The Absurd History of "That's What She Said"-And Why It's About to Take Over Amsterdam

Okay, real talk: "that's what she said" is the joke that literally never dies. It's survived disco, the internet, three different generations of people trying to kill it, and approximately 47,000 cringe-worthy office moments. It's basically the cockroach of comedy at this point, except somehow it keeps getting funnier. So we need to ask ourselves: how did a phrase so aggressively mediocre become so culturally unstoppable? And why is it only now *right now* that women are claiming it as their own?

How We Got Here: A Timeline of Comedic Mediocrity

Somewhere in the 1970s, someone (and let's be honest, probably a dude named Brad) looked at his buddy and thought, "What if I said something completely innocent, and then I IMPLIED something dirty?" Revolutionary. The Nobel Prize committee was definitely on standby.

The phrase "that's what she said" became the skeleton key to teenage humor. It worked on everything. Absolutely everything. Your sandwich is too long? That's what she said. This coffee is too hot? That's what she said. This meeting is taking forever? You get the idea.

For decades, this joke format was everywhere- in locker rooms, in offices, in comedy clubs. It became the universal punchline. A cultural institution, if you will. Completely unstoppable.

Then - plot twist - women got tired of it.

The Great Female Comedy Takeover (With Actual Proof)

Here's what happened: women started showing up to comedy clubs. Then they started performing at comedy clubs. Then they started headlining comedy clubs. Then they started running them. And suddenly, "that's what she said" wasn't just a joke structure anymore - it was a punchline delivered by women, usually at men's expense, which is objectively funnier.

Take comedians like Ali Wong, who literally performed her groundbreaking special Baby Cobra seven-and-a-half months pregnant, turning her pregnancy into "a source of power". She built an empire on crude, specific storytelling.

Then there's Amy Poehler, the SNL MVP who basically mastered the art of weaponizing crude humor before most people realized it was a superpower. Poehler does not announce that she's being funny about uncomfortable stuff; she just does it, owns it, and moves on. And that's the real power move.

These women didn't ask for permission. They didn't wait for the comedy industrial complex to invite them. They just showed up, took the mic, and said, "This joke? It's ours now. And we're making it better."

The Science of Why This Actually Works

Vanessa Van Edwards (the human behavior expert we're all obsessed with) has done actual research showing that humor is the fastest way to build trust and psychological safety. But here's the thing nobody talks about: women using crude humor is actually a power move. It signals confidence. It says, "I'm comfortable with myself and I don't need your approval." Men hear this and either laugh (good) or feel threatened (also good, honestly).

The numbers back this up. Research from BCG shows that psychological safety increases retention by more than four times for women compared to men when leaders create psychologically safe environments. Women in workplaces with higher psychological safety (the kind that humor creates) earn more promotions, stay longer, and actually enjoy their jobs. Revolutionary concept, we know.

Why Women Need This Specific Kind of Chaos

Women in professional environments spend roughly 47% of their brain power navigating complex workplace dynamics. Being strategic with communication. Reading the room. Figuring out what works in different contexts. It's exhausting. It's like playing 4D chess while everyone else is playing checkers, and you're somehow the one who looks confused.

A room where you get to just be? Where you can be loud, crude, unapologetic, and celebrated for it? That's not just comedy. That's resistance.

Enter: That's What She Said at Boom Chicago

Boom Chicago, this legendary Amsterdam improv venue that's been making people laugh since 1991, and impowr, us- the women in business development powerhouse, had a galaxy-brain moment together. We thought: "What if we created a show that was specifically about women taking the mic, owning their stories, and making everyone in the room laughing their a$$es off by being too funny?"

That's What She Said isn't a typical comedy show where you sit in the dark like a passive audience member. This is interactive improv. The cast takes stories directly from you- the woman in row three who just had the worst meeting of her life or the person who witnessed something hilariously uncomfortable at work (we all have these stories).

The ALL female cast will turn your story into a scene. On the spot. Completely improvised. Your embarrassing moment becomes everyone's laugh, which somehow makes it funnier and less mortifying at the same time. And don't even get us started on the networking event before the show...

The Bottom Line: Bring Your Whole Self

Here's the thing about "that's what she said": it used to be a joke structure. Now it's becoming a space for women. And it's hilariously, brilliantly, unapologetically funny.

Book your ticket to That's What She Said at Boom Chicago and come experience a night where your stories matter, your humor is welcome, and nobody's pretending to be smaller than they actually are.

Bring your friends. Bring your weird stories. Bring your sense of humor that might be too much for your office but is perfectly calibrated for a room full of women who actually get it.

Because sometimes the best networking happens when everyone's too busy laughing to remember why they were ever nervous in the first place.

That's what she said. And she was right.