Job Description Final Draft

 

Job Description: COMEDY THEATER CO-MANAGER

 

In the summer of my sophomore year of high school, my mother told me to get a job immediately after turning 16 years old. After multiple failed attempts with some of California’s staple teenager employers (Trader Joe’s and In-N-Out), I felt as though I was an undesirable and unskilled teenager. That was until I entered a small video game tournament in my hometown. 

 

I had never participated in a video game tournament before, but my friend and I had nothing else to do and the entry fee was comparatively cheap. I wish I could say I played well, but I was brutally beaten in front of a crowd of gamers, ranging from highly competitive to near first-time players. That was my first of many losses in these tournaments. Although I was out of the bracket, I stayed and watched the whole tournament, interacting with the commentators and helping with cleaning up at the end of the tournament. Later that night, the organizer of the event sent me an email asking if I would like to help with setup and takedown for the following tournament. Surprisingly, playing video games helped me land my first job. 

 

After assisting with setup and takedown for the tournaments, my eventual boss asked me if I would like to work as an employee at his comedy theater, which I gladly accepted. As a new employee of The Amazing Comedy Theater, I had three main jobs:

• Organizing video game tournaments
• Running comedy shows
• Redistributing knockoff LEGO minifigures

 

Organizing Video Game Tournaments

The more time I spent participating in the tournaments, the better I understood how to organize them independently. Learning how to organize a tournament taught me a lot about how much effort it takes to host events in general. 

 

The first step was to set a date and time for the event and then post it online, usually using Eventbrite or other ticketing platforms. After collecting all the names of attendees, I would set their names into a bracket upon their entry. Once the bracket was made and all the competitors arrived, I would announce the first players going against each other. Throughout the tournament, I would also announce raffles to keep players who had lost still captivated and involved in the tournament. After the final match, I would give the winners their prize money and take their pictures to post them on our Instagram. Once everyone left, I would pack up all the consoles and TV’s and close up shop.

 

Running Comedy Shows

In the evening on weekdays, I would organize comedy shows at the theater. It was a relatively small location, so set up and take down was not too time consuming. The set up process was simple. First, I lined up the audience seats. Second, I turned on the stage lights to ensure the performer was in the spotlight. Third, I set up a camera in the back of the room to capture each comedian’s set. Finally, I played some music on the speakers to enhance the overall atmosphere for the audience when they walk in. The most important (and most forgettable) step was turning on the camera before the show so the comedians could buy a copy of their set. There were multiple instances where I forgot to start recording and would have to run in halfway through someone’s set to hit play. 

 

Once all the audience members bought their tickets and took their seats, my work was relatively complete. While everyone was watching the show in the main room, I would be sitting in the front doing homework and keeping company with some of the comedians. Giving a 16 year old the power to run a comedy show came with a few unique privileges, such as being allowed to deny adults entry if they were being unpleasant. I would be lying if I said that wasn’t one of my favorite privileges. 

 

The take down process was pretty much the setup process in reverse. I would stop the camera recording, turn off the speakers, turn off the lights, and stack the chairs back up. While everyone was talking outside, I was closing up the shop for the night. The job was fun and not time consuming, so I would run shows around 5 or so nights a week. 

 

Redistributing Knockoff LEGO Minifigures

The last, and most unique task I had while working at The Amazing Comedy Theater was redistributing knockoff LEGO minifigures. We would order Chinese knockoff LEGO figurines in bulk, then I would assemble them, bag them, put our company cards and stickers in, and finally seal them in clasp envelopes to ship them.

The process was easy and repetitive, so I would put my headphones on and work for a few hours every weekend. Once I got into the rhythm, it would almost feel robotic when I was working. There was something therapeutic about listening to music and turning my brain off while doing the same process over and over for hours. 

 Reading Ease: 62.2

Grade Level: 9.4

Passive Sentences: 7.5%