Booking Policy

These rules are set in place under ComedyBox to make booking easier. These rules and policies cover timing, payment, amount of bookings per day/week, and what is covered under booking and what you need to know when booking ComedyBox for your production needs. If you have any further questions, send an email to booking@comedybox.ca, or bring it up with a staff member in person if needed. 

Placing a booking under ComedyBox, there is a set guideline on how long one can book, how many bookings can take place per day, and what slots can be booked by who. These are set up per-request and all bookings have to be confirmed by ComedyBox. These are set in place and publicly visible on the official booking site at booking.comedybox.ca. Each booking has a specific name/title assigned with it:

OPEN: These bookings are open to the public, and can be booked at will.

EXPLICIT: These bookings have set rules when booking and have to go through an additional set of checks before being approved, this is due to restrictions of the facility as well as most staff and volunteers are reserved during the workday.

BDO: Board Only. These bookings are only bookable by The Board.

EXTERNAL: These are usually during the Summer or other times where the Facilities are usually closed to the public. These go through a second layer of confirmations to determine if the external facility requested is accessible to staff. These can also be set upon request if it is needed

BOOKED: This booking has been booked, usually alongside this title is a Booking ID, this booking ID is a set code that helps the system as well as staff to distinguish bookings and helps us organize our system better.

RESERVED: These slots have been reserved for one reason or another. Unless it has been reopened, you can not request this booking unless explicitly given permission. 

CANCELLED: These bookings have been cancelled, attached with these bookings is an explanation as to why this booking has been cancelled, you can also contact for further information if required.

As visible from the public site, each time slot is broken up into set times, these times do take into account other booking slots that are in sequence. if you need a longer time, please send an email to booking@comedybox.ca and we will work with you to accommodate for your needs. If a booking has already been placed, that slot is reserved for the party that has booked it.

When placing a booking, bookers are required to do so 48 hours in advance, otherwise the booking will be denied. This is to give Staff and Volunteers additional time to schedule, this also gives ComedyBox time to approve the event with third parties involved.

At most, a maximum of three (3) bookings can be placed per day, this number is determined if all bookings on that day have been booked for the minimum time of 90 minutes. If a booking exceeds that 90 minutes, all adjacent slots are reserved to cover that booking. These slots are set at the most convenient time for staff and volunteers, as additional travel and set up time is also required. If a booking is needed for a different time, whether it be earlier or later during the day, feel free to contact bookings@comedybox.ca.

Due to potential burnout of staff and volunteers, there is a limit on how many bookings are accessible per week, this usually is determined by but not limited to the length and time of bookings. This factor will be determined at a later date. As of now, the amount of accepted bookings per week will vary to accompany the needs of staff and volunteers.

Each booking comes with a separate calendar event that comes with multiple parts. These different parts work with our system to allow us to easily distinguish the booking, allow us to determine needed requirements for our end, and allows for us to easily communicate to each other. Each system event comes with multiple parts:

ID: This is an identifier that tells our system what the booking is. This identifier can take into account your organization ID (this is usually a 5 character string that allows for easier organization), your booking number, required staff, as well as other information. This is simply an identifier separate from your Booking ID.

BODY: the body of this event contains all the things needed for our system to determine the event in simple text, this text contains abbreviations for equipment, required staff, as well as other information that is used for our system.

When the booking system makes a separate "System Event", this event is accessible to staff at ComedyBox, as well as any third parties involved, determine what is needed for the event. This information does not contain information that can, has been, or will ever be traced back to the booker.

When booking with ComedyBox, We use identifiers to help distinguish a booker from others, these identifiers are used by the system as well as staff and volunteers. When placing a booking, you are given an identification number, it is important to keep track of this number as it may come up in the future when placing an invoice, talking with a representative, or other matters.

The calendar event you get when creating a booking is confidential, this event does contain information previously mentioned, alongside your personal identifiable information. This contains information such as your phone number, email address, the site at which you have placed the booking, your name and company name, as well as any further information you have provided for the booking to help us at ComedyBox complete your booking. The only parties getting given this information is ComedyBox staff and volunteers, the facility workers, any third party that may be required, and the booker and bookers company.

 Codes are used throughout ComedyBox and helps us keep track of bookings and equipment. These codes are a changing piece of ComedyBox but are usually agreed to within ComedyBox. Solid codes (codes that are used frequently and haven't changed) are usually well known within ComedyBox. Each bit of the Booking process has different codes alongside it. Varying codes are codes that aren't used during the booking process, but are more spoken from person to person. These codes do not get noted, and are unimportant to the Booker. Solid codes have their own categories as well. These include, but are not limited to: Type of Booking, Equipment, Lighting, Sound, Stage and Stage Crew. A documentation of the codes is currently in construction, and will be provided at a later date for further convenience if needed.

Due to the requirements needed to be met under ComedyBox and bookers, ComedyBox has started to hire volunteers to assist in bookings when required. These volunteers range from students interested in the field, staff members from third parties, as well as the public at large willing to lend a hand when needed. These aforementioned parties will hereby be referred to as "volunteers".

Volunteers and get the same respect as staff under ComedyBox, we treat them as such and we expect them to be treated the same way. When placing a booking, these volunteers are hired upon request. Unless explicitly stated, Volunteers are hired when and where they are required for ComedyBox. Bookers are not allowed to state the requirements for the quantity of volunteers or staff, or what is to be expected of them when requested. Due to the complexity of each booking, and the complexity of the services requested from bookers, volunteers are brought on by request. 

Volunteers are requested from multiple parties, these parties are considered confidential.

When Booking, Bookers are requested to understand the needs for the staff at ComedyBox. As of lately, volunteer jobs have taken a toll on ComedyBox Staff, and hence a more solidified set of rules have been put in place.

Unless stated otherwise, a form of payment will be agreed on before a booking gets confirmed. When stating the needs for a job, ComedyBox calculates an hourly rate depending on the job. Simpler jobs will have a lower hourly rate, and more complex jobs will have a higher hourly rate. This is to accommodate for the needs of staff at ComedyBox, as the labor going into a job can be tolling on Staff and Volunteers who take time out of other potential bookings, events, or other matters. These rates are flexible, and will be determined before a booking gets confirmed. Once the rate is set, this is the rate that booking will be set, no further modifications to a rate can be made unless agreed upon by both parties.

It is important to note that Volunteer Hours are no longer an accepted form of payment. For further information please email a representative.  When it comes to Volunteer Jobs, these are usually set from ComedyBox. the requirements to be eligible are not publicly available. bookers will be told upon conformation if they are eligible to get a volunteer job from ComedyBox. No further information will be disclosed on this matter.

Forms of payment accessible for ComedyBox include: Check, PayPal, E-Transfer, or Direct Cash. If you need to use a different form of payment, please contact booking@comedybox.ca. Invoices are sent out upon completion of a job, and get sent out along the completion of a booking (usually within 1 to 2 business days).

When filling out the booking site. It is important to state required equipment. This helps ComedyBox determine how many pupils need to be hired under ComedyBox, what the hourly rate will be, how long ComedyBox will need to set up and tear down the event, as well as what we need to request. If information is missing or information does not apply, we will send an inquiry email to complete the booking. If you need external equipment of any kind (this includes lavalier mics, special lights, etc.) you are expected to provide and rent it out. When your booking is placed, bookers can expect an email listing what needs to be rented out by them.

When your booking gets placed. The confirmation email will list information previously mentioned, this includes but is not limited to: Number of Staff/Volunteers hired, Time and Date of your booking, Hours Booked, Hourly Rate, Equipment needed from you, a calendar event, the System Event, an expected setup and disassemble time, as well as your booking number. 

If any of this information can't be provided, ComedyBox will explicitly list it to the Booker. If any extra information is needed, that will also be provided. ComedyBox will also request further information, if needed.

After a booking. A confirmation email will be sent to the booker. This confirmation email includes, but is not limited to: an invoice, a completed booking event, your booking ID, a brief note about the event, and any further information needed.

Unfortunately, stuff does happen, and events do have to get canceleld. In the event that an event gets cancelled, bookers will be given a cancellation email. This email will give a brief explanation as to why the event has been cancelled. If any form of payment has been given before the event, this will be refunded as soon as possible.

If you are looking for any information that hasn't been provided, please don't hesitate to email Bookings@comedybox.ca, or call us at +1 (343) 630 5733