In 2007, Eman El-Husseini came up with the idea of starting a BEST OF OPEN MIC competition, hence BOOM. The idea was to bring about an exciting yet simple concept to Montreal’s open mic scene and live stand up comedy Montreal. A competition that would feature the best of open mic’ers of the month.
History of BOOM
And so it began, and overtime BOOM, Montreal’s Best of Open Mic comedy show, became very popular and hundreds of Comedians participated in this competition. They attended the regular open mics at the legendary Comedyworks. This was necessary in order to be able to qualify for BOOM, which took place the last Sunday of each month. Two comedians were selected each week by the audience members of the open mic. They would then compete at BOOM and on the last Sunday of each month. The winner of BOOM would selected by two comedy industry judges. They would receive various prizes at the end of the show and a weekend guest-spot at the comedy club.
Closure of Comedyworks
With the closure of BOOM’s host comedy club in June of 2014, so came an abrupt stop to BOOM’s production. It was not until February of 2015 where BOOM found a new home at Yuk Yuk’s Montreal and a new co-producer, Ali Mohammadi.
The founder of BOOM
The founder of BOOM, Eman, who now resides in New York City, has racked up an impressive list of credits. Travelling across Canada, the U.S and the Middle East she covers a wide range of topics. Eman has also appeared on CTV, Comedy Network, iChannel and CBC’s Strombo, and The Debaters. She has performed at Comedy Festivals in Montreal, Boston, Charleston, Halifax and Amman in Jordan. She also performed at New York Arab American Comedy Festivals and Just For Laughs Festival in 2010, 2012 and 2017.
The co-producer of BOOM
The co-producer of BOOM, Ali, has been active in comedy since 2008. He actually won a BOOM comedy competition back in August of 2013. He has performed at different comedy clubs in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. Ali has also been an active producer and promoter of a variety of different comedy shows in Montreal. Shows such as the Montreal Comedy Competition, United in Comedy, The Morning After Comedy Show, The Not So Clean Comedy Show, and just recently a brand new show (remake of the original BOOM) called The BOOM Show. He is also the creator, director and host of the AliJan Show, an Iranian variety TV show produced by ICI Television and is aired across Canada.
Live Stand Up Comedy in Downtown Montreal
The revival of BOOM in 2015, brought about a new sense of adventure to regular comedy club-goers in Montreal. This competition involved the active participation of audience members to vote for their two comedians of choice. A lot of comedy enthusiasts started to take interest in this concept and are supporting its re-start. The re-start of Montreal’s Best of Open Mic, enticed many comedians. Where it would allow the comedians to showcase their best sets at a comedy club in downtown Montreal.
As of August 2017, and with the permanent closure of Yuk Yuk’s Montreal in early 2016, BOOM has been re-branded into Friday BOOM Show, a weekly professional comedy show performed at Peroni/Comedyville Resto – Bar – Comedy Club.
The last production of the original BOOM was in March of 2016.
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