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. A competition that would feature the best of open mic’ers of the month. And so it began, and overtime BOOM, Montreal’s Best of Open Mic show, became very popular and hundreds of Comedians participated in this competition. They attended the regular open mics at the legendary Comedyworks in order to be able to qualify for BOOM, which took place the last Sunday of each month. Two comedians were chosen each week by the audience members of the open mic to compete at BOOM and on the last Sunday of each month, the winner of BOOM was selected by two comedy industry judges and received various prizes at the end of the show and a weekend guest-spot at the club.
With the closure of BOOM’s host 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, 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. She has been featured in major Canadian newspapers such as The National Post, The Toronto Star and The Montreal Gazette. She 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 has also performed at New York Arab American Comedy Festivals and Just For Laughs Festival in 2010, 2012 and 2017.
The co-producer of BOOM, Ali, has been active in comedy since 2008. He actually won a BOOM competition back in August of 2013. He has performed at different clubs in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. Ali has also been an active producer and promoter of a variety of different 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 aired across Canada.
The revival of BOOM in 2015, Montreal’s Best of Open Mic show, brought about a new sense of adventure to regular comedy club-goers in Montreal. Since this competition involved the active participation of audience members to vote for their two comedians of choice, a lot of enthusiasts started to take interest in this concept and are supporting its re-start. BOOM’s return had been welcomed by many comedians alike, where they showcased their best sets at a club in downtown Montreal and competed and were awarded for their hard work.
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 – Club. See all our Comedyville Club shows here.
The last production of the original BOOM was in March of 2016.
The original BOOM was voted Best Stand-up Night in Montreal for 2015
