The best way to contact us is through email. General inquiries will get the quickest response and are best through classes@blindtigercomedy.ca. For the most up-to-date information, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or just check back in on this website. Otherwise, find the listing of the appropriate person below for their personal contact information.
JUMP TO:
WE’RE HIRING!
MISSION STATEMENT
CONTACT US
REFER-A-FRIEND
VENUE INFORMATION
We’re Hiring!
Note: we’re hiring for three different positions! You’ll find details for Assistant General Manager, Inclusion Coordinator and Box Office Attendant below.
Call for Candidates: Assistant General Manager
Hey, we’re looking for someone great to become our Assistant General Manager!
As Assistant GM, you’d touch everything we do. That starts with communicating with every student and customer we work with. Outstanding, fun, and empathetic written communication skills and a strong eye for customer service are essential. Attention to detail is also a super power for this position; you will be sending important and detailed information to our students, assisting with registration, and navigating a beautiful mix of schedules galore, all while collaborating with a lot of literal jokers.
The Assistant GM reports to the General Manager of Blind Tiger Comedy as well as the Artistic Director. This is a role that is ready to evolve with whomever hops into it, and we could see it growing significantly in your first year in the job (if you’re into that). We see this as a great position for comedians who have experience in the service industry (superstar servers, we see you) and an aptitude for computer work who want to grab some valuable experience in the arts admin world.
The Assistant General Manager will be expected to be available for regular meetings on Mondays and to work their hours each week during weekday business hours, but otherwise is welcome (and encouraged!) to work a flexible schedule each week around other commitments they may have.
More than anything, we’re looking to add another great person to our team and support them with regular work as they help us through an exciting stretch and beyond.
Blind Tiger Comedy is a company committed to diversity, and we hope to receive applications from candidates who bring a range of voices, experiences and perspectives to our team.
How you’ll spend your time
This role is primarily focused on admin tasks supporting student enrollment and administrative tasks. You will:
– Manage communication with our incredible students and support all aspects of enrollment.
– Be the first point of contact for a lot of important student information, from welcoming them to the school to helping them get ready for their first class or show.
– Assist with our extensive Diversity and Inclusion program, and manage the Diversity and Financial Aid Scholarships.
– Set up and manage detailed Eventbrite listings and settings.
– Work with our General Manager to streamline student enrollment and communication.
– Identify opportunities for improvement and growth, without being prompted.
– Play well with others: our company is founded on comedy, and we expect a positive, playful attitude from everyone who works with us and represents us, internally and externally. Come for the riffs, stay for the riffs!
– Above all: be willing to do what it takes to provide the best experience for our students, our venues, and our business, including intangibles not listed above.
What we’re looking for:
– A detail-oriented, admin specialist. You can find errors and create processes that help prevent them next time. Bonus if you have an entrepreneurial streak of your own!
– An exceptional, fun communicator, in person and in writing.
– Someone trustworthy, in the strongest sense of the word. They can be relied on to problem solve or crisis manage without oversight.
– A customer service whiz. Making the extra effort to make someone laugh or impress them with your extra steps to make things breezy for them is what we’re all about.
– Someone new. Whether you identify with all of the points above or not, get at us!
What we can offer
Compensation
Regular part-time position, 7-12 hours a week at $20-22/hour based on qualifications and experience. You would also be encouraged to take Blind Tiger Comedy classes free of charge each semester.
Mentorship
Artistic Director Tom Hill, General Manager Allie Shapiro and our 16-strong faculty of professional comedians have had long careers in comedy, producing and hustling in various ways. We imagine there are a few things you could learn from us and vice versa. We’re also committed to internal development for us and for you – we’re all going to keep getting better, together.
Actual Money
Blind Tiger Comedy was founded in part to support professionals working in comedy and expand the infrastructure around comedy in Canada. We have done our best to make this position large enough that it could be a meaningful part of an individual’s income.
Apply
Interested? Here’s how we see this process going:
– Email your resume and a brief paragraph or two about why you think this job could be a good fit for you to Artistic Director Tom (tom@blindtigercomedy.ca) and General Manager Allie (allies@blindtigercomedy.ca). Mention the job you are applying for in the subject line, please and thanks!
– If it seems like a fit, we’ll invite you to meet with Tom, Allie and perhaps another fun member of our team to chat about you and the role.
– From there, you may be asked to complete a short communication test to demonstrate those sweet email skills which will be an important part of this role.
– We’d encourage you to apply right away, as we are looking to hire for these positions as soon as we can find someone great. If you are a deadline person: please submit by September 21st at high noon at the latest!
– We plan to interview on a rolling basis including the week of September 25!
Call for Candidates: Inclusion Coordinator
We are hiring a new Inclusion Coordinator at Blind Tiger Comedy! This position is intended to support the various diversity, equity and inclusion projects we are pursuing at BTC. This means a mix of project management, outreach, event coordination, and research tasks united by an interest in welcoming folks into comedy who have traditionally been underrepresented in it.
This job has regular, tangible touchpoints with some of the most rewarding work our company does, from coordinating improv jams for particular identity groups, to researching and writing policy that helps us be a more supportive place to a broader spectrum of the public. The projects we take on in this area vary and call for an energetic, independent worker who is up for going the extra mile to make a creative idea come to life on the ground.
The particular tasks of the job change and can be hard to describe because they shift with our projects! To give you a sense, we have done things like set up training exchanges and a full improv program with the Canucks Autism Network, offered free online classes to seniors across BC, set up training for our staff and faculty on a wide range of topics, and profoundly reworked our scholarship and inclusion policies to make free and low-barrier spaces available in every one of our classes. We are currently focused on having more accessible shows and classes, supporting marginalized students in higher level classes, and connecting with the Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking communities in Greater Vancouver, amongst several other directions!
This position reports to our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, which is made up of a mix of our staff and faculty, and the Artistic Director. You would join our existing Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator, Silken Handford-Perronnet and become a two-headed project team, driving our inclusion programming together with the rest of our staff.
More than anything, we’re looking to add another great person to our admin team at Blind Tiger Comedy!
Blind Tiger Comedy is a company committed to diversity, and we hope to receive applications from candidates who bring a range of voices, experiences and perspectives to our team.
How you’ll spend your time
You will:
– Identify action items and independently pursue projects assigned to you;
– Reach out to progressive organizations in our city and province to help identify collaborations and possible partnerships;
– Build relationships with social/identity-based groups in Vancouver and the province as a whole;
– Work in-tandem with the Committee to strategize + act on a plan for bringing underrepresented groups into our classes and shows
– Play well with others: our company is founded on comedy, and we expect a positive, playful attitude from everyone who works with us and represents us, internally and externally. Come for the riffs, stay for the riffs!
– Above all: be willing to do what it takes to provide the best experience for our students, our venues, and our business, including intangibles not listed above.
What we’re looking for
– Someone who is confident, well-spoken and thoughtful on issues pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusion in the arts.
– Someone who is well connected with arts and community organizations around the province
– Someone who has outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
– Someone who loves the arts and especially comedy!
What we can offer
Compensation
Casual part-time position, 10-20 hours per month. Pay is $22-24/hour based on experience and our admin team is encouraged to take one complimentary class per semester.
Mentorship
Artistic Director Tom Hill, General Manager Allie Shapiro and our stacked faculty of professional comedians have had long careers in comedy, producing and hustling in various ways. We imagine there are a few things you could learn from us and vice versa. We’re also committed to internal development for us and for you – we’re all going to keep getting better, together.
Apply
Interested? Here’s how we see this process going:
– Email your resume and a brief paragraph or two about why you think this job could be a good fit for you to Artistic Director Tom (tom@blindtigercomedy.ca) and Outreach Coordinator Silken Handford-Perronnet (silken@blindtigercomedy.ca). Mention the job you are applying for in the subject line, please and thanks!
– If it seems like a fit, we’ll invite you to meet with Tom, Silken and perhaps another fun member of our team to chat about the fit.
– We’d encourage you to apply right away, as we are looking to hire for these positions as soon as we can find someone great. If you are a deadline person: please submit by September 27th at high noon at the latest!
– We plan to interview on a rolling basis including times the week of October 2!
Call for Candidates: Box Office Attendant
We are hiring box office attendants! Our box office attendants are the welcoming, professional folks you meet just before heading into our comedy shows, and we are looking for, well, that! This is a great position for friendly, confident, welcoming folks with customer service experience. It is also a great way to learn how to produce live shows while also catching the comedy every night.
This position will also have the opportunity to cover some simple tech shifts for our show team, so being savvy with a sound board, microphone, or set of cues is welcome but not required.
Our Box Office Attendants report to the Front of House Manager of Blind Tiger Comedy as well as the Artistic Director.
More than anything, we’re looking to add another great person to our show staff!
Blind Tiger Comedy is a company committed to diversity, and we hope to receive applications from candidates who bring a range of voices, experiences and perspectives to our team.
How you’ll spend your time
This role is primarily focused on working the front desk at our comedy shows. You will:
– Welcome audience members to the space and check them in if they have tickets or take payments if they don’t;
– Perform all set up, mid-show and closing duties;
– Prepare show reports each night accurately and thoroughly;
– Engage empathetically and directly with China Cloud community members and members of the public who may enter China Cloud, while actively seeking to de-escalate conflicts or security concerns that may arise;
– Potentially work some tech shifts for comedy shows – hitting basic sound and light cues while working with the host to make the show’s transitions tight and fun;
– Play well with others: our company is founded on comedy, and we expect a positive, playful attitude from everyone who works with us and represents us, internally and externally. Come for the riffs, stay for the riffs!
– Above all: be willing to do what it takes to provide the best experience for our students, our venues, and our business, including intangibles not listed above.
What we’re looking for:
– An exceptional, fun in-person communicator.
– Someone with experience running, producing, and/or attending comedy, music or theatre shows. Knowledge of Eventbrite, Square and/or the Google Docs/Sheets bundle is an asset.
– Someone with experience working in and around the Downtown Eastside and supporting our neighbours who may be low income or unhoused.
– Someone trustworthy, in the strongest sense of the word. They can be relied on to problem solve or crisis manage without oversight.
– A customer service whiz. Making the extra effort to make someone laugh or impress them with your extra steps to make things breezy for them is what we’re all about.
– Students? We love our BTC community and folks who already know how we roll um, already know how we roll!
– Someone new! Whether you identify with all of the points above or not, get at us!
What we can offer
Compensation
Casual part-time position, 3-10 hours a week. Pay is $20/hour or–if you prefer–$30/hour credited towards your next class with us.
Mentorship
Artistic Director Tom Hill, General Manager Allie Shapiro and our stacked faculty of professional comedians have had long careers in comedy, producing and hustling in various ways. We imagine there are a few things you could learn from us and vice versa. We’re also committed to internal development for us and for you – we’re all going to keep getting better, together.
Apply
Interested? Here’s how we see this process going:
– Email your resume and a brief paragraph or two about why you think this job could be a good fit for you to Artistic Director Tom (tom@blindtigercomedy.ca) and Front of House Manager Justin (justin@blindtigercomedy.ca). Mention the job you are applying for in the subject line, please and thanks!
– If it seems like a fit, we’ll invite you to meet with Tom, Justin and perhaps another fun member of our team to chat about the fit.
– We’d encourage you to apply right away, as we are looking to hire for these positions as soon as we can find someone great. If you are a deadline person: please submit by September 20th at high noon at the latest!
– We plan to interview on a rolling basis including times September 22 and 25!
Mission Statement
We have a three-pronged mission here at Blind Tiger Comedy. These points aren’t static: we talk them about a lot, and tweak them regularly. The commitment to these points is in everything we do.
At Blind Tiger Comedy, our mission is to:
– Create and deliver outstanding comedy shows and training;
– Welcome folks who are traditionally under-represented in comedy to training and shows, and reduce barriers for those folks to participate; and
– Pay comedians and our admin team professional, living wages.
Contact Us
Registration, General Inquiries, Class Payment
Allie Shapiro, General Manager
classes@blindtigercomedy.ca – by far the best email for initial inquiries and quick responses
allies@blindtigercomedy.ca
Artistic Director, Blind Tiger Comedy
Tom Hill
tom@blindtigercomedy.ca
Consulting Director, Blind Tiger Comedy
Caitlin Howden
caitlin@blindtigercomedy.ca
Refer-A-Friend Program
Know a friend who might want to try a Blind Tiger Comedy class? Refer-A-Friend by emailing classes@blindtigercomedy.ca to introduce us to them, and you will each receive $25 off your registrations! Simple as that.
Venues
We are grateful to be training, performing and making jokes on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the x?m??kw?y??m (Musqueam), Skwxwu?7mesh (Squamish), and S?l?i?lw?ta?/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
We are seeking to make our venue information more helpful to folks looking to understand if the spaces we work in are accessible to them. We welcome your feedback on any of the listings below to classes@blindtigercomedy.ca.
More detail on each venue:
China Cloud Studios
Carousel Studios
Green Thumb Theatre
Russian Hall
Ukrainian Community Society of Ivan Franko (Richmond)
Inspire Arts Academy (Surrey)
China Cloud Studios
China Cloud Studios is our flagship venue, where all our shows and many of our classes take place. We are only one of the groups that access China Cloud. You might also meet DJs, musicians heading in for a recording, painters, wood turners, or other creative miscreants.
Address & Map – 524 Main Street, Vancouver BC – google map
Wayfinding – China Cloud Studios is on the east side of Main Street, between Pender and Keefer. Look for the black door with the cloud on it. The street numbers are above the door. For a detailed (and fun) introduction to finding the space, see our Instagram series introducing China Cloud.
Transit – Numerous bus routes pass through the area, including the 3, 8, 19 and 20. It is a 15-20 minute walk to the millenium line SkyTrain, Main Street Science World stop.
Parking – Limited street parking is available the residential areas southeast of China Cloud.
The physical space
China Cloud Theatre has limited accessibility due to a steep staircase at the entrance and tight doorways and bathrooms.
Main space:
- The stairs leading up to the venue consists of 31 steps, half way up up the steps is a small landing.
- Within the performance space there is a step up to the stage (24cm) and a step down to the wings of the stage.
- The venue’s bar is 107 cm tall
Bathrooms:
- Door width: 79cm
- Width: 156cm
- Actual bathroom clearance: 108cm
- Length: 188cm
- Door opens inwards
- All bathrooms within the venue are single-occupant, gender-neutral.
Carousel Studios
Carousel Studios is a beautiful set of three studios situated on Granville Island. Carousel Theatre is a theatre that creates and produces children’s theatre productions and runs classes for children. When we are there, it is more often other adults around – fellow renters doing things like dance class, theatre rehearsals, or producing full performances in the main space.
Address & Map – 1411 Cartwright Street, Granville Island, Vancouver BC – google map – note that googling the address will lead to the back door of the venue. Using the link here will lead you to the front door.
Wayfinding – The entrance to Carousel Studios is directly across the street from the Children’s Market, just east of Granville Island Brewing. Enter from the Cartwright Street side of the building, near the large set of floor to ceiling windows. You may need to wait outside (covered) for your teacher to let you in and lead you to the studio you are working in. For a detailed (and fun) introduction to finding the space, see our Instagram series introducing Carousel.
Transit – Accessing Granville Island via transit can be a little quirky. The 24 bus runs near the entrance of the island, and any bus (the 9, the 99, the 16, many more) will run within a 15-minute walk). The island can also be accessed dramatically from the water via ferry. There are two companies running ferries, False Creek Ferries and Aquabus.
Parking – Parking is free all over the island at night. During the day, pay parking is available around the island. Give extra time during the day on weekends, the island is a popular place for wandering tourists!
The physical space
- The front entrances is flush to the ground with a manual door. The theatre has two wheelchair accessible rehearsal rooms, Studio A & C.
- Studio B is located up one flight of stairs. There are 19 steps to access Studio B. Studio B also has an adjoining waiting room area, for people needing a quiet and calmer space.
- Carousel has two bathrooms located on the ground floor designed for folks using wheelchairs.
- All bathrooms within the venue are single-occupant, gender-neutral.
Russian Hall
Russian Hall is a lovely two-hall space we use periodically for full sometimes, and sometimes to fill in an individual session if there is a scheduling challenge.
Address & Map – 600 Campbell Ave, Vancouver BC – google map
Wayfinding – Russian Hall is right on Campbell Ave, it’s a huge glorious building and you can’t miss the front entrance. There are two spaces: the main hall upstairs on your right and the lower hall which is down the stairs to the left if you’ve entered through the front door.
Transit – Numerous bus routes pass through the area, including the 3, 8, 19 and 20. It is a 15-20 minute walk to the millenium line SkyTrain, Main Street Science World stop.
Parking – Limited street parking is available near the Hall.
The physical space
- Wheel chair ramp is available from the street to access the venue. Additionally there is a set of 3 steps up to access the venue.
- A wheelchair lift is available to assist folks from the upstairs lobby to the downstairs hall.
- A wheelchair accessible washroom is located beside the downstairs hall.
- Photos of the Upstairs Hall are available here
- Photos of the Downstairs Hall are available here
Green Thumb Theatre Studios
Green Thumb Theatre is a lovely children’s theatre company situated in southeast Vancouver (Renfrew-Collingwood area). We rent their two studios and they are two of the nicest spaces we regularly hold classes in. Amongst other things, we love how accessible they are.
Address & Map – 5560 McKinnon Street, Vancouver BC – google map
Wayfinding – Green Thumb has two buildings that are off the same parking lot. You are looking for the Studios building – 5560 McKinnon Street. The two buildings are a pale green, they look like big cabins!
Transit – The Millienium Line Skytrain drops you an 11-minute walk from the venue (from Joyce-Collingwood Station). The main bus to the area from downtown Vancouver is the 19, but other buses along 41st, Boundary, or along Renfrew can also get you pleasantly close.
Parking – There is plenty of free street parking directly outside the venue.
The physical space
- The venue is accessible to access from the street level with no steps up.
- The venue is located on ground level and has a accessible entrance and exits.
- There are two single stall locking non-gendered bathrooms both are wheelchair accessible with railings.
- A visual walkthrough is available for the space here.
Ukrainian Community Society of Ivan Franko (Richmond)
The Ukrainian Hall (as we call it, for short!) is a big ole Hall in Richmond. You’ll never learn about improv in a larger space!
Address & Map – 5311 Francis Road, Richmond BC – google map
Wayfinding – The Hall is between Railway and No. 2 Road on Francis. You can’t miss the Hall itself, it’s a big ole hall!
Transit – Numerous bus routes pass through the area, including the 406, 401 and 402. For those coming from Vancouver, take the Canada Line to Richmond-Brighouse and transfer there to the 402 bus.
Parking – There is plenty of free parking directly in front of the building.
The physical space
- Venue is located on ground level with an accessible entrance to the venue
- Bathrooms are gendered with stalls large enough for most wheelchairs, but with no railings.
Inspire Arts Academy (Surrey)
Inspire Arts Academy is a lovely children’s arts centre in Surrey. If you aren’t dazzled by the cutest children’s vibe in the hallways, the easy access to A&W will blow you away!
Address & Map – 5577 153A St, Surrey BC – google map
Wayfinding – Inspire is right off of 56th Avenue so if you are driving there are many ways to get there. The space is on the far left hand side of the parking lot (if you are facing the front door of the strip mall) and can be accessed from the strip mall’s front door (if it is daytime hours) or via their own front door at all hours.
Transit – From Central Surrey the 345/375 bus will be the most useful.
Parking – There is plenty of free parking directly in front of the space.
The physical space
- Venue is accessible via a short ramp, the classrooms are on the ground floor.
- There are both gendered, shared bathrooms and an accessible, non-gendered, single-occupant bathroom available.
