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ABOUT US
OUR HISTORY
easylaughs started in 2005 with the intention to perform high-quality improv and build community in Amsterdam. Over the past twenty years, we’ve been delivering on that promise with weekly Friday night shows and a thriving school where we teach performance skills and foster a space to play, explore, and connect. In the early days, easylaughs held shows at Cameleon Theatre in Amsterdam West with players from a previous group called Problem Solved. Before long, these shows became a Friday night fixture, and we found a new home in CREA, the creative hub of the University of Amsterdam. When CREA was renovated and moved from its original location near the Red Light District to the Roeterseiland campus, we moved right along with it. Although easylaughs has expanded into other venues over the years, our bond with CREA remains strong, and we continue to teach and perform there to this day. Since 2004, we’ve run our weekly Sunday workshops, each focused on a different theme or skill. These drop-in sessions laid the groundwork for the easylaughs School of Improv and Stand-up, which began with foundational improv courses and soon added stand-up comedy. Our courses cater to all levels, from curious beginners to seasoned performers, and have helped hundreds build confidence, creativity, and community both on and off stage. We also bring improv into the workplace, running custom corporate workshops and events to leverage the power of fun in boosting communication, collaboration and inspiration. Over the years, we’ve been lucky to work with an incredible mix of performers, crew, and volunteers from all over the world, reflecting the diversity of Amsterdam itself. Many of our alumni have gone on to exciting careers in comedy, theatre, education, and entertainment both in the Netherlands and internationally. These days, we’ve got new faces and veterans alike, but the ethos remains the same: play a little, laugh a lot, and make sure everyone goes home with a smile.
MEET OUR TEAM
easylaughs is powered by people! Behind everything we do is a dedicated crew of performers, teachers, and volunteers who bring their best on the stage, in the classroom, and behind the scenes. They keep the laughs coming week after week. Want to be part of it? Find out how to GET INVOLVED.
TEACHERS
Alex Nasse
easyTeacher
Alex Nasse is a comedian working in the Amsterdam English comedy scene as a promoter and booker. He is best known as the co-founder of the comedy night That Comedy Thing which has shows at multiple venues. His years of experience organising and performing and his tendencies to coach and help newer performers take the right steps have led him down the path of teaching with Easylaughs. He's a great storyteller, loves analysing why bits do or don't work and has a natural scepticism that helps him pick up on things others often miss.
Nicole Mischler
easyTeacher
Nicole comes from Washington DC and has lived in Amsterdam for more than 20 years. She has a background in theater and enjoys all the performing arts including singing in the shower and taking the most beginner of beginner’s dance classes. She has a love for organisation and list-making and uses this talent to help out with marketing and social media schedules for easylaughs.
Sharon Em
easyTeacher
Sharon Em is a comedian working in the Amsterdam English comedy scene as a performer, promoter and booker. She runs comedy nights all over NL under the name Weird Uncle Comedy.
She has coached and supported newer stand ups with working on their material and this has given her a good insight into the pitfalls newer comedians can fall into. This has led her to teaching stand up at easylaughs.
She is a keen storyteller unafraid to share personal anecdotes on stage and her style has been described as 'confessional comedy'.
She loves analysing comedy to see what works and why as well as using tools and techniques to help improve material.
Bodei Brouwer
easyTeacher
Bodei is one of our improv teachers. She’s busy teaching games, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can find her in the shadows making sure students are performing at their best!
Nora McLeese
easyTeacher
At age eight, Nora played a dancing waiter on the Titanic in a school play. Unlike Rose, she never let go. A few years later, Nora found improv and has gone on to perform in over a dozen countries and countless festivals. She is half-American (sorry!) and half-Dutch (ook sorry!) and always in an existential crisis. Her deepest wish is to one day perform a perfect two-person La Ronde. Ask her about women’s football at your own risk.
Trista Mrema
easyTeacher
Teaching improv & stand-up is a fabulous gift. I get to facilitate play in adults, be in the room as they learn, grow and have fun. I’m a vampire for that ish! When I was a student, I was simply transformed by what improv & stand-up showed me about myself. 20 years on and the gift keeps on giving. I’m an experiential learner so I try to get folks stuck in, trying, feeling, doing. I love working with people with varied perspectives. I nurture my curiosity so I can continue to learn. I hear I have a lot of energy. And a loud laugh.
Emma Wessleus
easyTeacher
Emma Wessleus is an improviser, singer, comedian and Musikalzang-Docent. She has studied opera at Stockholm Operastudios, classical singing at Amsterdam Conservatory and Musical Theatre at Associated Studios in London. She loves to improvise and sing anything from Opera to contemporary music. She's a former main cast member of easylaughs, house team performer of The Nursery (London) and a co-founder of the show Your Flaws: The Improvised Musical. For relaxation she like to watch bad tv and eat chocolate whilst in the bath.
Peter More
easyTeacher
Peter started performing in London about a million years ago. He came to the Netherlands and helped form easylaughs, went back to London for a little bit but now he is back where his heart belongs. He has taught all over Europe and enjoys teaching improv at all levels, with a heavy focus on narrative and genres, and stand-up. He is an improviser, stand-up, storyteller, movie nerd and very basic guitarist. He was the lead in the award-winning VR short, Nowhere, but has resisted the urge to move to Hollywood.
CAST
Bodei Brouwer
easyPlayers Director
Bodei has been a cast member for several years and recently took over director duties for our regular improv shows. She’s busy brainstorming new forms, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can find her in the shadows making sure players are performing at their best!
Emma Wessleus
easyMusical Director
Emma Wessleus is an improviser, singer, comedian and Musikalzang-Docent. She has studied opera at Stockholm Operastudios, classical singing at Amsterdam Conservatory and Musical Theatre at Associated Studios in London. She loves to improvise and sing anything from Opera to contemporary music. She's a former main cast member of easylaughs, house team performer of The Nursery (London) and a co-founder of the show Your Flaws: The Improvised Musical. For relaxation she like to watch bad tv and eat chocolate whilst in the bath.
Karin Brötzner
easyPlayer
Karin has been a cast member for several years. She’s busy improvising scenes, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch her playing on stage during all main improv shows, including every third Friday.
Nicole Mischler
easyPlayer
Nicole comes from Washington DC and has lived in Amsterdam for more than 20 years. She has a background in theater and enjoys all the performing arts including singing in the shower and taking the most beginner of beginner’s dance classes. She has a love for organisation and list-making and uses this talent to help out with marketing and social media schedules for easylaughs.
Peter More
easyPlayer
Peter started performing in London about a million years ago. He came to the Netherlands and helped form easylaughs, went back to London for a little bit but now he is back where his heart belongs. He has taught all over Europe and enjoys teaching improv at all levels, with a heavy focus on narrative and genres, and stand-up. He is an improviser, stand-up, storyteller, movie nerd and very basic guitarist. He was the lead in the award-winning VR short, Nowhere, but has resisted the urge to move to Hollywood.
Willem van den Brink
easyPlayer
Willem has been a cast member for several years and was a dedicated tech before that. He’s busy improvising scenes, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch him playing on stage during all main improv shows, including every third Friday.
César Lüttger
easyMusical Pianist
César has been a pianist for our musical shows for several years. He’s busy making beautiful music, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch him playing away during all musical shows, including every second Friday.
Florian Gerritsen
easyMusical
Florian has been a cast member for just over a year. He’s busy improvising songs, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch him singing away during all musical shows, including every second Friday.
Mark Hoover
easyMusical
Mark has been a cast member for the past two years. He’s busy improvising songs, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch him singing away during all musical shows, including every second Friday.
Nirvi Maru
easyPlayer
Nirvi has been a cast member for several years. She’s busy improvising scenes, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch her playing on stage during all main improv shows, including every third Friday.
Sandra Schurink
easyMusical
Sandra was born in Amsterdam and raised by Twentse ouders and the happiest sitter from Suriname. The serious part of her comes from Twente and the bright and sunny part from her sitter. Offstage she is a computer programmer, an avid escape room fan and boardgame freak. Onstage she loves word jokes, transporting everyone to past centuries and being a badass female mafia boss/pilot/doctor/king/... you get the picture.
Yuval Kantor
easyPlayer
Yuval has joined the cast this season. He’s busy improvising scenes, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch him playing on stage during all main improv shows, including every third Friday.
Deniz Aladağlı
easyMusical
Deniz has been a cast member for the past two years. He’s busy improvising songs, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch him singing away during all musical shows, including every second Friday.
Francesca Mizzi
easyMusical
Francesca has been a cast member for just over a year. She’s busy improvising songs, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch her singing away during all musical shows, including every second Friday.
Mash Muravina
easyMusical
Mash has been a cast member for the past two years. She’s busy improvising songs, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch her singing away during all musical shows, including every second Friday.
Nora McLeese
easyPlayer
At age eight, Nora played a dancing waiter on the Titanic in a school play. Unlike Rose, she never let go. A few years later, Nora found improv and has gone on to perform in over a dozen countries and countless festivals. She is half-American (sorry!) and half-Dutch (ook sorry!) and always in an existential crisis. Her deepest wish is to one day perform a perfect two-person La Ronde. Ask her about women’s football at your own risk.
Soa Rjersn
easyMusical
Soa has been a cast member for the past two years. She’s busy improvising songs, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, you can catch him singing away during all musical shows, including every second Friday.
CREW
Alexander Sleeckx
Stage Manager
Alex goes by many names. Amazing Stage Manager. The Chess Master. Friend to all. That one Flemish guy with a beard at easylaughs. You can call him any of these, or you can think of a cute nickname and dare to say it to his face (he will love it). He discovered improv at university, where he developed his basic performing skills for 2 years. At easylaughs he learned to perform musical improv. He loves board games, video games, and most of all chess. He's constantly cooking up new recipes, and is down to go surfing anytime. He is rarely on the stage anymore, and rather chooses to make every show a smooth ride behind the scenes!
Elena Carbonell
Stage Manager
As a stage manager, Elena has to look at her watch constantly, which is something she loves doing. In fact, people have told her a few times that she should stop looking at her watch. “Do you have to be somewhere?” It doesn’t matter if she has to be somewhere. She needs to look at her watch. As a stage manager, she is supposed to do that. It’s like her OCD is validated. Nice.
Joanna Theodorou
Stage Manager
Joanna graduated from an easylaughs’ standup comedy course in 2024 before becoming a stage manager for the organisation. She loves working behind the scenes to make sure shows come together seamlessly for easylaughs but has also been involved in the stage management or production of theater and improv at Impro Amsterdam, InPlayers and Happily Ever After Productions. Beyond this role, Joanna has extensive experience in the nonprofit and tech fields. She was born in Belgium to Greek parents and had a pretty international upbringing, loves books and can spend hours wandering the city in search of good coffee. As a passionate advocate for chocolate, she always makes sure to include it as a backstage snack.
Niharika Iyengar
Tech
Niharika is an improviser, actor, writer and intimacy choreographer. She founded the improv group, A Welcome Distraction and regularly produces "Four Play", a scripted theatre show featuring original plays. She starred in Made For You Comedy's "As Seen on TV" (2023, Improviser) and "It's A Love Story" (2025, Assistant Director/Intimacy Choreographer), and Flock Theatre's "The Matrix" (2023, Improviser). Niharika teaches at Boom Chicago and easylaughs, where she was also a cast member (2023-2025). She is grateful to be given the opportunity to learn and execute tech at easylaughs shows, which often turn into ABBA dance parties.
Sandra Schurink
IT-Manager
Sandra was born in Amsterdam and raised by Twentse ouders and the happiest sitter from Suriname. The serious part of her comes from Twente and the bright and sunny part from her sitter. Offstage she is a computer programmer, an avid escape room fan and boardgame freak. Onstage she loves word jokes, transporting everyone to past centuries and being a badass female mafia boss/pilot/doctor/king/... you get the picture.
Beatriz Guidone
Marketing & Social Media
As part of easylaughs' social media and marketing team, Bea helps bring our improv community to life through engaging content and digital strategy. She discovered easylaughs 13 years ago when she first moved to Amsterdam, and has been an integral part of our community ever since. What started as a way to connect in a new city turned into years of laughter, Friday night shows, and helping others discover the joy of improv. When she's not crafting our online presence, you'll still find her in the audience, cheering on students and remembering her own first amazed reactions to improv magic.
Francis Golínsky
Tech
For Francis, the improv journey started at an easylaughs show almost ten years ago, shortly after he moved to Amsterdam. Having witnessed the magic, he immediately hopped on the train - and never really got off.
Francis loves long-form, narrative, theatrical improv, which probably explains why he’s also into scripted theatre and storytelling. He likes being on stage, but being in the tech booth is a special treat - it offers the most powerful tools to create and destroy moods and to mess with the other improvisers.
Marco Meurs
Tech
Marco was a theater technician decades ago. Early 2014 he joined an easylaughs Sunday workshop. It was love at first sight. He soon joined our volunteer crew. First on photo and door, later as our only technician for several years. He facilitated many shows on his own before developing a team of technicians. Now Marco is our head of tech and also works for CREA as a technician, facilitating our shows there. By now Marco has been volunteering for 10 years and has probably seen over 400 easylaughs shows. He is very passionate about musical improv and is teaching it everywhere in Amsterdam and beyond.
Ollie Mason
Tech
Ollie is an Improviser, Improv teacher and improv tech. He started his journey with easylaughs 5 years ago, he loves truthful and silly improv of all forms. He has performed in Flock Theatre’s Polar Nights, and was part of the international ensemble at Flock Festival, technical director for Could They Be Wrong ( a show inspired 12 Angry Men and Women Talking). And has been a technician for Impro Amsterdam.
Supriya Rakesh
Copywriter & Blogger
Supriya moved to Amsterdam in the fall of 2022, and found herself at an easylaughs workshop on her very first weekend here. A month later, she was signed into her first musical improv course. Since then, there has been no looking back, as she followed every one of her improv curiosities down their magical rabbit-holes. On stage, she loves playing big emotions, dramatic plot twists and characters who fall in love- all thanks to her Bollywood upbringing. When she is not doing this, she is writing a poem about the rain, plotting the next chapter in her murder mystery novel, or indulging in Mumbai food nostalgia. In spring 2025, she brought together her two great loves, to write about all-things-improv for the easylaughs blog.
Chee-Wai Chan
Photography
Chee is one of our show photographers. He fell into the improv rabbit hole and since then he is addicted to the stage. From behind the lens or as a standup comedian or as a teller of more serious stories. He is also heavily involved in organising the yearly Impro Festival Amsterdam.
Isma Bloom
Stage Manager
Isma is hooked on improv-amine. For him, improv is hands down the best thing humanity ever invented (yes, even better than sushi, freedom of speech, hoodies, Breaking Bad, and five-a-side football). Isma has been doing improv on and off for around three years, both in Amsterdam and Munich. Since summer 2023, he’s been running the Midweek Improv Jams, a space for play, exploration, and creative risk-taking. His other drug of choice is caffeine, which helps keep his overthinking in check. Or at least he likes to think so. If you want to talk about Breaking Bad or hear more about his Midweek Improv Jams, look for him during shows and workshops where he's a regular.
Nicole Mischler
Marketing & Social Media
Nicole comes from Washington DC and has lived in Amsterdam for more than 20 years. She has a background in theater and enjoys all the performing arts including singing in the shower and taking the most beginner of beginner’s dance classes. She has a love for organisation and list-making and uses this talent to help out with marketing and social media schedules for easylaughs.
Robin Straaijer
Photography
Robin is a Dutch improviser, actor, director and photographer from Amsterdam. He started out in scripted theatre at university, performing Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, and caught the improv bug at a beginners course at Boom Chicago in 2002. Since then, he has performed all types of improv in several groups and duos, as well as the in the main stage cast of IMPRO Amsterdam. He currently performs around Europe with Cliffs of Dover. Robin loves musical improv and has an enduring passion for short-form games – ask him about his philosophy on games and how he teaches them. Apart from improv, Robin has written and directed original plays. He is also well-known as a photographer in the Amsterdam theatre scene, shooting for easylaughs, Flock Theatre, IMPRO Amsterdam, Happily Ever After and many others.
Timothy McBride
Tech
Timothy has been part of the tech team for several years. He is busy fixing lighting, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, catch him on lights and sounds most Fridays during any of our shows. He’s also occasionally on stage!
GROUP MIND / LEADERSHIP
Elena Carbonell
Marketing & Social Media
Elena grew up in Spain under Franco, with barely any pocket money. So whenever a wealthy relative visited, she and her siblings would put on a show; think von Trapp family, but cheaper. Her poems didn’t bring in much, but her brother Pablo made a killing doing Louis Armstrong impressions. Elena jumped on that train too, entertaining the moneyed guests. The gigs ended when the family moved away from their wealthy audience to another town. Pablo went on to do comedy, and Elena helped out by putting up posters and selling tickets. Forty-five years later, she still does that for easylaughs, though the audience doesn’t pay when she sings like Louis Armstrong. She joined easylaughs in 2014, and a couple of years later, she started to help out. She is in charge of communications and social media as a member of the Group Mind.
Nora McLeese
Shows & Artistic Direction
At age eight, Nora played a dancing waiter on the Titanic in a school play. Unlike Rose, she never let go. A few years later, Nora found improv and has gone on to perform in over a dozen countries and countless festivals. She is half-American (sorry!) and half-Dutch (ook sorry!) and always in an existential crisis. Her deepest wish is to one day perform a perfect two-person La Ronde. Ask her about women’s football at your own risk.
Mark Emdin
Workplace Comedy
Mark is the guy to call for all things workplace. He’s busy setting workshop learning goals, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, he's busy looking at spreadsheets. Catch him in the audience for our Friday shows, or occasionally on stage!
Trista Mrema
Courses & Workshops, Operations
I design Courses & Workshops at easylaughs by gathering valuable feedback and insights from both internal teams and our wider community. I’m fortunate to recruit, coordinate, and collaborate with our talented pool of teachers, who are at the heart of the student experience. In my Operations role, I work closely with vendors and venues to ensure our events and activities run smoothly and professionally. Whether behind the scenes or in planning mode, my goal is to support a seamless and enriching journey for everyone involved in our programs.
Maxime Galichet
Finances
Maxime is the guy to call for all things finance. He’s busy crunching numbers, so check back later for a proper bio. In the meantime, he's busy looking at spreadsheets. Catch him in the audience for our Friday shows, or occasionally on stage!
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