How Seth Meyers got to "SNL" via Amsterdam

Before Seth Meyers reached Saturday Night Live, he was learning comedy in an Amsterdam theater that helped launch several American stars.

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road map

At Boom Chicago, Meyers and Jill Benjamin developed “Bar Pickup,” a sketch built around audience participation, memory and improvisation. One performer gathered personal details from people in the room, while the other worked those answers into the scene.

Benjamin said she and Meyers clicked after trying the sketch with different partners. Their stage chemistry let them surprise and antagonize each other safely, they said, while keeping the performance rooted in affection. At a Boom Chicago reunion in Amsterdam last summer, they revived the sketch, using audience answers about Sydney, relationships and favorite songs to drive the scene.

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Our stage chemistry is kind of what brought us together… like I could read his mind.

Meyers said Boom Chicago gave him a “road map” to his eventual job on Saturday Night Live. He and Benjamin later developed “Bar Pickup” into the two-person show “Pick-ups and Hiccups,” which debuted in Chicago and became a critically acclaimed hit.

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We would try to surprise each other onstage… we have always felt safe to antagonize each other onstage from a place of love