Policies & Procedures

We accomplish our mission through:

Quality Comedy Programming

We strive for the best, most consistently excellent programs possible.

Fostering Community

We build strong, supportive, healthy relationships within the theater, in the comedy community, as well as in the greater Portland community and beyond.

Unique and Courageous Approach

We take risks and push boundaries in all aspects of our artistic programs as well as in the growth and development of our organization.

Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion

We examine and evaluate ourselves – our policies, programming, curriculum, and practices – on a regular basis to ensure we are constantly improving our DEI efforts, eliminating blind spots, and making a safe and welcoming environment for all.

Curious Comedy Theater acknowledges the pervasive and inherent racism that underlies every intersection of discrimination and harassment. We understand that our policies must be assessed through an anti-racist lens and ethos.

Our working ethos is as follows: We aim to center our community’s most vulnerable by prioritizing BIPOC voices and experiences. We strive to create social, performance, and teaching spaces that are intentionally structured to support BIPOC and marginalized people.

We acknowledge that Curious Comedy occupies the unceded lands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, Tualatin Kalapuya, Wasco, Molalla, Cowlitz, Watlala bands of the Chinook people, and many other tribes. This place would not exist without the ongoing genius, care, and resilience of these diverse communities.

We acknowledge the historically embedded and ongoing colonial project we live in. We recognize that we are here because of the oppression, genocide, and assimilation enforced upon this place’s ancestors and their descendants. We strive to put our theater’s settler community into right relationship with indigenous people of the past, present, and future. We respect the deep knowledge, courage, and strength of these people, and their stewardship of this region since time immemorial.

Support local indigenous organizers! Wisdom of the Elders is a nonprofit that records and preserves traditional values, history and prophecy of indigenous elders from the Pacific Northwest community. You can find their website HERE, and you can donate HERE.

We acknowledge that our theater is nestled in Portland’s Albina neighborhood, a historically Black area. This neighborhood was built on generations of Black brilliance, work, creativity, and care. We are forever indebted to our Black neighbors for their cultural and structural inventions, without which we wouldn’t have this vibrant city to live in.

We acknowledge that the Black people of this place have endured decades of gentrification and displacement at the hands of white people. We recognize that our theater sits in Vanport Plaza, a reference to the segregated city that housed Black residents in the 1940s. The wealth of knowledge and innovation that came out of Vanport’s Black community has made Portland the place it is today. Curious is committed to an active and ongoing alliance with our Black neighbors.

Support local Black activists! Spirited Justice is a Portland nonprofit led by a powerful Black mother. They organize and facilitate mindfulness trainings for Black liberation. You can check out their Instagram HERE.

• Curious Comedy Communications, Reporting, and Conflict Resolution Handbook
• Anti-Discrimination & Harassment Policy
• Community and Student Agreements
• Restorative Justice Model
• Students’ Bill of Rights
• Bystander Intervention

• Student Waiver
• Refunds and Changes

• Player Handbook
• Employee Handbook
• Instructor Handbook
• Student Handbook and Refund/Credit Policies