How I started Comedy Walks
It is summer 2017. I am renting a tiny room at a beautiful 17th century canal house in the center of Amsterdam. Every day, there is a crowd of young tourists gathered around a tour guide in front of my apartment. Each and every time, I notice that the tour guide is unable to keep the attention of his audience as people look either bored or at their mobile phone. I sighed to my boyfriend: “Why can’t it be funny, why not use a comedian as a city guide?” My boyfriend, an experienced improvisation comedian himself, immediately realized the potential of this idea, namely a stand-up comedy show with the city as a stage. That is the moment the Comedy Walks seed popped. Literally born out of my frustration with conventional city tours.
The very first try-out of a Comedy Walk
Barely six months later, the very first try-out of Comedy Walks took place with stand-up comedian Tim van’t Hul. It was the beginning of January 2018. It was cold and dark and the audience only consisted of critical comedians. Nevertheless, Tim passed the test with flying colors. Shortly after, my boyfriend and I registered our company Comedy Walks at the Chamber of Commerce. Nowadays, our Amsterdam-based stand-up comedians deliver a one-of-a-kind, top-notch and above all hilarious comedy walk, that will keep you captivated from the beginning till the end. They make fun of the Dutch, Amsterdam and above all themselves. Tripadvisor reviews went through the roof. Last week we received our certificate of excellence!
Amsterdam, Washington DC and soon Berlin
Initially, we started in Amsterdam, but before the end of the year we already rolled out to Washington DC. Our partner Mark Palchick, a stand-up comedian in DC, is running hilarious Comedy Walks with the National Mall as the stage. In April 2019, we had our first tryout in Berlin and it was a great success. Berlin-based comedian Chris Doering takes you along the East Side Gallery and the river Spree while entertaining you with his best stand-up jokes about the Germans, German history, and his grandfather’s and his own experiences in Berlin.
We are on a mission!
We believe that the mission of any enterprise, whether non-profit or commercial, should be geared towards making the world a little better. We have seen that profit maximization doesn’t get the best out of people and often results in a few winners and many losers. We wanted to do it differently. We are confident that if we maximize the fun for our customers, the comedians we work with and our own fun, the revenues will follow. Happiness and fun maximization are key!
So, how does that make the world a little better? Well, we make people laugh and have fun. Did you know that laughing relieves physical tension, decreases stress hormones and boosts your immune system cells (T-cells)? Try a deep belly laugh and you are even working your abs! Laughing instantly improves your well-being at multiple levels. At the same time we allow comedians to make money with their creativity and passion and as a result improve their well-being. People who laugh and people who follow their passion are happy people. Happy people create a happy world, a better world.
We hope to see you in one of these cities soon and keep in mind that we plan to roll out to many more countries and cities in the world, so stay tuned!
About the author: Laura Danielle is a co-founder of Comedy Walks: stand-up comedy shows with the city as a stage, or, if you like, city tours with a professional stand-up comedian as a guide. We currently run Comedy Walks in Amsterdam and Washington DC. By far the most fun way to explore a city!
