019), CLICK BELOW

Theater Review: LEAVING TRUMPLAND
‘A Very Sharp and Dangerous Edge’
ArtsTalk Magazine, October 2020

 

by Michael Hasted
Greg Shapiro is an American comedian who’s fully assimilated into the Dutch way of life for over 25 years. But like any ex-pat, the ties that bind can never be fully severed. And you can feel his pain and anger at his homeland being brought to its knees by a president who is impossible to respect.

 

Despite having spent half his life in The Netherlands and having a Dutch family, Shapiro is still unmistakably American. … there is a very sharp and dangerous edge to the man. He has a unique viewpoint from where he can gaze on both sides, subjectively and objectively, all at the same time.

If you don’t know Greg Shapiro, I would highly recommend you buy yourself a ticket for this current tour.
(edited from the original)

For full review, click here
http://artstalkmagazine.nl/greg-shapiro-presents-leaving-trumpland-on-tour/

Greg Shapiro TV Appearances

TV Appearances

Welcome to a bunch of clickable videos with Dutch American comedian Greg Shapiro TV Appearances on – mostly Dutch – TV. Of course there’s the ‘Netherlands Second’ video (scroll down to bottom). But most of these clips are Greg appearing as himself. And – since he is The American Netherlander – these clips are partly in English, and partly in (bad) Dutch.

Or you can go to Greg’s YouTube channel and view the Playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLccmkVw5sINqpr3yX4Ex1CeXm8FaIThKo

JINEK – Comedian Greg Shapiro Imitates Trump Speech, bij Jinek on NPO1 – (28 Jan. 2017)
EditieNL. Greg Shapiro on Dutch cheapness: ‘Going Dutch’ with Tikkie (Aug., 2022)
Editie NL. Greg Shapiro on the Dutch tradition of ‘Uitwaaien’ (Jan., 2022)

“Come to the Netherlands! We will blow you away.”
https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/editienl/laatste-videos-editienl/video/5280514/nederlandse-traditie-uitwaaien-overgewaaid-naar-de

OP1 – Greg Shapiro Comments as Trump on NPO ‘Op1’ (4 Nov. 2020) PART ONE
OP1 – Greg Shapiro Imitates Joe Biden on NPO ‘Op1’ (4 Nov. 2020) PART TWO

CCN ‘Comedy Central News’ with Greg Shapiro (2007 – S1 Ep23)

More on CCN ‘Comedy Central News’ – “because Dutch news is news too.”
https://gregshapiro.nl/portfolio_page/greg-shapiro-comedy-central-news/

Het Pronkstuk van Nederland (2018)

Dutch American comedian Greg Shapiro explains how the US Declaration of Independence (1776) borrowed from the Dutch declaration of independence (1581). Long live Het Plakkat van Verlatinghe!

[clip starts at 20.00 min]
https://www.npostart.nl/het-pronkstuk-van-nederland/26-01-2018/AT_2091364

zo: RAYMANN – ‘De Identiteit van Nederland’ Greg Shapiro (2011)

In 2011, Dutch TV host Jörgen Raymann invited Dutch American comedian Greg Shapiro to comment on his view of Dutch identity. Shapiro included an analysis of the extremely modest wording of the Dutch national anthem.

Heute Show ZDF (Deutschland) ‘Donald Trump’s Tagesbuch’ (Feb., 2017)

Comedian Greg Shapiro contributed the Trump voice for the recurring segment ‘Trump’s Diary’ for De Heute Show on German ZDF. Here is the first.

ZML – ‘Zoom Meeting with World Leaders’ (2020)

‘World leaders react very differently to the Coronavirus. Arjen talks to them by crashing a Zoom meeting’ (using the login code Boris Johnson accidentally leaked on Twitter).
Voice-over: Greg Shapiro.
(Voices of: Jair Bolsonaro, Boris Johnson, Kim Jong un, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Xi Jingping)

ZML – ‘Official Message from Donald Trump to Joe Biden – White House Tour’ (Nov., 2020)

Voice-over: Greg Shapiro. (the fart jokes were Arjen’s.)

ZML – The ‘Netherlands Second’ video (Jan., 2017)

The video was originally entitled ‘The Netherlands Introduces itself to President Trump in His Own Words’ and created for the Dutch TV show Zondag Met Lubach. It aired in January, 2017.

See Archive page for more:
https://gregshapiro.nl/portfolio_page/greg-shapiro-netherlands-second-video/