Comedy Show Tag

January 10, 2026 In Blog

Shapiro New OpenMic Night

Greg Shapiro Launches New Monthly Open Mic Night on VU Amsterdam campus at Bar Boele

10 Jan, 2026

There’s something lovely happening in Amsterdam’s English-language comedy scene, and I want to contribute. There are so many new voices coming up, but they need more opportunities to develop. Already there are open mic nights connected to the University of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam University College, but why not the VU Vrije University?

Bar Boele is the campus hangout for the cultural center at Theater Griffioen / Rialto. So why not have a Monday Open Mic Night there? That’s what I pitched, and that’s what we’re doing, starting January, 2026.

As of now, I’m programming and hosting a mix of New Talent and New Material (from existing talent). And it’s free, so you can’t not like it.

Click here for more:

https://griffioen.vu.nl/voorstellingen/open-mic-comedy-club-bar-boele-greg-shapiro-and-friends/19-01-2026-20-00

From the website:

Open Mic Comedy Club @ Bar Boele

Get your laughs on at Bar Boele at the Open Mic Comedy Club! Watch the comedians of the future take their first steps on stage, or maybe are you the one who takes the leap. The Open Mic has free entry, so you don’t need to buy a ticket. Performances are English spoken and take place every third Monday of the month. Gather your friends, grab a drink at Bar Boele, and enjoy a night of laughs!

Host: Greg Shapiro

Comedian, American, Dutchman. You may know Greg Shapiro from the Griffioen Comedy Club or as the voice behind the ‘Netherlands Second’ video, but he will also be hosting and performing at the Open Mic at Bar Boele! Greg Shapiro is Dutch enough to be proud of Dutch innovations and American enough to be loud about it. What does that look like? Come and find out!

Line-up: Mon 19th Jan (20:00)

Riddhi Tyagi (@riddhpiddh)
Zoe Ntonta (@embarrassing_diary)
Stio Ó Lorcàin (@stio_comedy)
Daniel Hillel-Tuch (@dhilleltuch)
Juan Francisco Moroder (@juanmoroder)
Stanley Searcher (@poop_snaps)
Andrei Turc (@andreicomedy)
Zazalie Currie (@zaz_currie)
Sharon Em (@sharon_emnem)

Bar Boele

Bar Boele is the lively heart of the VU campus. It’s the perfect place to unwind after a day of studying or work. Meet your friends, play some games, or enjoy a drink before heading to the VU Griffioen Theatre.

Save the date

Future Open Mics will take place on: Feb 16th, March 16th, April 20th, May 18th, June 15th.

See Greg Shapiro’s Upcoming Shows:
https://gregshapiro.nl/greg-shapiro-upcoming-comedy-shows/

January 10, 2026 In Blog

Greg Shapiro Keynote Demo

GREG SHAPIRO Keynote Speaker DEMO (SEE ALSO: EVENT HOST DEMO)

10 January, 2026

In Corporate Speaking, there are two basic categories: Event Host and Keynote Speaker. Sometimes I’m hired to do both.

BUT for now I’ve now prepared two different video demo’s. Here is:

GREG SHAPIRO AS Keynote Speaker

Some case studies:

NL Foreign Ministry: “Summit for Democracy” Global Livestream

In 2023, the US State Department initiated a series of “Summit for Democracy” livestream events. The Netherlands was chosen to host the one about freedom of speech and journalism. I was hired by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to perform a short standup routine on the topic of the freedom of speech.

The Dutch Ministry encouraged me to say anything I wanted, as that was the point, But then we heard that US State Department would be using a slight delay, because they might want to edit some of the content. I teased the US that Americans still don’t understand the meaning of the word irony.

Expat Center Zeeland: “How to Be Dutch” Livestream.

Since I wrote my books How to Be Dutch: the Quiz and The American Netherlander: 25 Years of Expat Tales – I get requests to speak as an expert about cultural differences. I’ve spoken for Expat Centers in Amsterdam, The Hague, Leiden, Eindhoven, and Almere. This one for Zeeland was a livestream. Hence the video.

Google Netherlands: “Year in Search” Comedy Special.

Google Netherlands celebrates every year with an event to acknowledge their hottest search terms. Boom Chicago got the call to create a sort of Dutch oudejaarsconference, which I performed with Pep Rosenfeld. It became a standup special called The Year in Search. Included in the playlist is my take on the Netherlands in Eurovision.

Utrecht Int’l Comedy Festival: “Listpusher” Comedy Special.

In 2022 I was asked to be a “Lijstduwer” for a Dutch political party in the local elections. (but which one? You can watch the comedy special online.)

Radio 10 US Election Day: Trump Q&A with Gerard Ekdom

Since the ‘Netherlands Second’ video in 2017, I am regularly asked to perform my Trump imitation for live events, like this US Election Day special on Dutch Radio10.

TEDx Amsterdam VU: “An EU Late Night Comedy Show.”
I’ve hosted TEDx events, but this was a recording of my TED talk. I argue that the EU should have a continental version of an American style late night comedy show.

Book Launch “Total Action”: Tailored Standup.

25 years ago, I performed for a book launch for Dutch business guru and professor Peter Vervest. 25 years later, he released a follow-up book, and I was hired as a keynote speaker for the gala dinner. From the host Vincent Everts: “You didn’t just add humor to the evening – you elevated it. Your insight, your sharpness, your perfectly tailored jokes – and the way you connected it to the original Total Action book from 25 years ago – it was just masterful.”

Here you can see the longer videos + KEYNOTE SPEAKER – PLAYLIST

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLccmkVw5sINrdqU7IYqzF_gZogOwp9ySq&si=a-K16sjojICwYfQj

January 6, 2026 In Blog

Pep & Greg Political PubQuiz

Pep & Greg Political PubQuiz at Boom Chicago Monday, Monthly

6 January, 2026

Critics love our new political pub quiz show at Boom Chicago!
“Tremendous work. Really tremendous” – ArtsTalk Magazine

From boomchicago.nl:

“For 25 years, Boom founder Pep Rosenfeld (Emmy-nominated SNL writer) and Greg Shapiro (the famous ‘Netherlands Second’ Trump video) have been mixing comedy and current events. A master class in political comedy!

Now they’re back at Boom Chicago to skewer the latest from American and Dutch news in their newest edition: a comedy pub quiz.

★ ★ ★ ★ ‘Shapiro knows his stuff… [and] has a great Donald Trump impersonation’ — Joris Henquet, De Volkskrant

‘Sharp satire and world-class improvisation’ — De Volkskrant

‘★ ★ ★ ★ ★! Greg and Pep have an incredible charisma and are very funny….’ — D Robinson, TripAdvisor

WHAT TO EXPECT

Comedy show meets pub quiz meets a fun evening with friends – on a Monday night!
US news, Dutch news, culture news, silly news
Bring a team of 2-4

More at BOOM CHICAGO.nl
https://boomchicago.nl/pep-and-greg-politically-incorrect/

From the review in ARTS TALK MAGAZINE

Trivia, Trump, and Tremendous Timing (excerpt by Jay Mansilla, 4^th November 2025)

Political comedy is as hard as it can be good. …The premise of the show promised a mix of stand-up and a pub quiz, a sharp idea teetering on the edge of gimmickry.

The room buzzed with the familiar chaos of trivia night. Onto the stage strode Pep Rosenfeld and Greg Shapiro, stalwarts of Amsterdam’s comedy scene. …Together they created the volatile charm of two mischievous uncles, the kind who could start a dinner-table mutiny.

Their rhythm was elegantly elastic … the performance glowed.

…Greg’s Trump impression worked as collective release; the audience could finally laugh at the new president without bracing for the fallout of his next decree.
…Pep and Greg have the kind of chemistry and intellect that make risk feel right.

…Pep and Greg took the clamour of the present and, under the stage lights, they made an audience breathe again. The next day we’d return to the blizzard, but somehow steadier. Tremendous work. Really tremendous.

Read the full review:

https://artstalkmagazine.substack.com/p/pep-and-greg-politically-incorrect

Greg Shapiro Meral Polat Top 2000 a-gogo

December 30, 2025 In Blog

Shapiro Wins TV Quiz

30 December, 2025

In which I compete in a Dutch music quiz vs. Dutch speakers – and win! (even though the referee kept trying to get me drunk)

WATCH the EPISODE: https://npo.nl/npo3/top-2000-a-gogo/29-12-2025/VPWON_1365167/video

It’s the week after Christmas – and all through the Netherlands – every Dutch person is watching the Top2000. The list is compiled by the listeners with care (hoping Bohemian Rhapsody will again win fair & square). Seriously, every year there’s a Top 2000 song countdown. Every year it’s the same Number 1 song. And every year, it gets the best ratings. On radio – AND ON TV!

The TV quiz show “Top 2000 a-gogo” airs for the last week of the year. Every episode features 2 contestants. And on 29 December, 2025 – I was contestant Nr. 2. (side note: there’s a separate TV quiz show simply called “The Top 2000.” I’m not on that one.)

The quiz featured me vs. Dutch actress & singer Meral Polat.

The good news: the host is a fellow comedian, Diederik Ebbinge. The bad news: he’s already friends with Meral Polat, because they both played on the Dutch sitcom De Luizemoeder. We are big fans of that series (anyone who has had kids in Dutch schools must agree). So I was geeking out. (I even told Diederik that I mostly know him for his role as a parody TV host in Promenade. So it was fairly disconcerting to see him taking his job seriously.)

Soon I was answering questions about Dutch music – in Dutch. But luckily, MOST songs in the Dutch Top2000 are from the US / UK. And so many are OLD… which is my speciality. James Brown, Michael Jackson, Nirvana. Into The White Stripes, Eminem, and I surprised myself by recognizing a Dua Lipa song.

The final round involved live music being played by Dutch artist Bonno Getz. He took modern lyrics and sang them in the style of old school singers. I was so blown away by his – literally “in your face” performance – it was hard to guess anything. But I managed to get enough correct. And in the end – by a score of 21-17 – I won the Top2000 A-gogo music quiz.

Thanks to Producer Arjan Vlakveld for picking me!

See More Greg Upcoming Shows:
https://gregshapiro.nl/greg-shapiro-upcoming-comedy-shows/

More Greg Quiz action? Watch the Pep & Greg Politically Incorrect Pub Quiz at Boom Chicago:
https://boomchicago.nl/pep-and-greg-politically-incorrect/

December 18, 2025 In Blog

Greg Shapiro Event Host

Greg Shapiro EVENT HOST Demo (see also: Keynote Speaker Demo)

18 December, 2025

In Corporate Speaking, there are two basic categories: Event Host and Keynote Speaker. Sometimes I’m hired to do both.

BUT for now I’ve now prepared two different video demo’s. Here is:

Greg Shapiro as EVENT HOST

Some case studies:

CitizenM Hotels: Host ‘CitizenM TV’ Global Livestream

During Covid, companies had to cancel their traditional offsite annual general meeting. But Dutch CitizenM hotels decided to put theirs online. They wanted to make it like a late-night TV show. And they needed a host. That was me. It went so well, they asked me back for Season 2.

Agristo Potatoes: Host Promo Video

This Belgian agribusiness giant hired me to host their promo video, directed by Dutch legend Dennis Bots. The concept was inspired by the DollarShave and Old Spice ads. And it involved me “parachuting” into Belgium. My WW2 grandparents would be proud.

Amsterdam Zuidas ‘Inclusivity25’: Host & QuizMaster of Diversity Day

Hello Zuidas hired me to host a Diversity Day event, and the guest speaker was also a white male. My job was to make the event as interactive as possible and share the microphone with diverse guests. In the video, they show me giving the mic to… a white guy. But he was neurodivergent! Not that you could tell from the edit, but we learned about his perspective of being high-functioning on the Autistic spectrum.

The GREAT fatboy SHOW: Host of Global Livestream

Dutch design start up fat boy brand became famous for their stuffed outdoor furniture. They needed to introduce their new product line, also during Covid. And I hosted their annual meeting online.

MediaMarkt: Host ‘MediaMarkt Awards’

Hosting an award show is a special challenge. “Who is handing over the award? Do they know which way to face for the cameras? Can we schedule a walk-through?” I have hosted too many award shows where the photo captures a totally confused winner whose face is in the shadow of awards / flowers. Luckily, this event was done properly.

AD.nl ‘The Butler’: Host of Online TV Series

Back in 2019, Amsterdam already had a problem with over-tourism. The Algemeen Dagblad news platform hired me for an online series to convince tourists to venture off the beaten path. In this episode, we convince a German couple to skip the Alkmaar cheese auction and go straight to the farm where they make the cheese.
Watch:
https://www.ad.nl/videos/serie/the-butler-2120?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecosia.org%2F

GREG SHAPIRO EVENT HOST DEMO

And here is a link to the YouTube playlist. Please click on the YouTube logo for “Watch on YouTube.”

EVENT HOST – PLAYLIST

November 12, 2025 In Blog

GREG SHAPIRO DOES FINTECH

GREG SHAPIRO DOES FINTECH, a “PowerPoint Parody” at De Nederlandse Bank

12 November, 2025 (from the event in June, 2025)

The event was called “Fintech Meets the Regulators,” and they needed a keynote speech to wrap things up. Dear reader, I am not an expert in Financial Technology. But I got the call to do my “PowerPoint Parody,” where I take notes on everyone’s PowerPoints and I present a comedy recap at the end of the day.

I love these gigs! It’s always so inspiring to get a snapshot of different industries. This event was about the interplay between Fintech and Dutch regulators like De Nederlandse Bank and the AFM. And yes, Fintech means crypto and blockchain – but also online payment systems like Adyen. (When Apple rolled out ApplePay? That was Dutch startup Adyen.)

How do you regulate an industry that keeps reinventing itself? The message from the regulators was: “talk to us!” The Dutch watchdogs are keenly aware that – if they overdo it – the Fintech startups will migrate to the Middle East or Singapore – or the US. Specifically, Trump’s US – where “Anything goes!”

In the US, I have a brother who is a regulator. He works for the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). Or at least he did, until he got laid off in the “Marie Kondo Spring” of 2025. I asked him if he was worried, and he said: “the thing is with most of us civil servants, we realize we could be making more money in the private sector.” So he went back and got a job at a law firm. “The worst thing would have been trying to stay on with more workload and no job security.” And – as of this writing – no pay!

SO I mentioned my brother in the keynote. I mentioned Trump and his blatantly corrupt crypto business. And I mentioned a theme of the day: regulation. Yes, Dutch Fintech players are looking closely at the US experiment with 0% regulation. They look at the US as an interesting gamble – but don’t forget Trump once bankrupted a casino.

It’s always a challenge to get laughs at the end of a plenary session. Especially for quiet Dutch audiences! (My wife is Dutch. She once enjoyed a performance so much, she said: “I smiled very hard.”) But it worked. Once you get the first Laugh-Out-Loud moment, it becomes infectious.

The event took place at the newly renovated HQ of De Nederlandse Bank. They even redid the catering facilities with a vegetarian / vegan theme. I tried a hummus sandwich, which became a “deconstructed sandwich,” because it immediately fell apart and made a huge mess. But that’s progress.

Yes, that’s me on the event page of the Holland Fintech Association :
https://hollandfintechassociation.org/gallery/fintech-meets-the-regulators-2025/

Photos by the wonderful Anna Witkowska.

A new format: GREG SHAPIRO “SAME-DAY POWERPOINT PARODY”

Shapiro Same-Day PowerPoint Parody

November 6, 2025 In Blog

Shapiro PePijn Host Review

Greg Shapiro – Pepijn’s Comedy Club Host – Reviewed by ArtsTalk Magazine

6 November, 2025

This season I’m returning as the programmer and host of PePijn’s Comedy Club in The Hague. And we just got another great review!

Some highlights from ArtsTalk Magazine:

“Comedy is a funny thing …This was demonstrated last night at the PePijn comedy club in The Hague.”

“The evening was MC’d by …the ever suave Greg Shapiro. …His relaxed, easy-going style got everyone in the mood.”

“There was a lot of interaction ..it was always good natured and created a really good, friendly atmosphere and everybody had a good night out.”

https://artstalkmagazine.substack.com/p/stand-up-comedy-in-english-at-theater

I’ve been doing this gig since 2022, and I think I’m getting good at it. But I can’t claim credit… There’s such a wealth of talented English language standup in the Netherlands! And more and more, there are professional traveling comedians passing through. It’s hard NOT to create an excellent lineup every month.

I try to aim for diversity in my lineups. When the host is always a white guy (me), it’s easy to fall into the trap of having yet another standup night dominated by white dudes. And if they’re funny, they’re funny. But why not look a little harder? There are a lot of diverse voices who are not only hilarious, but they bring this variety of perspectives and life experience to the show. To my mind, that is what makes it worthy of Theater PePijn.

In the past, I have had a bisexual Afghan/Dutch comedian (finalist of the Dutch Camaretten awards), an Egyptian woman who works for an EU think tank, a Ukrainian refugee, and a former dominatrix.

This past month I had Ram Adithya Arangi (India), Kaili Smith (Australia) and Sharon Em (Irish), whose solo show was nominated for best debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Our next show will be on 26 November. This time I do have another white American male on the lineup. But it’s Matt Castellvi, whose comedy chops are legendary. I also have Faris Abusada, who is Palestinian, Christian and hilarious. And then there’s the Persian-American Cid Clementine, who is also intrumental in creating an English-language scene in The Hague.

Want to come?

PEPIJN’S COMEDY CLUB IN ENGLISH

https://www.diligentia-pepijn.nl/theme/pepijns-comedy-club-t7gc

See our previous review from 2024:

Shapiro Comedy Review Pepijn

October 28, 2025 In Blog

Greg Shapiro Comedy Specials

Greg Shapiro Comedy Specials – Now in One Place

28 October, 2025

Bad news: My comedy specials don’t exist on any streaming platform where you can watch them all the way through.

Good news: your attention span probably isn’t that long. The upshot: Hello, YouTube!

I am lucky enough – and just plain old enough – to have eight solo shows, and currently four comedy specials.
The YouTube playlists are here:

https://gregshapiro.nl/greg-shapiro-previous-comedy-shows

Coming soon: LEAVING TRUMPLAND 2

Soon I’ll be uploading my latest comedy special Leaving Trumpland 2, in time for the 1-year anniversary of Trump’s re-election.
That playlist is here:
LEAVING TRUMPLAND 2.0 – YOUTUBE

More ‘Previous Comedy Specials’ :

ListPusher (2022) is the story of how I joined Dutch politics, as a symbolic candidate. But for which party? Watch…

The Madness of King Donald (2019) is my 5th solo show, following up on the success of my Trump voice in the ‘Netherlands Second’ video from Zondag met Lubach.

Superburger (2012) is my 3rd solo show, subtitled ‘The Man with Split Nationalities.’ This one features my classic Standup piece on the Dutch national anthem.

How to Be Orange (2010), subtitled “making Dutch people take their own assimilation exam.” In 2010. That show was recorded as a comedy special for Dutch broadcaster VARA. With the last gasp of public broadcast money before the dramatic cuts from the Dutch government – the first time Geert Wilders was in power. This one has the first of my ‘Dutch product names’ bits.

The other shows

My first ever solo show was Going Dutch in 2006. It’s somewhere on YouTube, but the video isn’t good enough to call it a comedy special.

+ The solo show that got away…. My 4th solo show was 2014’s Part-Time Hypocrite. But after I recorded it, the production company went bankrupt and their files – aka my files – were deleted. SO I’m re-staging that show and uploading it in 2026!

October 20, 2025 In Blog

Greg Shapiro Hosts Inclusivity25

Greg Shapiro Hosts ‘Inclusivity 25’ for Hello Zuidas, September 2025

20 October, 2025

“We need someone to host our Diversity event in Amsterdam. Who should we get?” A WHITE GUY?!

Yes. As host of INCLUSIVITY 25 for Amsterdam’s Zuidas business community, I knew my job was to make the event a conversation. I literally passed the mic to as many diverse voices as possible. I used my loud American persona to encourage people to share their own perspectives. And it worked! I “broke the fourth wall.” At the office space known as The Edge – Stadium.

As I found out, maybe my white maleness was useful. Maybe it helps to indeed have a white guy arguing for more diversity. In my solo show Leaving Trumpland 2, I talked about Kamala Harris, and I talked about my experience working for a Black woman as my manager. After the show, I heard from many women – and people of color. Their take was “Thank you for talking about it. When we bring it up, people think we’re whining. When you bring it up, it’s harder to ignore.”

These days the US government is anti “DEI.” My message was “without ‘Diversity Equity and Inclusion,’ you’re at a disadvantage. Without DEI, your organization will D.I.E.” (but seriously, next time make me co-host.)

A Diversity Pub Quiz for Your Organization

My part of the event was organized by Hello Zuidas. The main event was a Pub Quiz with 10 different categories, from ‘Gender Gap’ to ‘Age Gap’ to ‘Digital Inclusivity.’ At the end of the event, the organizers provided the 50 questions in the form of a deck of cards – for people to use if they wanted to host their own pub quiz for their own organization. I still have one deck left over, if you want one.

Thank you to the sponsors and initiators. Thanks to Hello Zuidas for producing the flashy video. And thanks to Elisa Schouten for bringing me on and helping prepare the quiz questions!

Hello Zuidas “Inclusivity 25”
https://en.hellozuidas.com/nieuws/inclusivity-25-let-s-celebrate-together-682489578a151554da037d47

Greg’s Blog piece on working for a woman of color as his manager (Amber Ruffin)!
https://gregshapiro.nl/blog/shapiro-improv-tim-walz/

September 20, 2025 In Blog

Greg Shapiro, Kimmel & Self-Censorship

Dutch American Comedian Greg Shapiro on Dutch NOS Nieuws, reacting to US comedian Jimmy Kimmel being canceled
Interview by Joris Kreugel for NPO Radio 1, translated from the Dutch
18 September, 2025

[excerpt Jimmy Kimmel :
“We hit some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them – and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”]

Greg:
“That wasn’t even the joke. I mean, being canceled for just the set-up? As a comedian, that’s the most painful part. But that’s the point. Those were just facts. And he was canceled, effective immediately. And (not ‘canceled next year’ like Colbert, but) immediately canceled? I must admit I was shaken.
It reverberates, even over here. It’s unsettling. Now is their big chance to go after all these left-wing voices and cancel them. And calling it freedom of speech. It’s Double-Think. We’re living in Putin’s playbook at this point.”

[excerpt Greg Shapiro ListPusher: “Greg Shapiro here, the “American Netherlander.” I am a little bit of both. A bit LOUD American, and a bit ‘doe normaal’ Nederlander geworden. trouwens ben ik tweetalig, but I don’t like to speak Dutch because it makes my mouth feel sad.”]

SELF-CENSORSHIP AT BOOM CHICAGO?

Q: How does this affect you as a comedian?
A: Right now, I’m definitely dealing with self-censorship. That’s a danger for us all. I mean, I’m doing a show next with Boom Chicago – about the upcoming Dutch election. And what exactly shall we joke about? What is tasteful enough, sharp enough – but also safe enough? There’s definitely a shift happening. Even for comedians here in the Netherlands. And that is scary. Next, I feel like – if you want to make a real joke – you’d better be ready to end up like Alexei Navalny.

Last year I was busy touring my solo show “Leaving Trumpland 2.0,” about the 2024 elections. …His first term was okay, “haha funny.”

[excerpt Greg Shapiro YouTube video: “Hi, I’m Greg Shapiro, the voice of that viral video. ‘can we just say The Netherlands Second?’ And it’s true. For 4 years I was nice and busy saying things like ‘you can ride them, you can date them, you can grab them by the pony.’]

Here in the Netherlands, it was easy to say, “Oh well, that’s happening over there.” But now – since the start of his second term – we’re all realizing “Oh dear, they really had a plan this time.” And we’re feeling it here in the Netherlands as well.

[excerpt from Leaving Trumpland: “I will say one positive thing about Donald Trump. He lied a lot. But he was consistently honest about one thing. He does not like people who are not the same color as he is. And that is technically all of us, because no one is the same color he is. He is not a naturally existing color.”]

LISTEN TO THE RADIO INTERVIEW :

Greg Shapiro quoted on NOS Nieuws about Jimmy Kimmel cancellation
https://nos.nl/artikel/2583049-jimmy-kimmel-van-het-scherm-in-de-vs-beangstigend-en-gevaarlijk

Greg Shapiro The Madness of King Donald Solo Show:
https://youtu.be/tlX2FUzXdT8?si=ei3FaEcAdZvRligb